Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning

This small book explores a very simple but critical meme: most of the seemingly benign stuff in our everyday lives has a very complicated past that’s energy-intensive and environmentally damaging. To convey this, Stuff follows a typical North American citizen through a single day and backtracks the inputs required for their coffee, T-shirt, computer, hamburger, etc. The findings are startling: did you know that it takes 700 gallons of water just so you can have your Quarter-Pounder? Statistics like this create a kind of social unease, hopefully enough to bring awareness to the significant environmental aftermath of our everyday lives. TreeHugger hopes that Stuff will spur readers on to vote against needless waste with their every purchase.