In their introduction to the latest edition of Modern Poetry in Translation: The Big Green Issue (Impress Books, £11/offer £9.90) the editors, David and Helen Constantine, call for new “primitive taboos” to stop the degradation of the planet. They also say that when they invited contributions on “green” subjects, they were surprised to find that many had nothing to do with saving endangered animals or plants and everything to do with the way that human beings treat one another. If, as the Constantines suggest, there is a continuum between our behaviour towards our immediate domestic environment and the way we treat the planet, then there can be no more loving Christmas gift than a book that helps people to stop wasting and consuming as if it's going out of fashion. Which, happily, it is.

The Thrift Book by India Knight (Fig Tree, £14.99/£13.49) is designed to ease the glamour girl gently into the world of living well while spending less. With recipes for home-made beauty products and tips on which items of clothing to scrimp on and which really are investment pieces, Knight is the Mrs Beeton of late capitalism, and an engaging and funny writer to boot.

Lost Crafts: Rediscovering Traditional Skills by Una McGovern (Chambers, £19.99/£17.99) is one for the more serious craftsperson. A blend of social history and practical instruction, this handsome book will have you coopering, whittling and smocking in no time. McGovern makes the dream of never shopping again seem like a reality, and teaches a sobering lesson about the extent to which, until recently, the things we had were made by us or by people we knew, so we valued them more and wasted them less.

Green Design: A Healthy Home Handbook by Alan Berman (Frances Lincoln, £14.99/£13.49) may look like World of Interiors but is in fact an expert guide to the hidden impact of everything we put in our homes. Noise pollution, the gasses leached out by carpet underlay and sensible insulation practices are just some of the issues covered, and by the end you'll wonder why you never before considered covering your bedroom ceiling with dried grass.

Kiss Chase and Conkers: The Games We Played by Caroline Sanderson (Chambers, £14.99/£13.49) is a nod to the fact that only a few decades ago the tools of childhood gaming were string, chalk and imagination rather than agile thumbs and a taste for violence. But if the rules of your favourite playground entertainments are lost in the mists of time, fear not. Sanderson recalls Consequences, Cat's Cradle and even something called Husky Bum ... and if her instructions don't amuse the children, the vintage photographs of 20th-century kids at play will.

365 Ways to Save the Earth by Philippe Boursellier (Abrams, £19.99/ £17.99) is a small-format photographic celebration of the natural world. For each day of the year you get a stunning image of one of the planet's wild treasures (from volcanoes to bacteria) with a valuable eco-tip on the facing page, making each double-page spread into a simple but very important equation. Present a friend with this book and help them to start giving something back to that most generous mother, nature.

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