If, like many others, you are concerned about the future of our planet, then The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Make Small Changes That Make a Big Difference by Jen Gale might just be what you are looking for.
Faced with so many headlines about climate change, plastic pollution, wildlife going extinct … it is hard not to feel overwhelmed by what is happening to our planet. . Eco anxiety is becoming a real issue for many people and understandably so.
There is a very real possibility that ours will be the first generation to have kids whole quality of life is worse than ours – The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide by Jen Gale
Our planet can simply not sustain the runaway consumption of our growing population. We could just bury our heads in the sand, hoping it will all be ok in the end while waiting for someone else to take action or for the perfect solution to materialise.
But individual actions do matter and small steps taken by millions of people can make a difference. Taking an example that is close to my heart, going meat-free one day a week is easy and can help reduce your carbon footprint. And this is what The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide is all about. Jen Gale is not looking to overhaul our lifes but instead she offers practical advice and insights into how to live more consciously.
A former vet, Jen embarked on her sustainable journey in 2012, with the challenge to buy NOTHING NEW for a whole year documenting her experience in her blog My Make Do and Mend Year. Fastforward to 2020, and Jen is now running Sustainable(ish), a CIC (community interest company), aiming to help and support the “imperfectly greens”. I urge you to visit her website as it has tons of resources on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle. There is also a podcast and now a book: The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide.
A few weeks ago, I took part in Sustainable(ish) podcast talking about the flexitarian diet and since I have been completely absorbed reading The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide. This is a really accessible, down to earth and relatable book, written with a welcome dose of humour.
There are ways to fit “sustainable living” into the life you lead. To change your impact without radically changing your life. – The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide by Jen Gale
The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide is broken down into 12 chapters covering many aspects of everyday life such as:
- Conscious Consumption
- Zero Waste(ish)
- Plastic Free(ish)
- Sustainable(ish) Food
- Sustainable(ish) Fashion
- Sustainable(ish) Family
- Sustainable(ish) Home
- Sustainable(ish) Work
- Sustainable(ish) School
- Sustainable(ish) Travel & Transport
- Sustainable(ish) Celebrations
- Activism(ish)
Each chapter offers insights and suggestions on how to deal with different eco issues, do-able actions, quick wins that we can all act upon and has a handy resource page for further reference.
You might already be following some of Jen’s eco guidelines and if you are like me, you probably also need reminding of a few. The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide is there to help you green your lifestyle by making simple adjustments to your daily routine. The idea is not to completely overhaul your life but make long-term sustainable changes to fit your personal circumstances.
While I consider myself quite eco savvy, I still found a lot of food for thought in this guide as well as new information. Amongst the things I realised is that I probably should make more of second hand clothing shops and also undertake a plastic audit of our bathroom. I was also surprised to learn that Ryman have created a font Ryman Eco which uses 33% less ink and that I have a Library of Things right on my doorsteps where I can borrow pretty much anything (comes in handy for visitors and odd jobs. To my kids’ great despair Jen also points out that you can freeze an open bag of crisps instead of having to finish it straight away!
The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide is a really enjoyable and informative read, a guide to help you make sustainable changes to your lifestyle and a reference to go back to whenever you are faced with an eco dilemma.
Thanks Jen for having me on your podcast and sending me this little gem of a book. The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide is available from Hive and Amazon.
Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. All thoughts and opinion are my own.
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