A book entitled ‘This is a good guide’ somewhat takes the wind out of the critic’s sails. But this book by Marieke Eyskoot, which is now available in English, has a lot that supports the self-imposed qualification. The book is fully packed with information, addresses and tips for a sustainable life.
Marieke Eyskoot is an expert in the field of sustainable fashion and lifestyle. She was co-founder of the international fair fashion trade show MINT, from 2011 till 2016 a separate exhibition on fair fashion next to the tradeshow Modefabriek (this 8 and 9 July again in Amsterdam). In 2017 MINT was integrated in Modefabriek.
In that same year Eyskoot published the Dutch version of her guide for a sustainable life, which is now translated and edited for the international market. The book has piles of information to help you make sustainable choices in the fields of fashion, beauty, food, home & work, leisure, and knowledge. Supported by convincing figures – 11.8 billion kilos of clothes and textiles end up in American landfills every year; 80 billion clothes produced worldwide every year – the book gives tons of alternatives to thoughtless and damaging consumerism.
Jet skiing
Guides like these have a difficulty. They are aimed at convincing people to change their lifestyles, but generally attract the ones who already are interested in sustainability and seek to improve their behaviour even more. No need to tell those that you should bring your own bag when you go shopping or should treat local people with respect when traveling to another country. Nor that one should prefer swimming over jet skiing. Wouldn’t it be great if a book like this could convince the jet skiers of this world to shift the helm and take the sustainable course?
That said, ‘This is a good guide’ has so much information portioned in easy digestible pieces, short interviews and tips and recommendations that probably everyone will find some news in it. Every chapter is followed by a list of stores, brands and websites in Australia and New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium, Scandinavia, UK, USA and Canada.
Altogether, this is an impressive collection of all there is to know about sustainable living, written in a nice and optimistic tone. So indeed, quite a good guide.
‘This is a good guide’ (€24,00, ISBN 9789063694920) is available through the webshop of our partner bookstore Athenaeum Bookshop