Sustainability in Action in Early Childhood Settings is an Australian curriculum resource that will assist educators, managers, coordinators and other staff in a variety of early education and care settings to genuinely embed sustainable practices and systems, in order to meet and exceed the requirements of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Standard (NQS). Sneddon and Pettit refer to the broader spectrum viewpoints of sustainability and what they could look like within early childhood services. This full colour, easy-to-use resource will support the reader to better understand sustainability and successfully incorporate it into their everyday living, learning, and practices. The book is designed for educators and providers in all early childhood and care services, out of hours’ school care and school environments, as well as preservice teachers and tertiary lecturers in the field. It caters to those beginning engagement in sustainability, as well as to those wishing to extend current practices. It would likewise appeal to parents wishing to introduce or strengthen sustainable practices at home with their own children, or at playgroups. Although written for adults, the many visuals throughout will help draw children into deeper conversations on many levels. This book is for those who are taking the first steps in sustainability, as well as those wishing to extend current practices. It is also relevant to playgroups, out-of-hours school care and school environments, and to lecturers and students in training and tertiary institutions.

Sustainability in Action provides a wealth of interesting information and many captioned photographs. Ten interconnected aspects of sustainability are explored — biodiversity, water, energy, air and transport, waste, children's wellbeing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, cultural and social diversity, community and partnerships, and economics — enabling readers to grow their own knowledge as a basis for their actions. Many appealing, practical suggestions are also included for making sustainability part of young children's everyday education and care. Aspects of sustainability are explained with clear visuals using the ecological ‘footprint’ and social ‘handprint’, and these are interpreted through examples of daily practice that help embed sustainability as a foundation for learning and the capacity to make a difference.

Chapters 1 to 3 set the scene and draw attention to the importance of the early years as a time of curiosity and wonder for children and subsequently the significance of sustainability in the child's right to be an active participant in decision making in their daily lives. These early chapters explain and highlight practices that could already be occurring within the service, which unknowingly to many educators relate to sustainability, such as growing and cooking vegetables, celebrating diversity and culturally significant events, and being responsive to children and their needs. ‘Sustainability’ is teased out in simple terms and with clear visuals that expand the reader's understanding of the world beyond those of the practical day-to-day environmental applications, to also include societal and economic applications. Simple, clear diagrams and wording encourage the reader to begin exploring further, while resource suggestions provide deeper understanding and avenues for support and research. Sustainability in early childhood settings is most easily embedded through curriculum and pedagogy. Intentional teaching, being responsive to children, and being reflective are important elements in this teaching approach and are covered in depth within Chapter 3.

Chapters 4 and 5 are comprehensive and explore the 10 underpinning aspects of sustainability through our ecological ‘footprint’ and social ‘handprint’, to provide a valuable foundation for the many actions that are suggested and for others that readers will come up with themselves. These chapters emphasise the importance of developing a strong awareness of and connection between children and nature so that they feel empowered to care for their world and all living things.

Chapter 4, the ecological ‘footprint’, explores our connection with and effects on biodiversity, the web of life, and the interconnectedness of all things and actions. This chapter especially is one to read and understand as it underpins all other ecosystems in the natural world. By developing an awareness that everything is connected and every human action results in some impact on the environments around us, then our understanding of the importance of educating for sustainable development is strengthened.

Similarly, Chapter 5 explores the social ‘handprint’ and the connections and networks that we form as humans in cultural, social, and economic communities worldwide.

Both Chapters 4 and 5 use the simple and easy to relate to diagrams of the foot (five toes) and hand (five fingers) to interpret the 10 areas of sustainability. In the footprint, the sections relate to our impact on the environment through the systems of biodiversity, water, energy, air and transport, and waste. In the handprint, the sections relate to our impact on social structure and community, through children's wellbeing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, cultural and social diversity, community and partnerships, and economics.

These 10 topics are then broken down further into aspects of sustainability — ‘themes’ and ‘sustainability in action’. In this way these large topics are made manageable and easy to understand and relate to.

Chapter 6 offers ways to involve everyone in an early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting, whether taking first steps in sustainability or building upon current practices, with interest and enthusiasm for making it ‘just the way we do things’ every day. The ‘Thoughts to Guide our actions’ make this clear by listing four guiding thoughts: ‘Keeping the earth in mind, caring about other people, being resourceful, and taking the initiative’. Taking small steps is encouraged, as is slowly creating an ethos or mindset to successfully embed sustainability.

Each chapter has a ‘Starting Points for Action’ section that provides simple dot points to assist the reader to begin ‘thinking’ about the topic: ‘3 things we can do today’ provides three practical examples to get started immediately; and finally, ‘Resource suggestions’, to build understanding.

This is followed by an outline of the learning outcomes of the EYLF and NQS that can be demonstrated while engaging with each of these 10 aspects of sustainability.

The book concludes by posing suggestions for delving further, a calendar of dates related to sustainability, and references for further reading. This is an easy-to-read, extremely useful book containing practical ideas, which is desperately needed in the ECEC sector to break down the mysticism and concerns around sustainability. It is available from Early Childhood Australia, the Bookgarden and other good booksellers.