5 Helpful Books That Cover a Range of Sustainability Topics

Here at Sustainable Baddie, we love our library girlies, our dark academia gays, and our baddies who cosplay Serena VDW moodily reading Fitzgerald in Central Park. We live in an Internet era (and there are many reasons to be grateful for that), but books will always be relevant to our lives because they offer us a much more thorough, involved educational experience. If you find yourself lounging at the beach or in the park as the weather warms up, here are five eco-centric books we’ve curated to keep you company. 

1. As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock 

From Indigenous researcher and activist, Dina Gilio-Whitaker, this book provides information on the concept of “Indigenized environmental justice.” It highlights an often-overlooked history of Indigenous resistance that can help us explore new ways to understand and approach environmental justice. 

2. All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis 

All We Can Save is an anthology featuring over 60 women writers who are living in and making changes in the climate crisis. From a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and cultural identities, this edited anthology features informative and personal essays, poetry, and art to show the vastness of climate activism and celebrate the millions of women who are leading the fight. 

3. Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science 

By Dr. Jessica Hernandez, Fresh Banana Leaves offers explanations for certain failings or missteps in current or past climate responses. She provides informative solutions that are rooted in Indigenous environmental methods and theories and centered on Latin American women’s voices.  

4. Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility 

Written by Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment, Dorceta E. Taylor, this book explores through extensive research how and why low-income communities have been continually affected by environmental pollution. The book touches on the many ways that pollution has altered the quality of life and made certain cities nearly inhabitable. It also dives into the complicated relationship between social politics, social justice, pollution, and climate change by exploring the hazardous experiences in four American cities. 

5. F**k Plastic: 101 Ways to Free Yourself from Plastic and Save the World 

If you are looking to explore tangible changes you can make in your day-to-day, then this book is for you. F**k Plastic offers 101 small lifestyle changes that will help you reduce your waste and your carbon footprint without feeling overwhelmed.