Degrowth in the Suburbs

Degrowth in the Suburbs

Author: Samuel Alexander

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-09-21

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 9811321310

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This book addresses a central dilemma of the urban age: how to make the vast suburban landscapes that ring the globe safe and sustainable in the face of planetary ecological crisis. The authors argue that degrowth, a planned contraction of economic overshoot, is the only feasible principle for suburban renewal. They depart from the anti-suburban sentiment of much environmentalism to show that existing suburbia can be the centre-ground of transition to a new social dispensation based on the principle of self-limitation. The book offers a radical new urban imaginary, that of degrowth suburbia, which can arise Phoenix like from the increasingly stressed cities of the affluent Global North and guide urbanisation in a world at risk. This means dispensing with much contemporary green thinking, including blind faith in electric vehicles and high-density urbanism, and accepting the inevitability and the benefits of planned energy descent. A radical but necessary vision for the times.


The Sustainable Design Book

The Sustainable Design Book

Author: Rebecca Proctor

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2015-03-23

Total Pages: 950

ISBN-13: 1780677243

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The Sustainable Design Book updates the reader on the latest products and developments in the field of green design, and features 265 of the most exciting new products around. Q&As with leading designers give insight into trends and key techniques used within the industry, while handy icons highlight each product's sustainability credentials at a glance. Beginning with a chapter on sustainable materials, the book goes on to cover furniture, lighting, home accessories, and personal accessories. Web addresses of designers and retailers make each product easy to source. The Sustainable Design Book is an unbeatable resource for those aspiring to best practice within the field of sustainable design, as well as students of contemporary product design. Consumers looking for beautiful but environmentally conscious products and accessories will also find this an essential guide.


Attainable Sustainable

Attainable Sustainable

Author: Kris Bordessa

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2020-04-28

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1426221851

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Packed with delicious recipes, natural remedies, gardening tips, crafts, and more, this indispensable lifestyle reference from the popular blogger makes earth-friendly living fun. Whether you live in a city, suburb, or the country, this essential guide for the backyard homesteader will help you achieve a homespun life--from starting your own garden and pickling the food you grow to pressing wildflowers, baking sourdough loaves, quilting, raising chickens, and creating your own natural cleaning supplies. In these richly illustrated pages, sustainability-guru Kris Bordessa offers DIY lovers an indispensable home reference for sustainability in the 21st century, with tried-and-true advice, 50 enticing recipes, and step-by-step directions for creating easy, cost-efficient projects that will bring out your inner pioneer. Filled with 340 color photographs, this relatable, comprehensive book contains time honored-wisdom and modern know-how for getting back to basics in a beautiful, accessible package.


Building a Sustainable Home

Building a Sustainable Home

Author: Melissa Rappaport Schifman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2018-08-07

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1510733450

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The green building movement has produced hundreds of “how-to” books and websites that are filled with tips about green building and what homeowners should do to go green. While helpful and informative, when it comes to making actual purchasing and installation decisions, these books do not make it any easier for a homeowner to prioritize against a budget. Here, Schifman shares her knowledge and experience for others to use in their journey toward a greener way of living. Whether the reader is building a new home or doing a minor remodel, a homeowner needs a framework by which to guide their decisions. These decisions are based on values, and the author posits that there are really only three reasons to go green: For Our Health: By building more sustainably, we reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins. For Our Wealth: By building a more durable home and being more efficient with resources like water and electricity, we reduce our monthly utility bills and ongoing maintenance expenses. For Our Soul: Collectively doing the right thing for our planet does make a difference—and that is soul-nourishing. Learn the logistics of choosing windows, insulation, appliances, and lighting. Find out about FSC certified wood and about using reclaimed materials. Here is everything you need to make your home sustainable.


The Resilient Farm and Homestead

The Resilient Farm and Homestead

Author: Ben Falk

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1603584447

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The Resilient Farm and Homestead is a manual for developing durable, beautiful, and highly functional human habitat systems fit to handle an age of rapid transition. Ben Falk is a land designer and site developer whose permaculture-research farm has drawn national attention. The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies (relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading. The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings. The Resilient Farm and Homestead is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.


DIY Projects for the Self-Sufficient Homeowner

DIY Projects for the Self-Sufficient Homeowner

Author: Betsy Matheson

Publisher: Creative Publishing International

Published: 2011-02

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1589235673

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"Step-by-step, how-to projects for home rain collection, solar panels, food storage, solar energy systems, eco-friendly improvements, bee keeping, and more"--Provided by publisher.


The Self-Sufficient Backyard

The Self-Sufficient Backyard

Author: Ron Melchiore

Publisher:

Published: 2020-05

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 9781732557161

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The Self-Sufficient Backyard is helping Americans transforming from an honest homeowner into an independent, self-sufficient person that has an extra income and doesn't owe anybody a thing. You will not be troubled with what happens to the world around you, because everything you need is where is should be: on your property!


Homegrown & Handmade

Homegrown & Handmade

Author: Deborah Niemann

Publisher: New Society Publisher

Published: 2017-06-01

Total Pages: 591

ISBN-13: 177142236X

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The author of Ecothrifty shows you how to life more self-sufficiently with her guide to modern homesteading―no farm required. Food recalls, dubious health claims, scary and shocking ingredients in health and beauty products. Our increasingly industrialized supply system is becoming more difficult to navigate, more frightening, and more frustrating, leaving us feeling stuck choosing in many cases between the lesser of several evils. That’s why author Deborah Niemann is here to offer healthier, more empowering choices, by showing us how to reclaim links in our food and purchasing chains, to make choices that are healthier for our families, ourselves, and our planet. In this fully updated and revised edition of Homegrown and Handmade, Deborah shows how making things from scratch and growing some of your own food can help you eliminate artificial ingredients from your diet, reduce your carbon footprint, and create a more authentic life. Whether your goal is increasing your self-reliance or becoming a full-fledged homesteader, this book is packed with answers and solutions to help you rediscover traditional skills, take control of your food from seed to plate, and much more. This comprehensive guide to food and fiber from scratch proves that attitude and knowledge is more important than acreage. Written from the perspective of a successful, self-taught modern homesteader, this well-illustrated, practical, and accessible manual will appeal to anyone who dreams of a more empowered life. “Dreaming of a mindful life? Niemann’s advice on gardening, cooking, orcharding, raising livestock, and much more demonstrates that it’s possible to begin the journey in your own backyard.” —Rebecca Martin, Managing Editor, Mother Earth News


Self-Sufficiency

Self-Sufficiency

Author: Abigail Gehring

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-11-10

Total Pages: 1216

ISBN-13: 1628732601

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Now, more than ever, people across the country are turning toward simpler, greener, and quieter ways of living—whether they’re urbanites or country folk. Following in the footsteps of Back to Basics and Homesteading, this large, fully-illustrated book provides the entire family with the information they need to make the shift toward self-sufficient living. Self-Sufficiency provides tips, advice, and detailed instructions on how to improve everyday life from an environmentally and organic perspective while keeping the focus on the family. Readers will learn how to plant a family garden and harvest the produce; can fruits and vegetables; bake bread and cookies; design interactive and engaging “green” projects; harness natural wind and solar energy to cook food and warm their homes; boil sap to make maple syrup; and build treehouses, furniture, and more. Also included are natural crafts readers can do with their kids, such as scrapbooking, making potato prints, dipping candles, and constructing seasonal decorations. Whether the goal is to live entirely off the grid or just to shrink their carbon footprints, families will find this book a thorough resource and a great inspiration.