Book recommendations from your local zero waste store
With summer fast approaching and the temperature levels soaring higher than usual (good job, climate change) we’d all love some time to unwind, sip on a cool drink with a book in hand, right? But what kind of books do we read? Something fun and fictitious or something more informative and practical? Questions questions. We can always have the best of both worlds, right? Let us take you through some of our favourite books that’ll leave your weekends fully booked ;)
Not that we mean to be too salesy but one of our favourite books to read currently is the book ‘Bare Necessities: How to live a zero waste life’ written by Sahar Mansoor and Tim de Ridder. The book is a narrative on zero waste living along with practical tips, insights, recipes, and how-to guides for anyone looking to lead a mindful lifestyle. It also contains personal experiences by our authors along with fun illustrations to bring zero waste living to life!
An excerpt from the book talks about humans and the role they play, “Each part of the planet and every single person is vital to an improved system, no matter if they are students, waste pickers, business managers, truck drivers, entrepreneurs or farmers. What matters is you!’
Oh! Did we mention it also contains activities in each chapter that you can follow to go hands-on with this new lifestyle? Seems like this book is the best of all the worlds. PS: Its currently the #1 Bestseller in ecotourism on Amazon. Read for yourself and find out!
Another one of our favourite books to read on a summer evening is The Hidden Kingdom - Fantastical Plants of the Western Ghats by Nirupa Rao complete with hand-drawn illustrations to transport you to the thick jungles in the western ghats. What’s special about this particular book is the fact that it brings attention to the often ignored yet fundamental elements of our lives - plants. The introduction to the book rightly said, “We often struggle to identify a fig tree…” So while you may not be able to have the summer vacation of your dreams thanks to the ghost of 2020 - Covid19, you can certainly gain some much-needed knowledge on the beauty of India’s plants and even fall in love with plants. Just go with the flow.
The Hidden Kingdom - Fantastical Plants of the Western Ghats by Nirupa Rao
In case you’re looking to learn a bit more about the amazing local communities in our country and the vital role they play in preserving the natural beauty of our country, do check out Vandana Shiva’s ‘Staying Alive’. While we’re often used to view women from local communities as survivors of challenging times, this book rightly portrays these woman as the driving force of change itself. Living in a digital world, most of us have the privilege of merely voicing our opinions against the policies mandated against our forests and other natural habitats on social media and other platforms. We give it five minutes of our day and move on. This book takes us through the ground reality of the people who actually have to face the brunt of these policies.
Looking to take a break from life itself? Check out Bicycle Dreaming by Mridula Koshy. It narrates the story of a young girl who longs for a green bicycle to become India’s first kabaadiwali. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the narrative, for it also presents to you the lives of the tiny children working away in garbage-filled landfills, and the dreams they work hard for. While it does beautifully present the simplicity in the lives of these children, it also highlights the stark reality of families affected by the garbage crisis in our country.
And finally, saving the best for the last, we have No one is too small to make a difference by Greta Thunberg. It is a beautiful collection of all of her speeches including one of our famous speeches "Our House Is on Fire". Although a book containing speeches may sound monotonous to start with, it actually serves as a great reminder of why we need to care about our planet and whether we can really make a good change. Plus, Greta is a great orator. Rest assured you won’t find yourself yawning to this read.
We can keep going on since we’re an enterprise that loves to read and learn from people from all walks of life (yes, we’re sure you too have something valuable to teach us). If you aren’t the book savvy type, we understand. Kudos for getting this far in the article; maybe you are a reader somewhere deep down. If not, there’s always a host of resources available on digital platforms for us to watch or listen to, since we all need to keep learning. Unless you want Henry Ford to call you old. “ANYONE WHO STOPS LEARNING IS OLD, WHETHER AT TWENTY OR EIGHTY.” —HENRY FORD