Building a Sustainable Kitchen: A Practical Guide to Prioritizing the Planet from the Heart of Your Home

“A revolutionary road map to changing our food systems, reducing waste, and improving health, with each chapter throwing light on subjects that are of deep interest to the climate-conscious consumer . . . Live well, eat well, and change the world!” —Elizabeth May, OC, MP, Leader of the Green Party of Canada

“Looking to make your home and the world more sustainable? The kitchen is where your actions have the power to make the biggest impact and Naomi Hansen has done all the legwork to find out where and how you should prioritize your efforts. This is a fantastic, well researched reference guide for all of us.” —Bea Johnson, best-selling author of Zero Waste Home

Building a Sustainable Kitchen is the thoroughly researched and realistic step-by-step guide every climate-conscious consumer needs to make the heart of their home more planet-friendly.

When Canadian food writer Naomi Hansen first started her sustainability journey, she was overwhelmed by conflicting advice, shiny advertisements, and unrealistic recommendations.Building a Sustainable Kitchen is her antidote: a solutions-focused, no-nonsense guide designed to help you cut through disinformation and greenwashing to make your kitchen truly sustainable, one step at a time.

In each chapter, Naomi invites you on her journey to build a planet-friendly kitchen with help from her husband Paul and their dog Rue. Drawing on wisdom from hundreds of sources—including interviews with experts, academic studies, books, and organizations on the front lines of the climate crisis—and on the author's own experience as a regular Canadian in her humble kitchen, Building a Sustainable Kitchen demystifies the science behind how what we do in the kitchen every day affects our Earth—and most importantly, shows you what you can do about it.

Each chapter contains a wealth of flexible recommendations for achievable, evidence-based changes that make a real impact for the planet. Chapters on reducing food waste, understanding plant-based, local, seasonal, and organic eating, and gardening teach us about the food on our plates. Chapters on the potential and pitfalls of composting and recycling, learning what it really means to send waste to a landfill, and navigating the nitty gritty of disposable and reusable items help us reduce garbage and grow toward a circular economy. From water use, to cleaning, to choosing appliances, to our beloved coffees and teas, Building a Sustainable Kitchen leaves no stone unturned. This heartfelt, practical guide proves that building a sustainable kitchen is not just possible, but that it can also be joyful and transformative.

Naomi Hansen is the award-winning author of Only in Saskatchewan: Recipes & Stories from the Province's Best-Loved Eateries, her debut cookbook published in 2022. She is a contributor to many publications, including CBC, Chatelaine, and Canadian Living. Building a Sustainable Kitchen is her second book. She lives on Treaty 6 Territory in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan with her partner, Paul, and their dog, Rue. Find her online at naomihansen.ca.

Elizabeth May is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a politician, environmental activist, lawyer, author, Member of Parliament, and Leader of the Green Party of Canada. She served as a policy advisor to the government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and, in 2011, she became the first Green Party Member elected to the House of Commons. May has served as leader of the Green Party from 2006 to 2019, co-leader of the party from 2022–2025, and is once again the sole leader as of February 2025.