Love Earth

To begin with, Love Earth doesn’t really look like a book. Its cover is apparently ‘100 per cent upcycled from the printing remnants of this book’, and it seems they didn’t have quite enough material to upcycle, so the cover’s smaller than the inside pages, looks like a collage of photographs and the title is advertised only on a sticker that looks like it was an afterthought.

I turn into the book proper, which begins with an inserted pamphlet of ‘100 eco ideas’ detailed in quirky, environmentallythemed sketches: the ‘a’ in idea for example doubles up as a hippiestyle teepee. Here, I am met by the nonexistent word ‘lifes’ – though given the book has called into question all my previous notions of what a book is, I am uncertain whether this is a deliberate ‘arty’ take on a word, or an inadvertent blunder (further errors suggest the latter).

The eco ideas all turn out to be beautiful, comical or often bizarrely downright compelling. Favourite advice includes ‘Leave a trail of seeds in the city’; ‘Make a portable green grass carpet and picnic everywhere’; and ‘Replace phones with paper cup telephones in small offices’.

Ignoring the unusual literary technique, careless editing and innovative (read: disconcerting) layout, this book is about the pictures. The bulk of the book is comprised of an attractively and utterly addictive selection of artwork, sculpture, furniture design, accessories, and clothing that share the common aim: a healthier planet. Each product considers a particular environmental aspect to get the reader thinking: the renewability and sustainability of materials, our artistic or conceptual relationship with nature, an appeal for action, or improving the functionality of an object.

I find myself picking this book up again and again – some of the pictures are just great to look at, some contain ideas about which I genuinely want to find out more. Whatever the reason, the dreamer in me has been, and continues to be, thought provoked – I definitely recommend this as an addition to your coffee table/briefcase/ downstairs toilet.