Sustainability can be so overwhelming. Sometimes you just don’t know what to do or what habits you can change without totally uprooting your whole life. Here we share a wide spectrum of some of our favorite books on the topic of sustainability: from how to transition to zero waste and sustainable living, mending techniques to make your loved clothes last, building a sustainable brand and what exactly makes a fabric more sustainable than others.
- Give A Sh*t: Do Good, Live Better. Save the Planet by Ashlee Piper - an empowering read on how you can make better choices when it comes to the planet. Her tone is friendly, witty, and most importantly, relatable which makes tackling this whole sustainable living thing so much easier and enjoyable to read about (link here).
- How to Shop for Shi(f)t by Taryn Hipwell - a shopping guide that helps you as a consumer understand what exactly your clothes are made of and what type of fabrics to look for to detoxify your wardrobe (link here).
- Make + Mend by Jessica Marquez - an introduction to a Japanese hand-sewing technique called sashiko which while chic enough to justify its use in decoration was traditionally used to mend and repair clothing and textiles and is a great way to spruce up some well-loved clothing (link here).
- Thrive by Kamea Chayne - a holistic, environmentally conscious lifestyle guide on how to live for better health with sections on slow fashion, eating well, nourishing the body and detoxing your household (link here).
- Rise and Resist by Clare Press - takes a look at modern activist movements surrounding environmentalism and climate change, the Women’s March, and the Fashion Revolution and shares how we can harness our collective power to build a fair and healthy future for everyone (link here).
- Sustainable Fashion & Textiles by Kate Fletcher - probably the most thorough book about textiles specifically and how they relate to sustainability. Great resource for designers looking into making their brand more sustainable or choosing more sustainable and ethical fabrics and materials (link here).
- Fashion Made Fair by Ellen Kohrer and Magdalena Schaffrin - not only is it beautiful enough to be a great coffee table book, but it includes interviews of founders of several brand founders and innovators including Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability Officer at Kering Group and Rick Ridgeway, Vice President of Environmental Affairs at Patagonia (link here).
- Radical Matter by Kate Franklin and Caroline Till - another book beautiful enough for the coffee table. Radical Matter explores sustainability from a design perspective (link here).
- Drawdown edited by Paul Hawken - a comprehensive look at climate change in general with 100 most sustainable solutions to reverse global warming based on the research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world (link here).
Have you read any of these books or have more recommendations for us? Let us know in the comments below or join our conversation on Instagram.