1. Book — Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and she writes about the natural world not as a resource to manage but as a relationship to tend — one where taking and giving back are inseparable. The prose is quiet, precise, and often stunning.
It's not a book about veganism or sustainability in any explicit sense, but it reshapes how you see both. I started noticing things differently on my morning walks after reading it. That felt like enough.
2. Podcast — The Rich Roll Podcast
Rich Roll has been hosting long-form conversations about wellness, purpose, and plant-based living for over a decade. What keeps me coming back is that the episodes run long — often two hours — which means guests get past their talking points into territory they didn't plan to cover.
A recent favourite: his conversation with cognitive scientist Maya Shankar about navigating involuntary change, identity loss, and why our brains resist uncertainty. It's the kind of episode you finish and immediately text to someone. If you're new to the show, that's a good place to start.
3. Product — Matt & Nat Vegan Leather Backpack
Matt & Nat has been making vegan bags since 1995, long before "vegan leather" was a mainstream selling point. Their backpacks are clean, functional, and hold up — the linings are made from recycled plastic bottles, and their Vintage line uses recycled windshield glass resin.
What I appreciate is that they don't make sustainability the performance. The ethics are built into the material rather than plastered across the marketing. Their BRAVE is a good everyday commuter; the FABI works if you want something slightly more structured.
4. Quote — Octavia Butler
"All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change."
This is from Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler's 1993 novel about building community amid collapse. It's science fiction, not philosophy, which is why it lands differently — Butler wasn't writing a manifesto, she was imagining what it takes to start over when the old structures fail. That opening verse from her fictional Book of the Living captures something this entire issue circles around: nothing holds still, and the only real question is what you do with that fact.
5. Vegan Place — Rya Bakehouse, Singapore
Most vegan bakeries are making a compromise and hoping you won't notice. Rya isn't. Chef Matthias, who developed recipes at Frea Bakery in Berlin before opening this tiny shopfront on Cavan Road with his family, treats plant-based as the starting point, not the limitation.
The cardamom bun, wrapped in laminated croissant dough, is buttery and warm with spice. The aglio olio pizza on a sourdough base is topped with vegan cheese that actually melts. The pistachio croissant is beautifully flaky and the cream inside is nutty and rich without being sweet (and the sole reason I started pre-ordering). They're fully vegan, open Wednesday to Sunday until 2pm. Go before the word gets out.