The Joyful Environmentalist: How to Practise without Preaching

by Isabel Losada

Overview

The feel-good book of the year for everyone who loves our planet and is looking for solutions. Fast, funny and inspiring, too.

"This is the joy we need in our lives." - George Monbiot.

"This book, practical and realistic as well as visionary, will keep that positive message before the reader's eyes. Joy is after all one of the best motivations we can have for change." - Dr Rowan Williams.

Finally! A book about saving our planet that is fast, funny and inspiring too. Written in short chapters for busy people, Isabel doesn't bother with an examination of the problem but gets right on with the solutions. Her aim: to look for every single way we can take care of the planet; how we live and work, travel, shop, eat, drink, dress, vote, play, volunteer, bank - everything. And to do this wholeheartedly, energetically and joyfully.

Beginning with losing her cool in a restaurant that will only provide plastic cutlery, Isabel journeys through native tree planting in the Highlands of Scotland, playing Samba drums with Extinction Rebellion, interviewing in person the people that supply her energy and food - through every solution she can find - until both narrator and reader are fully equipped to be part of the pollution solution.

"She gave my spirit a lift and my feet somewhere to stand." - Sir Mark Rylance

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786785015
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Isabel Losada is the bestselling author of six previous books including The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment. She has worked as an actress, singer, dancer, researcher, TV producer, broadcaster, public speaker, comedian and author. She remains firmly committed to narrative non-fiction and swimming against the tide. Find out more at: isabellosada.com

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Plastic 1 Dangerous Woman in Whole Foods without Fork 5

Plastic 2 Ten New Plastic Products Sold to Us on Social Media this Year 11

Earth 1 Plant Your Trees 13

Plastic 3 The Basics: How to Remove Plastic from Your Home - 36 Steps for Starters 33

Energy 1 Smart Meters, Candlelight and Sleeping Children 43

Energy 2 Changing Light Bulbs on the Titanic 49

Plastic 4 Soap 53

Food 1 Holy Cows and Fish Fingers 55

Food 2 How to Buy a Tomato and Other Supply Chain Dilemmas 65

Travel 1 Cars, Bikes and Legs 83

Travel 2 Flying Hypocrisy with Plastic Too 89

Stuff 1 The Life-Changing Magic of Not Shopping 95

Energy 3 Burning Coal and Admissions of Stupidity 99

Energy 4 Gas and Hot Air 103

Energy 5 Smelly Emissions and Profit Margins 109

Wine 1 Cosmic Grapes 115

Climate Change 1 Flat Earthers and Climate Change Deniers 117

Insects 1 Bug Houses and English Bluebells 123

Earth 2 Alchemy and Black Gold 129|20 The Bigger Picture 1 Being a Little Bit Activist 133|20 The Bigger Picture 2 Are You an 'Arrestable'? 167|21 Birds 1 Vegan Fat Cakes and the Merits of Pyracantha 177|22 Money 1 Putting your Money Where Your Values Are 185

Energy 6 Gas, Electricity and Solar Panels 189|23 The Bigger Picture 3 Voting, Canvassing and Wolf Tattoos 209

Earth 3 Yippies and Wombles - Living Off Grid 223|24 Clothes and Fashion 1 Stylish, Sassy and Sustainable 249|24 Clothes and Fashion 2 When Buying New Clothes Is a Good Idea 261

Energy 7 The Environmentally Friendly Hearth 271|24 Nature 1 Love, Peace and a Nightingale 275

Postscript. And Where From Here? 295

Endnotes 299

Appendix 1 Further Reading 301

Appendix 2 Further Cooking: Fifteen Favourite Plant-Based Cook books for Flavoursome Inspiration 303

Appendix 3 Ten Environmental Charities 307

Appendix 4 A Gift For You 309

Appendix 5 Ten Instagram Accounts of People or Organizations Mentioned in this Book 310

Appendix 6 Ten More Environmental Instagram Accounts to Follow (+ Mine) 311

Acknowledgements 313

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Told with humour and candour, The Joyful Environmentalist is a manifesto of brilliant advice offered with humility and good grace – it is a practical guide to empower us all."
– Isabella Tree - Author of Wilding

"Isabel encourages both individual and collective action with her honest, humorous account of all the choices we each can make right now today to change the world by changing ourselves."
– Sir Mark Rylance

"This is the joy we need in our lives, cutting through the despair to help us find our way in the world."
– George Monbiot

"A total delight. Isabel Losada navigates her way through the eccentric highways and byways of the human potential movement with scepticism, humour and interrogative open-mindedness. Candid, thought provoking, sassy and very very funny."
– Mick Brown - Daily Telegraph on The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment

"Full of a crazy joy ... made me laugh out loud."
– Impact Cultural Magazine on The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment

"Swift, Snappy and Engaging"
– The Sunday Tribune on The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment

"The world must be changed… Isabel’s story brings this truism to life, in a vivid, funny, heart-warming, delightful way. It is a great read, a live teaching! I enjoyed it, laughed and learned a lot!"
– Professor Robert Thurman, Tibetologist and Buddhist Scholar. Columbia University, New York on For Tibet, With Love

"Isabel Losada is a 21st Century Hero ... someone who is changing the world for the better and will make you want to, too."
– Harpers and Queen Magazine on For Tibet, With Love

"This remarkable tale of one woman’s dedicated personal journey captures the spirit of compassion in action."
– Lama Suyra Das on For Tibet, With Love

"Fast, funny and inspiring too. Isabel Losada is a writer that changes lives."
– Joanna Lumley on For Tibet, With Love

"Isabel Losada has achieved the perfect combination of humour, poignancy and intellectual rigour."
– The Statesman on Men!

"Think 'Michael Moore' meets 'Men are from Mars' – only a lot funnier."
– Glamour Magazine on Men!

"Finally, everything we couldn’t work out is explained. Brilliant, honest research and funny too." 
– Elle on Men!

"Isabel Losada proves herself a fantastic prose-stylist and the most eloquent of guides. It’s a book which grapples with the big questions."
– Piers Moore Ede, author of All Kinds of Magic on The Battersea Park Road to Paradise

"Engaging, lyrical and courageous. Her journey and her honesty will make you laugh and touch your heart. This is rock’n’roll of the soul. I love this book." 
– William Bloom on The Battersea Park Road to Paradise

"The intriguing thing about this thought provoking book is the amount of genuine happiness on display... happiness based on being at peace with yourself."
– The Daily Telegraph on The Battersea Park Road to Paradise

"Sensation explores the gentle beauty of intimacy and pleasure in human relationships; it's impossible not to be entertained, educated, amused and inspired."
– The Amorist on Sensation

"Losada leaves no stone unturned - or should I say unturned-on? Nakedly frank and frankly nakedly necessary."
– Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller on Sensation