DIY: A Handbook for Changing Our World

A Radical Guide to Ethical and Sustainable Living

Download a copy

 The author describes this book as a call to get involved in practical action, reflection and to create more sustainable and fairer ways of living. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a better way of life for yourself, family, society and our planet.

The best part is, this is a free pdf copy! No ads, sign up, special programs needed to view it, or other such bull is required. I downloaded my copy into my e-reader (my new beloved toy) from here although that is not the only location a free copy is available.

Excerpt from the book...
"The 18 chapters that follow weave together analysis, personal stories and examples of various everyday movements for change. The idea is not to dictate how things should be done but to provide examples of places, ideas, ways of organizing and inventions for you to do it yourself. This is not a comprehensive guide. Issues such as transport, alternative economies and housing, for example, could have been covered but due to space constraints are not. Neither was there room to do justice to the complex ways that race, gender, class, spirituality, religion or sexuality interact with what we are saying.
For each theme of the book there are two distinct chapters: one which introduces the theme, its histories, ideas, problems and pitfalls, and a more practical ‘how to’ guide consisting of ways to turn some of these ideas into reality." 

The topics covered are diverse and include, but are not limited to topics such as: getting off the grid, managing your own wealth, inspire change through learning, why we are what we eat, setting up a community garden, and how to build active campaigns. The authors focus on the permaculture model and apply it to all aspects of our society, as shown in the diagram above.

"This handbook is designed to inform, inspire and enable people... It is us that can make the changes and it is us that will have to." 

Although it is a lengthy read, it is speckled with humor, and includes interesting diagrams and illustrations. I urge you to download a copy for yourself, and perhaps something in it will inspire YOU to create change.
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And we live in unnatural times.
And we must make them
Natural again
With our singing
And our intelligent rage.
(Nobel Laureate Ben Okri, for Ken Saro-Wiwa, 1995)