This weekend, I’m a bit of a kid in a (vegan) candy shop. I’ve managed to get my hands on one of the most exciting green books of the year: Green Moxie’s Guide to Sustainable living, and I’ve been dying to share my thought with you all!

I’ve been a massive fan of Toronto based Nikki Fotheringham and her website Green Moxie ever since I began A Lazy Girl Goes Green last year, and have be fortunate enough to do a few blog swaps with the sustainability legend. What struck me from the outset was how honest, funny and down to earth Nikki was with her approach to sustainability. Though she specialises in environmentally-friendly building technologies and renewable energy, her cheeky and stylish approach to green living makes it a more accessible, and in fact desirable, way to live.

Book Review: Green Moxie’s Guide to Sustainable Living

I’ve expressed many times before my frustration that “green living” is such a vague term, that I often find myself wondering if I’m doing it right or not. It can feel a bit of a slog sometimes to check my actions for their green credentials and I always feel like there are huge areas of my life yet to be “greened-up”. It’s all good and well starting a blog about trying to go green, but almost a year in, I still have no real idea where to start!

But then along comes this book. And what a breath of fresh air it is! No preachy, scaremongering messages of doom and gloom. No unpractical, patronising pushes to live a life without sin. It’s simply a fun, playful and easy to follow guide for living green in every area of your life. Taking you through the home, office and garden, Green Moxies Guide to Sustainable Living is exactly what it says on the tin, but with just the right amount of humor to remind you this green living lark should be fun too!

For sustainable newbies and green living goddesses a like, this book shows you how to do just about everything in a more eco-friendly way; from upcycling projects you can do with your kids, and tackling renewal energy, to making your own make-up and natural cleaning products.

In fact, despite being the least likely person to want to make “stuff”, I was really impressed with the amount of things you can create yourself using this book. Homemade foundation, laundry detergent, cough syrup, wine bottle chandeliers, teacup candles, and even your own bug spray are all displayed in simple easy steps to make you feel like you could start your own line of products!

I’ll be honest, there are probably a huge number of things in here I will never get around to doing myself (making moss graffiti or shelves out of crutches, for example…) but I kind of think that’s the point. Nikki has made it so easy to dip in and out of her guide, you can pop in for some specific ideas for the garden, or simple keep on your coffee table to flick through at your leisure. I love how it works as really practical guide for everyday essentials, but is also dotted with really out there ideas which are more creative than you could come up with after 6 mojitos on a sunny day.

And for this reason alone, I salute this book for managing to get both my Gemini sides falling in love with it, and inspiring me to think outside the box more when it comes to my own green adventures. I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy right now; ready to impress your friends with all your new found green living inspiration!