Tag: environmental sustainability

Spilling the beans on our new sustainability books

Amy

This month we have new books spilling the beans (but not letting them go to waste!) on how to eat sustainably. We can learn about the journey our fruits and vegetables take to get from the tree to our plate in Avocado Anxiety. If we want to grow our own food, there are many books to choose from, like The Sustainable Homestead or A Conscious Garden. If we want to see the bigger picture, we can learn about the mechanism of the food industry that impacts the world in Ravenous. Check them out now:

The sustainable homestead : create a thriving permaculture ecosystem with your garden, animals, and land / Ferraro-Fanning, Angela
“Whether you’re just dreaming, working on site selection, or an experienced homesteader, The Sustainable Homestead is the go-to resource to bring permaculture techniques to your crops, animals, and more.” (Catalogue)

Avocado anxiety : and other stories about where your food comes from / Gray, Louise
“How do we stop worrying about our food choices and start making decisions that make a difference? Through visits to farms, interviews with scientists and trying to grow her own, Louise Gray digs up the dirt behind organic potatoes, greenhouse tomatoes and a glut of courgettes.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Sustain : groundbreaking recipes and skills that could save the planet / Barrett, Jo
“Sustain: Groundbreaking Recipes And Skills That Could Save The Planet features over 90 recipes across 30 meals mastering a series of skills, which lead to a more sustainable kitchen.” (Catalogue)

 

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Everyday Sustainability: Recent picks

Amy

What can we do to help fight climate change? It’s a very daunting question for anybody! We may not be able to solve it overnight, but by making small changes in our day-to-day life and being aware of what’s going on in the world, we can feel less overwhelmed. These new books cover a variety of climate actions from cooking sustainably or making your own clothes to learning from the Dalai Lama and Greta Thornberg.

A good appetite : eating for planet, body and soul / Chandler, Jenny
“A Good Appetite is packed with practical information and recipes for making the way you shop and cook more planet-friendly. There are brilliant bite-sized guides to everything from eating with the seasons, batch cooking and the best ways to use your freezer to foraging and growing some of your own food. By avoiding food waste and stretching expensive ingredients, there’s a payoff for your pocket too.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Great stories of New Zealand conservation / Froggatt, Alan
“New Zealand has an extraordinary range of plants and animals, yet a great many species are trending towards extinction. Great Stories of New Zealand Conservation tells 50 inspiring and thought provoking stories, covering all matter of conservation and ecological projects from right across the motu. Some of the projects have been driven by national organisations, such as saving the kakapo and the yellow eyed penguin.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

A future we can love : how we can reverse the climate crisis with the power of our hearts & minds / Bauer-Wu, Susan | Also available as an eBook
“Filled with the Dalai Lama’s hard-earned wisdom, Greta Thunberg’s piercing focus, and dozens of accessible practices of climate activism and personal resilience, this book offers a path not just out of inaction but toward a future we can love.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

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The story of pioneering Conservationist & Author David Towns

Tess

We recently interviewed trailblazing conservation biologist Dr. David Towns, who authored the newly released book Ahuahu: a conservation journey in Aotearoa New Zealand. Situated largely on the stunning nature reserves of the Mercury Islands, located off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, Towns spent 40 years working on innovative conservation projects to eradicate mammalian pests on all seven islands. These team efforts have resulted in abundant wildlife havens, teeming with native species that now represent the closest pre-civilization examples of island ecosystems in Aotearoa.

Towns’s new book Ahuahu gives a behind-the-scenes peek into the triumphs, setbacks and ground-breaking bicultural teamwork that have allowed these islands to thrive, creating a spectacular example of Aotearoa’s world renown conservation work. The book features stunning photography of the picturesque landscapes and wildlife that make up the Mercury Islands, and documents how conservationists, iwi and volunteers alike banded together to restore these islands to their natural state.

Watch our Q&A interview with Dave below, as he walks us through the remarkable journey of the islands, his career and his hopes for Aotearoa’s conservation future.

We extend our warm appreciation to Dave for the interview and for providing the photographs used in the video. Reserve a copy of ‘Ahuahu’ from the Library today!

Ahuahu : a conservation journey in Aotearoa New Zealand / Towns, D. R.
“Aotearoa New Zealand is renowned among biologists worldwide for spectacular ecological restoration work over the last 50 years, through advances in pest eradication and native species translocation. This book documents the development of these world-leading technologies. It uses examples from throughout the country, but has a special focus on one island group – the Mercury Islands off Coromandel, of which Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island) is the largest. The story is told through the eyes of pioneer conservation biologist David Towns, who was there from the start. It is a story of triumphs and setbacks, of opportunity and innovation, of teamwork and emerging bicultural collaboration. Today, all seven islands of the Mercury group are free of mammalian pests, providing a haven to native plants and animals. This book is the story of how that was made possible.” (Catalogue)

Act for nature this Conservation Week – Sep 5-11

Tess
Tui in a kowhai tree

“Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata – when the land is well, the people are well. When Papatūānuku thrives, we thrive.”

Take a moment to act for nature this Conservation Week/Te Wiki Tiaki Ao Tūroa 5 - 11 September.

It’s Te Wiki Tiaki Ao Turoa | Conservation week, and across Aotearoa there are a range of events that focus on lending a helping hand to our local environments. Consider the ways you can get involved; by volunteering, making a donation, planting your backyard, or simply by taking a walk outside and picking up rubbish along the way. Be sure to also check out our Bee Awareness Reading List and work towards filling your month up with caring actions for nature. And don’t forget that your library membership also gives you free access to New Zealand Geographic, National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Archives, a vast range of environmental digital resources. Together we can all take part in maintaining Aotearoa’s thriving biodiversity, by making small but impactful changes to our everyday lives.

Nature is a human right : why we’re fighting for green in a grey world / Miles, Ellen
“Nature deprivation is a fast-growing epidemic, harming the health and happiness of hundreds of millions of people worldwide – especially vulnerable and marginalized groups. Through each contributor, we discover a new perspective on why contact with nature should be a protected human right, journeying through personal narratives on mental health, disability, racism, environmental inequality, creativity, innovation and activism.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

140 artists’ ideas for planet earth
“Through 140 drawings, thought experiments, recipes, activist instructions, gardening ideas, insurgences and personal revolutions, artists who spend their lives thinking outside the box guide you to a new worldview, where you and the planet are one.” (Catalogue)

 

A trillion trees : how we can reforest our world / Pearce, Fred
“Trees are essential for nature and for us, and yet we are cutting and burning them at such a rate that many forests are fast approaching tipping points beyond which they will simply shrivel and die. But there is still time, and there is still hope. Fred Pearce argues that we can have our forests back, but mass planting should be a last resort. Instead, we should mostly stand back, make room and let nature — and those who dwell in the forests — do the rest. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Living green in the city : 50 actions to make your surroundings greener / Damblé, Ophélie
“Discover 50 practical actions on how you can make your environment greener. With suggestions for your home, your building, your neighborhood, and your city as a whole, Living Green in the City is full of smart ideas on how you can revegetate the area around you.” (Catalogue)

Wild green wonder : a life in nature / Barkham, Patrick
“Wild Green Wonders bears witness to the many changes we have imposed upon the planet and the challenges lying ahead for the future of nature. Barkham paints an ever-changing portrait of contemporary wildlife, through thought-provoking interviews with conservationists, scientists, activists and writers such as Rosamund Young, Ronald Blythe and other eco-luminaries, including Sir David Attenborough and Brian May.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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