Green Nonfiction Books

By Eva Lewandowski

Warm weather is finally upon us, and there’s nothing more relaxing then settling into a hammock or a lawn chair outside with a good book. Here are some of my favorite nonfiction books about the environment or the natural world. Catch them out from your local library and get reading!

The Story of Stuff, by Annie Leonard- You might have seen Annie Leonard’s acclaimed documentary by the same name, but you might not know that she also wrote a book, in which she expands on the environmental effects of our consumer-driven lifestyles. This book very literally takes you through the story of stuff, beginning with resource extraction and moving on to production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of all the products we take for granted in our day-to-day lives. It’s definitely on my list of must-reads.

Meat: A Benign Extravagance, by Simon Fairlie- Don’t be fooled by the title, this isn’t a book decrying vegetarianism or anything of the like. Rather, it presents clear, well-researched, numerical evidence of the effects that meat production and consumption have on the environment. The author suggests that the problem with meat consumption is not inherent, but is in fact a product of the quantity and type of meat most people eat. He explores the different environmental consequences of regularly eating factory-farmed meat compared to small quantities of free-range or pasture-raised animals that are appropriately integrated into the agricultural ecosystem.

Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat- I read this book when I was in middle school and absolutely loved it. It’s become something of a classic in the world of naturalist entertainment, even having a movie based on it. The book is autobiographical, written by a Canadian government biologist who spent months studying wolves in a remote area of the tundra.

The Gort Cloud, by Richard Seireeni- This is the perfect book for owners and managers of sustainable businesses, as well as consumers who want to cut through the advertising and find out how sustainable a product really is. Seireeni uses a number of current, in-depth case studies to examine green washing (when a company sells itself as green but is really only superficially sustainable) and the advertising strategies of companies with real commitments to the environment.

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