Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household By Christine Liu

I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you!

A primer on how to lead a more ecologically-driven life. Christine Liu leads her reader through particular rooms and spaces of the house, explaining how to make them more green and sustainable. She discusses ideas such as using less electricity, being more mindful of what we bring into the house (ranging from clothes to furniture), considering fixing things instead of throwing them away, decluttering the house in order to minimize needless possessions. There is also a number of recipes (for food as well as for eco-friendly washing products), all surrounded by beautiful pictures.

This is a perfect book for someone who is only beginning to consider their carbon footprint and the repercussions that our actions can have on the natural environment. Unfortunately, I would say it is less useful for an advanced user (so to speak), as it doesn't really go beyond the classic ideas for becoming more green (and it also repeats some of the pieces of information from chapter to chapter). This is not to say that it's a bad book, just that a beginner will get more out of it than someone who has already done their research into living in a more ecological manner. Nonetheless, it has to be said that the more books about living a more sustainable life are out there, the better, as their presence on the book market increases their chances of finding new audience, as of yet unfamiliar with the concepts. Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household Túto knihu mi trvalo veľmi dlho dočítať. Je to asi tým, že mi nepriniesla nič nové, je poňatá veľmi všeobecne. Jediné nové info pre mňa boli štatistické čísla, ktoré som aj tak po čase začala preskakovať, pretože si ich tak či tak nezapamätám.
Pozitívum je, že sa snaží priniesť osvetu a taktiež tipy, ako sa správať vo svojej domácnosti ekologicky, ale bohužiaľ sú opäť veľmi všeobecné. Väčšina ľudí, ktorí sa o tému zaujímajú, majú už všetky tieto tipy za sebou. Treba ale povedať, že niektoré z projektov ako ich autorka nazýva, sú celkom prínosné - je ich tam však len 18 a všetky sú ľahko dohľadateľné na nete.

Čo ma však neuveriteľne iritovalo na celej knihe je práve jej neekologickosť. Je síce z recyklovaného papiera, ale hrubého jak kostolné múry, s okrajmi niekedy aj 5cm a textu je tam tak tretina celej knihy. Zvyšok sú celostranové fancy obrázky typu: lúka, kravy, more, ruka držiaca vešiak, ruka držiaca banán, ruka držiaca tašku, kefka v pohári, kaktus, ruka držiaca žiarovku, ruka držiaca nabíjačku... Ku koncu knihy som už len listovala obrázkami.

Ak sa niekto naozaj zaujíma o tému Zero Waste, určite by som odporučila radšej Beu Johnson a jej Zero Waste Home. 071123969X The only thing really making this book about sustainability are the figures dropped off without contextual elaboration like you're having a conversation with a work colleague who feels they're well-educated on a subject after watching last night's news report on it.
Some notes:
If 20% of energy consumption is by private consumers....then that means 80% of energy consumption is corporate waste. While yes, you can take steps to reduce your consumption to /prevent/ waste, it doesn't mean inherently using energy is wasteful. It means that 80% of energy use is largely waste and is going unchecked because it's being consumed by industrial corporations.
Meat production causes deforestation and contributes to loss of biodiversity, sure -- so does the industrialized agriculture of vegan staple-crops like soy and quinoa. Coffee is directly contributing to deforestation in the Amazon. Also, American ranchers are being allowed - by lawmakers who are taking subsidies from said ranchers - to graze on public lands, like your national parks and endangered prairies. The issue is equal parts meat production and garbage lawmakers that need to be publicly held accountable.
You cannot ethically link minimalism to sustainability. It's blatantly exclusionary of lower-income individuals. More eloquent people have written up thorough reports on how minimalism is a glorified rhetorical war on the working class; this book is not a book on sustainability, it is a eurocentric minimalist manifesto marketed toward the well-meaning consumer -- ie exactly what it says it hates.

You should read Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson instead. At least she acknowledges that it is a struggle and the system is rigged against you. Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household It's a nicely designed book with beautiful minimalist-style photographs.
For beginners, it would be a great guide, with lots of tips on how to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, as well as recipes and instructions to make some things yourself. I really want to try the cashew milk recipe, it sounds delicious!
However, if you already are into sustainability, I don't think it would teach you anything new. For me, it was a nice, pretty book, but I didn't learn much as I already know all these things.

So, great for beginners, but not the best for the connoisseur.

Disclaimer - I received a free digital copy of this book courtesy of Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. As other reviews have already noted, this is beginner stuff only. Most of it boils down to buying local, using less plastic, cutting back on animal products, using fewer artificial chemicals, repairing and re-purposing, composting, minimalism, and buying second-hand instead of new. All pretty much common sense. But I guess plenty of people still need to hear it.

Beautiful, high-quality book, though. 071123969X

Sustainable Home is a stylish, inspirational and practical guidebook to maintaining a more environmentally friendly household.

Sustainable lifestyle blogger and professional Christine Liu takes you on a tour through the rooms of your home â€" the living area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom â€" offering tips, tricks and 18 step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle. Whether its by making your own toothpaste, converting to renewable energy sources, reducing your consumption of plastic, growing your own herb garden or upcycling old pieces of furniture, there are numerous ways â€" both big and small â€" to make a difference.

With environmental issues at the forefront of global politics, the desire to make small changes on an individual level is on the rise; this book will guide anyone hoping to make a difference, but who perhaps don’t know where to begin. Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household

A book full of many useful and interesting tips and project on how to live eco-friendly.
I really appreciated them and hope to be able to try some of them soon.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC English Lovely photos and practical tips in this slim volume. I specifically saved her recommendations on creating a sustainable, slimmed down capsule wardrobe, making your own body butter, and making your own lip balm. It was also good to see how much I'm already doing at home to help with the environment and sustainability. English Although some of the tips and steps to a sustainable lifestyle were for absolute beginners, I have to give it five stars, because I learned some pretty shocking and interesting facts about the enviroment. And recipes and diys were a nice surprise. Also, thanks to this book, I started following Christine Liu (the author) on social media and learned more, which is great. Overall, a really cool book. English What a beautifully designed book! I loved all those gorgeous photographs - my inner minimalist was so happy whilst browsing throughout this book.

I found the book's recipes to be clearly instructed and very easy to follow. I wholeheartedly agree with the author that sustainability is a lifestyle and I think we can achieve it via making small yet mindful daily steps.

I would recommend Sustainable Home to anyone, who is rather new on this subject, and who would like to find out more about it.

It is a perfect beginner's guide and will make a lovely present to anyone who is starting to explore this field.

I received a free digital copy of this book courtesy of Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank both the author and the publish for allowing me to read a copy of this lovely book, I really appreciate it. Sustainable Home: Practical projects, tips and advice for maintaining a more eco-friendly household Dnes sa na nás valia eko postupy snáď z každej strany. Je pravda, že som šetrila prírodu skôr intuitívne, ale nikdy som tomu nevenovala hlbšiu pozornosť. Kupovala som úsporné žiarovky a spotrebiče, nenechávala som dlho zažnuté, separovala som odpad a pri umývaní zubov som vypínala vodu.
Nedávno sa mi vďaka známej dostala do rúk kniha Eco-friendly domov. Netajím sa tým, že o pár týždňov sa sťahujem do vlastného a rozhodla som sa preto žiť ešte zodpovednejšie. Táto kniha je návodom skôr pre úplných ekozačiatočníkov (čiže pre mňa ????) a poviem vám, poriadne mi otvorila oči.
Kniha je členená do niekoľkých dôležitých kapitol (konkrétne je radená podľa izieb v byte alebo dome), pričom nás sprevádza veľmi poučný a zrozumiteľný text, kvalitné fotografie a kopec receptov či nápadov, čo sa môže robiť lepšie a ekologickejšie. Nie všetky návody a rady vám môžu sadnúť, ale doma už máme v zásobníku na vodu závažie a s maminkou sme si nakúpili vrecúška na ovocie a zeleninu, ktoré môžete vidieť na fotke.
Kniha ma oslovila najmä preto, že nemusím byť nutne eko práve ja (ako to mnohí nazývajú), ale môj domov a pevne verím, že taký bude. Hardcover