Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books

Green and Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books

 

This Christmas, show your “eco cred” by giving eco friendly Christmas gifts – books are a very green option!

Below are my top recommendations for the best eco books – and at the end you’ll find a delightful Christmas tradition from a fairly remote country that will make you instantly want to snuggle up!

eco friendly Christmas gifts - books for all

Of course, because I’m passionate about all things eco, the books I’ve reviewed here all have an eco theme, but cover the many different aspects of green living.   They’re available for the Kindle e-reader, (how green is the Kindle or electronic reader?) as well as printed versions – although when it comes to Christmas gifts, I always think that nothing beats a lovely hardcover book.

Here are my Top Ten books I would recommend as eco-friendly Christmas gifts – just click on any of the text links or pictures to see more details on the individual book. All shipped anywhere in the world via Amazon.  Amazon also sell used versions of these books, look out for them on the links – or of course, your local charity shop or thrift store offer great bargains!

 

Food – Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books

eco friendly Christmas books - love real foodWe all need to eat, so a recipe book is always a welcome gift.

Do you want to eat more healthily (and keep the planet healthy too)? You reduce your carbon footprint significantly if you reduce your meat intake – and it’s kinder to animals too.

If you have a vegetarian or vegan guest to dinner, do you wonder what on earth to feed them?

The nice thing about Love Real Food is that it provides recipes that will suit even committed carnivores. This makes it really handy if not everyone at home is vegetarian. Most of the recipes are very easy to make, and use easy-to-source ingredients.

eco friendly Christmas books - complete vegetarianAlternatively, try this hugely popular book by America’s Test Kitchen – The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook – 700 Foolproof Recipes. ATK are renowned for thoroughly testing each recipe, and the sidebars are very useful. Some recipes are quite complex, others are much easier. Be aware that the binding is poor. With 700 recipes, you’re going to find some that will become your favourites.

 

What’s In What You Put on Your Skin? 

eco friendly Christmas books - cosmeticsI’ve been saying this for ages – many of our cosmetic products, soaps and shampoos contain toxic chemicals.  This book Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry helps you to make informed decisions for safer and smarter purchasing.   Manufacturers will only produce safe cosmetics if we, the purchasers, demand it.  If you don’t believe me, read this book!

It’s also good for teens – if you know teens who use make-up, talk to them about this book.  It’s written in an entertaining way and provides an easy read.  If you didn’t know what goes into our products, be prepared to be horrified!

 

Go Green with Gardening 

eco friendly Christmas books - gardening foodWhat I like about this book The Resilient Gardener is the depth of detail.  You can skim through it and read enough information to get started, but if you want more detail, for example on exact harvesting procedures or plant breeding, it’s there too.

The author is clearly a gardening expert, and makes a compelling argument for growing your own food now, to avoid reliance on mass agriculture – especially in times of crisis, which many feel is looming.

The book is an entertaining as well as informative read – there is humour as well as jargon-free information. I like the section on gardening comfortably – even if you have a bad back! It also covers how to deal with hard times, injuries, and food allergies. The Resilient Gardener is a wonderfully optimistic – yet realistic – book that is incredibly useful.

 

Eco Houses – Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books

eco friendly Christmas books - homesIf you’re like me, you love to look at houses, and if so, you’ll love this book!

Take a tour of modern houses in Japan which are designed to be green and eco-friendly. You’ll get some great ideas! (There are many more ways of going eco than just adding solar panels!).

The photography in Eco Living Japan is great, and there are also plans and layouts.

If you’re thinking these ideas would only work in Japan – they’re already being used in Toronto, Norway and elsewhere. This is a beautiful book that will definitely inspire you or the person you gift it to!

 

Crafty Fun for Kids – Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books

eco friendly Christmas books - craftsI love the title of this book, and the contents are really fun too! C.R.A.F.T. (Creating Really Awesome Free Things) is aimed at keeping children entertained with things that are readily available at home (e.g. a toilet roll holder or a cereal box).

Small children love to create things, and it’s educational as well as fun. Crafting can help develop fine motor skills. It also teaches small children to follow instructions and work alongside someone else.

 

Rules for Sensible Eating – Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books

I like this little book.  Here is a slim little volume with simple, common-sense food rules to follow.  The author of Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual hopes that even just a few rules will appeal to each reader, become memorable, and form the basis for healthier eating.

There are 64 rules, so for sure a few will ‘stick’.  Examples:  Avoid food products containing ingredients which a third-grader can’t pronounce.  Buy smaller plates and glasses.   Don’t buy food where you buy your gasoline or  petrol.

A great gift for the people you know who eat an unhealthy western diet.

 

Eco Babies! 

- Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts - Books - babyAverage parents spend almost $7,000 gearing up for a new baby. Yet the authors of this book spent less than a thousand—and they did it by going green.

In The Eco-nomical Baby Guide, the authors prove that bringing up baby can be easy on the pocketbook and the planet.  In a relaxed, humorous style, they discuss everything from eco-friendly diapers to daycare.

Of course, your baby’s happiness and safety is paramount. The authors offer tips on shopping for new and used green goods, blending homemade organic baby food, and limiting the piles of baby gear that threaten to overtake the living room.

 

An Unusual Tradition of Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts – Books!

eco friendly Christmas gifts - books in IcelandBooks are really, really big in Iceland – everyone gets at least one book each year. But best of all, the gifts are opened on Christmas Eve, and then everyone settles down in front of a lovely fire with a hot drink – and reads the night away!

Isn’t that a wonderful way to spend Christmas?

The tradition is called “jolabokaflod,” or the Christmas Book Flood, and it’s a deeply rooted tradition in Iceland.

eco friendly Christmas gifts - books in Iceland with hot drinkBooks matter in Iceland. They get read and talked about. At the average Christmas party, people push politics and celebrity gossip aside and discuss literature. Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world except the U.K., and now the tradition is spreading to the US and the UK.

I think it’s a wonderful concept. As one Icelander says: “For Icelanders, Christmas is the time where you snuggle up and read your presents.” Lovely!

Happy Jólabókaflóð !

If you enjoyed these green book suggestions for eco friendly Christmas gifts, please Share them with your friends (buttons below and right) – thank you!

Would you like more ideas for Christmas gifts? No problem!

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Even more eco friendly Christmas gifts!

Warm regards,

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  • Clare, these all look like great books for the holidays for both foodies and greenies. I found a book yesterday in a used bookstore in San Migual called “Feasting and Foraging in Costa Rica”….I bought it for myself for Christmas!
    Sonya Lenzo

    • Ooooh, just the title gets me slavering – I’ve always thought “foraging” was such a nice word, reminds me of picking blackberries along hedges when I was growing up in Ireland…… I know you’re going to enjoy that book!

  • Don’t forget to rummage in your local charity shop for pre-loved books and other gifts. I’ve got some great pre-loved books for my young nieces & nephews (who don’t care if it’s not “new”) & they’ll be re-donated when the child progresses to more challenging books. Wrap in brown paper for posting and using raffia instead of synthetic ribbon

    • Aaargh – you made me realise I hadn’t mentioned used books or charity shops – thanks Pat, I’ve updated the posts and also included raffia (which I thought I’d included but again, I hadn’t). Thanks!

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