What's the best green book to give your dad on Father's Day?

Father's Day is almost here (June 21st) and we are continuing a tradition we stated last year on Mother's Day and Father's Day, where we provide you with some ideas for green books that can also be great gifts for Father's Day.

As we did last year, we went over all the books reviewed and covered on our blog and chose ten books that we think will suit ten different types of dads we detailed below.

So check out the our list and we hope you find the right green book to your dad!


1. For the father who likes to cook

Big Green Cookbook: Hundreds of Planet-Pleasing Recipes and Tips for a Luscious, Low-Carbon Lifestyle

Does your father like to spend time in the kitchen? is he enjoying making a good meal from time to time? is he in charge of the unofficial menu at the house? if you answer Yes to even one question, then he'll be thrilled from this 386-page book!

Big Green Cookbook by Jackie Newgent, RD (Wiley), is like a hybrid … the “Prius” of cookbooks. And there’s something in it for everyone—whether a little green or already completely eco-conscientious. Chockablock with plant-based recipes, informative sidebars, and useful tips with every recipe, Big Green Cookbook is a comprehensive climate-conscious cookbook that’s ideal for both culinary novices and experiences cooks. The book contains 200 simple and environmentally-friendly recipes for fresh, delicious, all-natural food, with a chapter for every season plus a year-round-recipes chapter.

2. For the father who dreams about urban gardening

The Urban Homestead - Your guide to self-sufficient living in the heart of the city

This is a book for all the fathers who loves their urban life but have heard/seen/read Michael Pollan, are going steady to the local farmer's market, rushed to see Food Inc. and their big dream now is to grow their own food. The only problem is they don't really know where to start.

The Urban Homestead is the solution. It's a practical, hands-on book, full of step-by-step projects that will get you started homesteading immediately, whether you live in an apartment or a house.It is also a guidebook to the larger movement and will point you to the best books and Internet resources on self-sufficiency topics. Projects include: How to start seeds, how to compost with worms, how to grow food on a patio or balcony, how to preserve food and son on.

3. For the traveling father

Disappearing Destinations: 37 Places in Peril and What Can Be Done to Help Save Them

If your father likes to explore new places and cultures around the world, and only the thought about his next trip makes him happy, this is the right book for him.

Actually with this book he better hurry up. This book is a beautiful and memorable look at some of the most gorgeous endangered places on the planet. Machu Picchu for example is a mesmerizing, ancient Incan city tucked away in the mountains of Peru, but it is rapidly being worn down by the thousands of feet treading across its stones. Glacier National Park is a destination long known for the stunning beauty of its ice floes, but in our lifetimes it will have no glaciers due to global warming.

These places - along with many others across the globe - are changing as we speak due to global warming, environmental degradation, overuse, and natural causes. From the Boreal Forests in Finland to the Yangtze River Valley in China, this book is a treasure trove of geographic wonder, and a guide to these threatened destinations and what is being done to save them.

4. For the father who enjoys thrillers

Freezing Point

This is the perfect book for all the fathers who are thriller fans and know a good thriller when they see one. Freezing Point a great thriller! No matter if you're interested in global warming (and we hope you do..) or not, if you're looking for an exciting thriller with an original plot, this is your book right here. It's not a coincidence that the author, Karen Dionne, was called "the new Michael Crichton".

Fascinating and action-packed, Freezing Point is about Environmentalist and engineer Ben Maki who sees the possibilities for Earth's future in a mountain-sized iceberg. If the Soldyne Corporation can tap into the ice, it can provide clean drinking water for millions, and if the company's vision isn't all philanthropic, well, there are always trade-offs. But environmental terrorist Rebecca Sweet lives for her cause -- free, fresh water for everyone -- and she will do anything to stop Soldyne.. We won't tell you more :-)

5. For the faithful father

How Creation Care Will Change Your Faith, Your Life, and Our World

Is your father a man with faith? does he see Planet Earth as God's creation? if he does, and no matter what religion he is part of, he will be enjoying Michael Abbate's unique book.

Gardening Eden invites you to consider a new, spiritual perspective to practical environmentalism. The question is not whether our souls find expression and inspiration in our incredible planet, but how best to preserve that fundamental connection. Discover creation care as an act of worship and a call to deeper harmony with our Creator, our fellow gardeners, and our living Earth. Gardening Eden is the primer in how this shift will transform not only our world, but your very soul.

6. For the biz type father

Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business

Is your father interested in business topics such as strategy and marketing? does he like to explore economic trends and new markets? if he is, then this book, one of the finest written on the green biz market lately is for him.

This book, providing a road map to the green marketplace, is written from a very unique point of view of Joel Makower, who has been both following and participating in the evolvement of the green economy in the last two decades. This unique perspective is differentiating this book from other green biz books and makes it very valuable for any dad who is interested in green business and especially to those who want to better understand what's the green noise is all about.

7. For the clean father

Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself

If your father likes to spend a lot of time in the bathroom and he even knows the name of the shampoo and soap he uses, not to mention using facial cream, this book can be a great fit for him.

Clean Body, written by cleaning guru Michael DeJong, is not merely about washing away the dirt: it embodies a mindset, a philosophy, an alternative to mass consumerism. DeJong draws from Eastern belief systems—especially the element theory in Chinese medicine and Asian cooking—and harmoniously balances five pure essentials in his recipes, using baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt, and white vinegar as the basis for his all-natural concoctions. Including special, separate sections for men and women, Clean Body has ideas for everything from facial exfoliants and natural aftershave to moisturizers and creams for itchy skin, discolored knees, and smooth feet. EVERY part of the body, from head to toe, is covered.

8. For the father who is interested in volunteering

The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World: How to Turn Your Good Intentions into Actions that Make a Difference

If your father is looking for ways to volunteer,get involved in a non-profit, and in general follow President Obama's request to "put your shoulder up against the wheel", this book has all the information he needs.

Part career guide, part activist's handbook, The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World provides tools and inspiration for anyone who wants to make a difference but doesn't know where to start. Inspired by Idealist.org's 600,000-member online community and their ongoing search for work that gives back to the world, this practical reference walks readers through the different ways they can get involved and the range of possibilities for applying one's interests and skills to meet their community's needs.

9. For the father who drinks only bottled water

Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It

Did you father forget the taste of tap water? do you see him all the time with a bottle of water in his hands? well, maybe it's time for revealing the world behind these bottles, and no book is better for that matter like Bottlemania of Elizabeth Royte.

In Bottlemania, Elizabeth Royte ventures to Fryeburg, Maine, to look deep into the source—of Poland Spring water. In this tiny town, and in others like it across the country, she finds the people, machines, economies, and cultural trends that have made bottled water a $60-billion-a-year phenomenon even as it threatens local control of a natural resource and litters the landscape with plastic waste. Moving beyond the environmental consequences of making, filling, transporting and landfilling those billions of bottles, Royte examines the state of tap water today (you may be surprised), and the social impact of water-hungry multinationals sinking ever more pumps into tiny rural towns.

10. For the father that is fantasizing about life in a green house

Green Beginnings: The Story of How We Built Our Green & Sustainable Home

Do you catch your father looking at photos of green houses on his laptop, mumbling something about how a green home with less energy costs and more of everything else will make him a happy guy? if you know what I'm taking about Green Beginnings is the ultimate guide for him.

Green Beginnings is following the journey Avrim and Vicki had while building a new green sustainable home from scratch, one that will be eventually awarded the USGBC’s LEED Silver and Energy Star Qualified Home designations in October, 2008. The book provides homeowners, architects, contractors, and engineers a common understanding of that which they are about to undertake and empowers everyone involved in a project with a common vision and language to work with.

If you choose to give your father a book as a gift, you are more than welcome to balance it out with Eco-Libris, add our sticker to the book and make it the perfect green gift for Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

What's the best green book to give your dad on Father's Day?

Mother's Day is already behind us and now it's time for fathers to get some attention. Father's Day will be celebrated in many courtiers (including the U.S.) on June 15 and it's time to start thinking - what gift will make your father happy? If bringing something to your mom was relatively easy, I bet finding your dad the right gift is much harder (at least in my case..).

As always I think a book is a great gift and a green book is even better, benefiting both your father and the environment! To help you finding the right green book to give this Father's Day, we went over all the books reviewed and covered on our blog and chose ten books that we think will suit ten different types of dads we detailed below.

I must admit that this time it was a bit harder than finding the right books for Mother's Day, as it seems that the majority of green books are targeted at women. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of great green books I'm sure dads will enjoy. So check out the our list and we hope you find the right green book to your dad!


1. For the father who likes to build and renovate

Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies by Eric Corey Freed

Does your father like to renovate the house on the weekends? is he dreaming about the building a new house? if you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, that's a book he will need to do it in a green manner.

This book, written by Eric Corey Freed, an architect from San Francisco, CA, is "your friendly, step-by-step guide to every facet of this Earth-friendly method of construction." The book provides an introduction to every facet of green building, from start to finish, including the materials, architecture, and construction methods of green building and remodeling for both homeowners and professionals such as architects, interior designers, and contractors.

2. For the thinking father

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

This is a book for all the fathers who don't get everything for granted and always like to learn about the alternatives, especially when it comes to the models that dictate our lives.

In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. The book opens up a different way of thinking about happiness, individuality, community and ambition -- all while providing solid info on the most important issues facing us as a society today.


3. For the escapist father

How to live off-grid: Journeys Outside the System by Nick Rosen

If your father ever considered leaving his bourgeois life and living off the grid, this guide is a must for him. If he haven't, after reading the book, he might will..

In "How to live off-grid", Nick Rosen goes into every detail of off-grid living. He provides not only the inspiration to get off the beaten track and find your own space, but also countless resources to help you do just what he suggests. To gather the information to write this book, Nick took to the road with his wife and baby daughter in a converted care bus fuelled by vegetable oil and sun. They toured the UK meeting with off-gridders of all sorts. Their stories are fascinating, inspiring and sometimes quite far-out. But they all have some lessons to pass on to those of us who until now have only dream about being self-sufficient.

4. For the techie father who is interested in energy

Earth: The Sequel by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn

This is the perfect book for all the techie fathers out there that new technologies make them feel woozy (from the good reasons) and will be happy to learn a thing or two about clean energy.

This new book, co-authored by Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn, brings a fresh and well researched perspective on “the race to reinvent energy and stop global warming.” 'Earth: The Sequel' is not only a primer on the various new technologies being developed to produce clean energy, reduce pollution and increase efficient energy use, but also a celebration of the spirit of entrepreneurship around these developments.

5. For the father with farming ambitions

Farewell My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living by Doug Fine

Here's a book about the experiences of a guy who exchanged the suburbs he grew up in into a farm life in New Mexico. Maybe it will convince your father to follow suit..

Like many Americans, Doug Fine enjoys his creature comforts, but he also knows full well they keep him addicted to oil. So he wonders: Is it possible to keep his Netflix and his car, his Wi-Fi and his subwoofers, and still reduce his carbon footprint? In an attempt to find out, Fine up and moves to a remote ranch in New Mexico, where he brazenly vows to grow his own food, use sunlight to power his world, and drive on restaurant grease. Both a hilarious romp and an inspiring call to action, 'Farewell, My Subaru' makes a profound statement about trading today’s instant gratifications for a deeper, more enduring kind of satisfaction.

6. For the corporate father

Climate Change: What's Your Business Strategy? by Andrew J. Hoffman and John G. Woody

Does your father work in a managerial position in the corporate world? this book is will be of interest to any decision maker in the corporate world. Eventually it might be that not only your father will thank you for this book, but all of her company..

Believe or not - climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world today. Most of all, it is quickly becoming a crucial business issue. But how will you and your company respond? You need fast and reliable advice from the world's foremost experts. 'Climate Change' delivers just that: four strategies from two MBA professors with broad and deep experience with environmental issues.

7. For the busy father

The Armchair Environmentalist by Karen Christensen

Everyone are busy, and so is your probably your father. This is the book to show them how going green is not necessarily time consuming.

The Armchair Environmentalist is “a three minute-a-day action plan to save the world.” It focuses on what individuals can do to reduce their use of energy and water and create a healthier environment at home and at work. It is an easy read and chocked full of cute pictures and graphics. Printed on 100% recycled paper, this little book can fit easily into a briefcase or handbag, making it that much easier to take the info "to go".

8. For the nature-loving father

Naked in the Woods – Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery by Jim Motavalli

If your father enjoys spending time in nature and prefer the woods over the living room, he will enjoy this story about a unique person who went naked into the wilderness to survive for two months without any food, human contact, tools or ready made shelter.

Joseph Knowles was a forty-five-year-old part-time painter, ex-Navy man, friend of the Sioux, and onetime hunting guide who stepped-nearly naked-into the woods to live off the land and his own devices. In 'Naked in the Woods', environmental author and journalist Jim Motavalli not only portrays faithfully the life and times of Knowles, and the enthusiasm and controversy around his wilderness exploits, but also opens a window to the era.

9. For the father who wants to be a green parent

The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly Living

This book is for fathers (and mothers) who would like to green up their family's life style and teach their children about living green.

'The Green Parent' covers a variety of subjects that have environmental impacts from parenting points of view - energy, water, garbage, pets, transportation, work, shopping and many more. Each chapter is dedicated to a different subject and includes useful tips, recommendations how to use your money wisely while going green, suggestions how to get your kids involved in the process of greening up, information on relevant issues such as green labels and very interesting interview with green parents.

10. For the father who is looking for the right answers

Hey Mr. Green by Bob Schildgen

“Should I buy my beer in bottles or cans?” - if your father has many everyday questions like this one, this book would make him very happy.

Hey, Mr. Green is a cumulative assortment of green every day questions and answers posed to Bob Schildgen (aka “Mr Green”) for his column in the Sierra Magazine. It is divided into five sections: “At Home” ( domestic details,) “Food for Thought” (eating and drinking better while spending less,) “Out and About” (fueling up and the great outdoors,) “The three Rs ( you know what this means, ) and “The Big Picture” (environmental politics, religion, and other interesting meal time topics.)

If you choose to give your father a book as a gift, you are more than welcome to balance it out with Eco-Libris, add our sticker to the book and make it the perfect green gift for Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!