Book picks similar to
The Eco Chick Guide to Life by Starre Vartan


non-fiction
environment
nonfiction
green-living

The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well


Meik Wiking - 2016
    That's down to one thing: hygge.'Hygge has been translated as everything from the art of creating intimacy to cosiness of the soul to taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things. My personal favourite is cocoa by candlelight...'You know hygge when you feel it. It is when you are cuddled up on a sofa with a loved one, or sharing comfort food with your closest friends. It is those crisp blue mornings when the light through your window is just right.Who better than Meik Wiking to be your guide to all things hygge? Meik is CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen and has spent years studying the magic of Danish life. In this beautiful, inspiring book he will help you be more hygge: from picking the right lighting and planning a dinner party through to creating an emergency hygge kit and even how to dress.Meik Wiking is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. He is committed to finding out what makes people happy and has concluded that hygge is the magic ingredient that makes Danes the happiest nation in the world.

The Organically Clean Home: 150 Everyday Organic Cleaning Products You Can Make Yourself—The Natural, Chemical-Free Way


Becky Rapinchuk - 2014
    From dishwasher detergent to antibacterial wipes, America's favorite cleaning blogger Becky Rapinchuk guides you through the steps needed to make these everyday necessities--without spending a fortune.Complete with simple instructions for packaging and storing your homemade cleaners, you'll enjoy turning each room into a beautiful and toxic-free space with fresh-scented products like:Lemon and clove hardwood floor cleanerNo-bleach laundry whitener and brightenerPeppermint glass and mirror wipesLavender and lemon bathroom disinfecting sprayCitrus foaming hand soapWith The Organically Clean Home, you'll save hundreds of dollars every month--and have a clean, healthy home that you and your family can feel good about.

Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home


Sara Snow - 2009
    For new parents concerned about the future of their children—and of the planet they will leave them—being informed feels especially urgent. But in the midst of a booming natural and organics industry, the many options can make easing into living green confusing. Now Sara Snow offers practical solutions for every aspect of family life, from laundry to recycling to decorating the nursery. Discover ways to green…• your kitchen with healthier foods and safer cooking and storage options• your bathroom with recycled toilet and tissue paper and nontoxic cleaning supplies• your bedroom—and your love life—with chic eco-friendly bedding and sexy personal products• your yard with a rain barrel attached to your gutter downspout to reduce runoff, prevent erosion, and capture clean water for your flowers, vegetables, and lawnAnd there’s much more to inspire and encourage you, from advice on introducing children to healthy eating, to products and foods for your animal companions, to chemical-free gardening—plus sidebars offering insider secrets from green-living pioneers. Here is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to do something positive for the well-being of their family, while leaving a lighter footprint on the world.

Restore. Recycle. Repurpose.: Create a Beautiful Home


Randy Florke - 2010
    Florke clearly explains why going green is so important, how to use what’s already there, find a focus for every space, and determine what makes something environmentally friendly.Anyone hoping to transform a home from ordinary to extraordinary will find eco-friendly, thrifty, and stylish ideas.   With its emphasis on simplicity, thrift, and respect for historical integrity, Randy Florke calls his philosophy the "anti-keeping up with the Joneses.”  Comfort, style, and economy are the bellwether elements of his approach to decorating.

The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills to Stop Climate Change


David de Rothschild - 2007
    The book presents 77 essential skills for stopping climate change—and for living through it. It is a fun, compelling, and sly deconstruction of a survival guide, think Boy Scout Handbook crossed with WorldChanging atop the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, that offers equal parts tongue-in-cheek suggestions, practical advice, factual information, and bluesky dreaming of ways to save the world.Each skill is presented on a spread featuring a bright, full-color instructional illustration, a brief introduction to the skill and its core ideas, a set of instructions, spin-off ideas, and scientific and environmental facts. The book also includes a resource guide that provides useful resources for the ecoconscious reader.

Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide: How to Start and Keep the Planner, To-Do List, and Diary That’ll Actually Help You Get Your Life Together


Rachel Wilkerson Miller - 2017
    You decide how simple or elaborate your journal will be, and what goes in there:- Lists of your to-dos, to-don’ts, and more- Symbols that will make those lists efficient and effective- Spreads to plan your day, week, month, or year- Trackers for your habits and goals (think health, money, travel)- Accoutrements such as washi tape, book darts, and more!

Wild at Home: How to style and care for beautiful plants


Hilton Carter - 2019
    As the owner of over 200 plants, Hilton feels strongly about the role of plants in one’s home—not just for the beauty they add, but for health benefits as well: ‘having plants in your home not only adds life, but changes the airflow throughout. It’s also a key design element when styling your place. For me, it wasn’t about just having greenery, but having the right variety of greenery. I like to see the different textures of foliage all grouped together. You take a fiddle leaf fig and sandwich it between a birds of paradise and a monstera and…. yes!’ You will be armed with the know-how you need to care for your plants, where to place them, how to propagate, how to find the right pot, and much more, and most importantly, how to arrange them so that they look their best. Combine sizes and leaf shapes to stunning effect, grow your own succulents from leaf cuttings, create your own air plant display, and more.

New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks (and Everyone Else)


Fay Wolf - 2016
    Here, Wolf outlines her basic rules for saying goodbye to the stuff crowding up your space and hello to new habits that free you up for the things you’re passionate about. And it can all be done in as little as a few minutes a day. Learn how to:• create productive to-do lists• stem the flood of paper • downsize digital clutter and social media • arrange your space to spark creative juices • curb your desire to accumulate • collaborate and connect with others for support • embrace imperfection• keep up the momentumWolf also shares her favorite productivity apps and resources for donating your many, many items. From the outer clutter of your home to the inner clutter of your chatty mind, this handbook will help you make room for artistic inspiration and invite you to treat yourself to less.

Fashionable Selby


Todd Selby - 2014
    The subjects include a mix of the avant-garde, the traditional, the must-haves, and the totally unexpected. Chapters on individual artists bring readers inside their studios, workshops, and homes, and include Selby’s signature photographs and watercolors of not only the artists and their environments, but also the things that inspire them, the materials they use, their creative process, the people who work alongside them, and the final pieces. From the showroom of one of the Antwerp Six to the studios of Central St. Martins in London to a punk knitter in Brooklyn, Selby captures some of fashion’s biggest names, rising stars, and best-kept secrets.

The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture


Alanna Stang - 2005
    The result: more than thirty-five residences in fifteen countries -- and nearly every conceivable natural environment -- designed by a combination of star architects and heretofore unknown practitioners.Six different climactic zones are presented in The Green House -- waterfront, forest and mountain, tropical, desert, suburban, and urban; there is also a section on mobile dwellings. Each chapter features a series of homes that show the diversity and possibility of sustainable design. Projects are presented with large color images, plans, drawings, and an accompanying text that describes their green features and explains how they work with and in the environment.Architects included: Santiago Calatrava, Shigeru Ban, Miller/Hull, Rick Joy, Lake Flato, Kengo Kuma, Glenn Murcutt, Pugh & Scarpa, Werner Sobek, and many others.The Green House is not only a beautiful object in its own right, but is sure to be an indispensable reference for anyone building or interested in sustainable design -- and if you ask us, that should be everyone.

The Little Book of Life Hacks: How to Make Your Life Happier, Healthier, and More Beautiful


Yumi Sakugawa - 2017
    An absolute gem of a book!" -Keiko Agena, award-winning actress on Gilmore Girls, Shameless, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon Author, illustrator and comic book artist Yumi Sakugawa shares a wide range of useful and unexpected tips for looking and feeling better, streamlining and improving your home life, and creating fun and artsy DIY projects that can brighten your living space. Inspired by her popular “Secret Yumiverse” tips originally posted on WonderHowTo.com, The Little Book of Life Hacks offers a wide range of practical advice and fun tips for everything from how to:- Remove dark circles from under your eyes- Make cold brew iced coffee at home- Throw the perfect apartment party on a budget- Work out at home without a gym membership- Take the perfect afternoon power nap...and more!Featuring Yumi’s signature hand-drawn illustrations throughout, The Little Book of Life Hacks is a distinctive and perfect gift for recent graduates and young working women who want to learn practical ways to organize and improve their daily life while still having fun.

The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden


Ivette Soler - 2011
    They're planting tomatoes in raised beds, runner beans in small plots, and strawberries in containers. But there is one place that has, until now, been woefully neglected—the front yard. And there's good reason. The typical veggie garden, with its raised beds and plots, is not the most attractive type of garden, and favorite edible plants like tomatoes and cucumbers have a tendency to look a scraggily, even in their prime. But The Edible Front Yard isn't about the typical veggie garden, and author Ivette Soler is passionate about putting edibles up front and creating edible gardens with curb appeal. Soler offers step-by-step instructions for converting all or part of a lawn into an edible paradise; specific guidelines for selecting and planting the most attractive edible plants; and design advice and plans for the best placement and for combining edibles with ornamentals in pleasing ways. Inspiring and accessible, The Edible Front Yard is a one-stop resource for a front-and-center edible garden that is both beautiful and bountiful year-round.

Making Kind Choices: Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth - And Animal-Friendly Living


Ingrid Newkirk - 2000
    In this practical and accessible handbook, loaded with resources for all products that are mentioned, Ingrid Newkirk presents fabulous options that will not only enhance your life, but those of your neighbors, your community, animals, and the earth itself.From comfortable home furnishings, to delicious foods, to fashionable clothing there are a myriad of choices to be made that can have a lasting positive effect on the well-being of animals and the environment, including:- recognizing hidden animal ingredients in cosmetics and household products- raising ecologically aware and animal-friendly kids- creating healthy, environmentally-friendly meals for everyday and special occasions- dressing with style without using leather or other animal products- dealing kindly with mice, insects, and other 'pests' in home or garden- adopting the right animal companion for you- volunteering and investing in eco- and animal-friendly companies- traveling with Eco-consciousness

Plant Style: How to Greenify Your Space


Alana Langan - 2018
    Indoor plants are the ultimate indoor accessory. Softening interiors and readily available, they are a stylist’s best friend. However, it’s their power to transform a sterile space into an urban sanctuary that makes them more than just an inanimate prop –all you need to know is how to use them. From the founders of coveted plant-wares studio, Ivy Muse, comes this charming guide on how to turn your home into a jungle- like retreat. With design- savvy tips and expert advice, you’ll learn all there is to know about decorating with plants and botanical styling plus the necessities like light requirements and when to water and feed. From bathroom to boudoir to every room in between, create your very own green oasis with Plant Style.

Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic: Accessorizing


Jonathan Adler - 2010
    Crafting sentences as dexterously as he does ceramic vases, Adler takes us on a whirlwind tour through gorgeously styled interior. Organized by type of furniture (bed, bookshelf, dining table, dresser, table), Adler divulges all the tricks and tips needed to artfully arrange anything in one’s home.