Green Living
Are you looking for more information about how to live a greener, more eco-friendly life? Concerned about global warming? Do you want to learn more about issues affecting our environment? I started Your Green Guide to help!
In my years of work with non-profit groups focused on environmental and sustainability issues and with small green businesses, I've learned that the best way to start changing is through small steps. We can turn things around if we take small steps and make simple adjustments to green our lives today. And then we keep going from there.
Here at Your Green Guide you can find many resources to help you with those efforts. And don't forget: reduce, reuse, recycle!
Thank you for visiting, and please rank this lens if you have a moment. I welcome your comments.
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."
-Edmund Burke
The Green Lifestyle
Learn more about green living and related issues at these websites
The websites listed here offer lots of green ideas and information - find products, news, recycling information, solutions and many other resources. Good places to start.
- Yahoo! Green
- Get the latest global warming news, solutions for the environment and expert advice on climate change at Yahoo! Green.
- treehugger.com
- TreeHugger is a media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, it strives to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information. Have a look!
- Lime
- a place where you can find all the ideas, information and resources to inspire you to live healthier and help make our planet greener - and have some fun while you're at it
- The Green Guide
- how to make small changes that add up to big benefits for your wallet, for your health, and, of course, for the health of the planet, from the National Geographic Society
- allgreen.com
- AllGreen - Your source for all things green, and happy to say it's based in my home state of Connecticut!
- Green Girl Guide : What's NOW in eco-friendly fashion, beauty and lifestyle
- Everyone is "going green" these days, but most of us aren't sure how to make the decision a real part of everyday life. That's where Green Girl Guide%u2122 comes in. The Green Girls scour the globe for the hottest environmentally and/or socially conscious people, places and things in Beauty, Fashion and Lifestyle and call them out on GreenGirlGuide.com.
- The Daily Green
- A consumer guide to the green revolution. With sections on Green Homes, Green Cuisine, Living Green, Tips & Advice, and more.
- Care2 - the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference!
- Care2 - Get Connected and Make a Difference! This site has a wonderful variety of resources that will help you find ways to become more eco-friendly and to learn about many important issues. One of my favorite things about this site is "Click2Donate." Here you can click - for free - to make donations to worthy causes.
- Make Me Sustainable :: Your Guide to a Sustainable Tomorrow
- Make Me Sustainable was described in one review as "sort of like Weight Watchers for carbon-conscious consumers. It allows people to evaluate their individual carbon footprint and track it over time while teaming with others." It's an apt description.
MakeMeSustainable was created to fill the void between how we feel about our environment and what we do about it. Very much a Web 2.0 site, MakeMeSustainable also offers tools for Facebook. - Green Options - Helping You Make Green Choices
- Practical news and DIY ideas on environmental issues such as green energy, solar energy, biofuels, water issues, fair trade, healthy homes and families, toxic chemicals and clean tech.
Free eco information for you
some excellent PDF downloads
Beware of "Greenwashing"
It's not surprising (to me, anyway) to learn that some businesses are taking advantage of our desire to live more eco-friendly lives. They do this by claiming that their products or services are "greener" than they really are.
"Don't like greenwashing? Ask for standards" is an excellent post on cnet's Green Tech Blog. If you want to learn more about what's happening with greenwashing and certification, this is an excellent place to start and has links to other resources.
(p.s. If you find something in this lens that smacks of "greenwashing" please let me know. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the green info that's out there!)
T. Boone Pickens on YouTube
"The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind power."
T. Boone Pickens, Texas oil man and now renewable energy entrepreneur, has launched a campaign to create a renewable energy network. Called the "Pickens Plan," the proposal calls for building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing natural gas resources. The goal is to replace more than 1/3 of foreign oil imports in 10 years. Because T. Boone Pickens is good at making money, many people are paying attention to his proposal because it means he believes there's a profit to be made by developing and providing renewable energy to America. Learn more about the Pickens Plan.
Green TV!!!
the UNEP broadband TV channel for environmental films
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has lots of excellent videos about the environment. Here are links to a few, and you can find more at www.green.tv.
Learn more about the UNEP at http://www.unep.org/
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAmazon Green!
With hundreds of green items to choose from, Amazon Green
Amazon Green categories include electronics and computers
Amazon Green
Save Energy and Water
There are many small steps we can take to make a big positive impact on the environment. Conserving water and saving energy are some of the easiest and will often help you save money too.
- The Home Energy Saver
- The Home Energy Saver is designed to help consumers identify the best ways to save energy in their homes, and find the resources to make the savings happen. It's the first web-based do-it-yourself energy audit tool.
- The Rainwater Harvesting Community
- HarvestH2O.com is dedicated to the advancement of sustainable water management practices for individuals, families, communities, and businesses.
Green Home
Over at Expert Village, which bills itself as the "World's Largest How-To Video Site," you'll find "Tips For A Green Home," a series of more than 20 how-to videos. They demonstrate steps you can take in your home and home office to reduce your footprint on our environment.
Green Kids
Fortunately, increasing numbers of school systems are teaching our children about the environment and the importance of protecting our planet. In turn, a lot of green resources for kids are available online and elsewhere. Here are a few.
- TEACHING OUR KIDS THE 4 R'S
- Some simple ways we can teach young ones (and ourselves) to help Mother Earth and begin to decrease our human footprints so our children and grandchildren have an Earth they can call home.
- Captain Planet Foundation
- The Captain Planet Foundation has been around since about 1990. Media mogul Ted Turner, one of America's best-known environmentalists, helped get it started. In addition to environmental information, the website details the process for applying for grants from the Foundation
- EPA Environmental Kids Club: Home Page
- The web site for kids created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Excellent!
Make your own biofuel and other useful fuel information
Mike Pelly, president of Olympia Green Fuels in Washington, has become famous for his recipe for making Biodiesel From Used Kitchen Grease or Waste Vegetable Oil. You'll find lots of information about biofuels, ethanol, etc. through the site.
Car Sharing
urban dwellers - do you really need to own a car?
About 75% of North Americans live in cities. Many don't drive enough to justify the expense and hassles of owning a car - yet can't give up the freedom of driving a car when they want to.
Car Sharing provides flexible wheels for an urban lifestyle. It's instant-access to a network of cars throughout the city, 24 hours-a-day, paying-per-trip, without commitment or inconvenience.
And car sharing doesn't just save you money and the hassles of car ownership -- it's good for the environment in many ways. And it's available in cities across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia. These links will get you started.
Car Sharing provides flexible wheels for an urban lifestyle. It's instant-access to a network of cars throughout the city, 24 hours-a-day, paying-per-trip, without commitment or inconvenience.
And car sharing doesn't just save you money and the hassles of car ownership -- it's good for the environment in many ways. And it's available in cities across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Asia. These links will get you started.
- The Car Sharing Network - Car Sharing in your city
- This site has a lot of information and links to other car-sharing resources.
- The World Carshare Consortium
- A cooperative, independent, international, communications program supporting carsharing projects and programs world wide. It's a convenient place on the web to gather and share information and independent views on projects and approaches, past, present and planned future, freely and easily available to all comers.
- Carsharing.US Blog
- The blog of Dave Brook, founder of Carsharing Portland, the first commercial carsharing company in the US in 1998.
- Carsharing US
- CarSharing World is all about carsharing. Featuring news and analysis about various aspects of carsharing, CarSharing World aims to give fans a site to discuss carsharing companies such as Zipcar, PhillyCarShare, and CityCarShare.
Greenhouse Effect
news and trends in urban planning and green design
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byGood Stuff - a FREE booklet from The Worldwatch Institute
the environmental and social impacts of the stuff you buy
Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from, if antibacterial soap is good for your family, or how to recycle an old computer? If you've had these or other questions about the environmental and social impacts of the products you buy and use, Good Stuff is for you. It contains many of the tips, facts, and links you'll need to start making more informed purchases that benefit your health and the environment.
Click here to download the Good Stuff PDF for your copy of this great booklet.
Click here to download the Good Stuff PDF for your copy of this great booklet.
Planet Green TV
the first TV network dedicated to all things green
Planet Green is the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network, and it has an online presence and community too. Launched in June 2008, the channel reaches 50 million homes with with content is that is entertaining, relevant, and accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds.
The channel is part of the Discovery group of cable channels. Visit Planet Green to find the channel in your area and to take advantage of the website's information resources, community forums, green guides, and more.
Do you get Planet Green? Do you think it's good?
your opinion, please!
Planet Green (affiliated with the Discovery Channel) is a TV channel devoted to green issues. It has been available for a while now, and I'm wondering if you are able to receive it on your cable/satellite/fiber optic system and if so, what you think of it.
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Good News!
Environmental Health News
It's not all bad news! Environmental Health News is published daily by Environmental Health Sciences, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 to help increase public understanding of emerging scientific links between environmental exposures and human health.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byEcology Hall of Fame
heroes and heroines of the American environmental movement
This is a neat idea! We've got all kinds of halls of fame, so why not this? The Ecology Hall of Fame honors leaders of the environmental movement and provides a wealth of information about them. You'll also find links to more web resources for each one. It's all very interesting, and is also a good site for students.
Green Jobs
put your green principles to work!
We've all heard that sustainable energy will play an increasingly important role in America's economy. Green jobs are becoming increasingly available in many sectors, both non-profit and for-profit. As our society becomes more aware of enivronmental issues and more committed to resolving them, and with (finally!) some serious government support, the number of green jobs will continue to grow. These websites are an excellent place to look for green job opportunities, and students will find a good number of internships.
- Environmental Career Opportunities
- 500+ Environmental Jobs in conservation, education, policy, science & engineering and more!
- EcoEmploy.com
- Environmental jobs in government, companies and non-profits. Includes science, natural and green opportunities.
- EnvironmentalCAREER.com
- EnvironmentalCareer.com brings together leading environmental employers with the best candidates to work for a better environment.
- Environmental Jobs .com
- "Saving the planet one job at a time." Current job openings in environmental science, policy, engineering, energy, and health & safety across the U.S.
- Green Energy Jobs - Careers in Renewable Energy
- The International Job Board for the Renewable Energy Industries.
- GreenBiz: Green Jobs and Environmental Career Opportunities
- Greenbiz jobs is part of a comprehensive free information resource for large and small companies seeking to align environmental responsibility with business success. Some of the other information you'll find here includes environmental business news, career advice, tools, reports, mentor programs, awards, and government resources.
- Sustainable Industries
- Sustainable Industries magazine is an independent source for green business leaders. This link takes you to the jobs section of the website.
- Green Jobs, Cleantech Jobs, Sustainable Business Job Service
- Job listings with green, sustainable businesses - green building, renewable energy, organic, social investing and all other green businesses. This is the jobs page of a site that provides global news and networking services to help green business grow (it covers all sectors: renewable energy, green building, sustainable investing, and organics).
State of Green Business 2009
it's both better and worse than you thought
Have you ever wondered what sort of progress business is making when it comes to becoming greener? If so, you'll want to have a look at the GreenBiz.com report State of Green Business 2009. You can either download the PDF report or read it online.
Science: Global Warming
The New York Times
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byEating Green
How food is grown, packaged, and transported has a huge impact on our environment. These resources will you learn more about the process and find shopping resources.
- Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food
- Find locally grown produce, anywhere in the country! Just enter your zip code or use the interactive maps to locate farmers markets, family farms, food coops, CSAs, farm stands, and pick-your-own produce in your neighborhood.
- Organic Consumers Association
- Research and action center for the Organic, Buy local, and Fair trade movements. Loaded with great information!
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
- We all know that eating fish is healthy for us, but how do your choices affect the environment? The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California helps you choose ocean-friendly seafood wherever you live or travel in the USA. Download their pocket guide for your region so you'll know which seafood are the best choices and which you should avoid for environmental reasons.
- Environmental Defense Fund Seafood Selector
- Make smart choices when eating seafood - learn more about why various types of seafood are good for you and good for the environment - or NOT.
Organic Consumers Association
campaigning for health, justice, sustainability, peace, and democracy
an interesting blog from an excellent organization - check out the site too.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byOrganic and Natural Gardening
- Compost! Master Composter Home Composting
- How to build a backyard compost pile, build bins, worm composting, trench composting, soil incorporation, glossary, compost reference of organic materials, troubleshooting, FAQ, Message Board. Find your local program. Classes.
- Composting Guide
- Everything you need to know about composting!
- Organic Food Gardening Beginner's Manual
- The ultimate, "Take-You-By-The-Hand" manual For creating and managing your own organic food garden (even if you know nothing about organic gardening)
- Environmental Education On The Internet
- Resources for climate change, global warming, endangered species, national and international events, and more
- How to attract birds and butterflies to your garden
- Create a garden that welcomes songbirds, hummingbirds, and butterflies!
Environmental News and Commentary
- Grist
- Grist is a non-profit that believes that news about green issues and sustainable living doesn't have to be predictable, demoralizing, or dull. It's gloom and doom with a sense of humor. So laugh now -- or the planet gets it.
- Best Green Blogs
- A comprehensive resource for all things green and sustainable in the blogosphere
- Green News From Around the Web
- A directory of news and blogs from all over the place, focusing on the environment and green tech. You'll find a lot of information here.
Keep your meds out of the ecosystem
If you're in the habit of flushing expired or unused medication down the drain or putting it in with garbage that ends up in a landfill, please consider changing: the fish in many of our rivers are consuming antibiotics and birth control pills, and traces of medications are showing up in our tap and bottled water. This is not good!
And...certain of your unused drugs can help others who can't afford their meds, so through a number of state programs your unused drugs can stay out of the ecosystem while helping people in need.
Some pharmacies have safe disposal programs, so check with yours. If it doesn't, these resources will help:
And...certain of your unused drugs can help others who can't afford their meds, so through a number of state programs your unused drugs can stay out of the ecosystem while helping people in need.
Some pharmacies have safe disposal programs, so check with yours. If it doesn't, these resources will help:
- The Starfish Project
- The Starfish Project, located at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, collects the unused portions of people's antiretroviral medications (ARVs) to support people who are HIV-positive in Nigeria.
- Earth911.com
- Find out what to do with unused medicines.
- SMARxT Disposal
- Learn about the potential environmental impact from improperly disposed of medications and about proper disposal alternatives.
- Green Pharmacy Program
- The Teleosis Institute is devoted to developing effective, sustainable health care provided by professionals who serve as environmental health stewards. Their goal is ZERO pharmaceutical waste in our environment
Whole Living on a Budget
a blog by Heather McClure, "mother, wife, radical-wannabe"
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRecycle and freecycle as much as you can!
Recycle your electronics and earn Amazon gift cards at the same time! Gazelle will take your old electronic gadgets and make sure they stay out of landfills.
p align="center"img src="http://www.freecycle.org/images/logo3.jpg" //p
pIf you have something you don't need, don't throw it away. Rather than ending up in a landfill, that item could be used by someone else. So give it away instead. You can do it throug Freecycle, a network made up of many individuals working locally across the globe. Local groups have volunteer moderators. a href=http://www.freecycle.orgJoin or learn more now./a/p">
Free! Green Cleaning Guide
This is a great little guide that shows you how to use safe, everyday products to clean your home. Includes recipes and resources. Click here to read it online or download it (pdf file, requires Adobe Acrobat or similar).
p.s. It's not as extensive as Linda Mason's Green Clean book, but it will definitely get you off to a good start!
p.s. It's not as extensive as Linda Mason's Green Clean book, but it will definitely get you off to a good start!
The Budget Ecoist
Information on the tips, topics and trends that will help you be eco-friendly on a budget
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byGreen Tech
from CNET
Fetching RSS feed... please stand bySustainable Middle Class
"Economy, Environment, Energy, Education, Health, and Freedom"
a very interesting and well done blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byGet Involved!
Environmental Groups and Projects
These are special projects or non-profit organizations working on environmental issues. Lots of good information here. If you can volunteer, make a donation, or help in some other way, please do!
- Go Green Initiative
- A simple, comprehensive program designed to create a culture of environmental responsibility on school campuses across the nation. Founded in 2002, the Go Green Initiative unites parents, students, teachers and school administrators in an effort to make real and lasting changes in their campus communities that will protect children and the environment for years to come.
- LiveNeutral
- LiveNeutral gives everyone the power to stop climate change. From individuals to businesses to nonprofits to schools, we help you calculate and then offset your carbon emissions. By no means do we consider carbon offsets The Answer to global warming. But it's one of the best ways we know of to start reducing the threat of global warming today.
- FilterForGood
- Americans send about 38 billion water bottles a year to landfills. Considering the 1.5 million barrels of oil needed to make those bottles, the environmental impact of plastic bottle waste is truly staggering.
The FilterForGood pledge was created by Brita (the water filter company) and Nalgene (the water bottle company) to encourage people to commit to reduce our personal waste by giving up bottled water, even if it's just a few days each week. At this site you can take the pledge, get more information about the bottle problem and about different ways to be more green, and you can even get coupons. (Yes, these folks want to sell bottles and filters, but it's still a good site to check out!)
Eco-friendly and fairly traded products
socially conscious commerce
In 2008 eBay and WorldOfGood.com combined their resources and a common vision of creating positive change through commerce. The result is World of Good, a fantastic place to find eco-friendly and ethically sourced (fair trade) products, along with other merchandise available through socially conscious channels. I've created a separate World of Good lens, but if you prefer, you can go directly to the web site and see the incredible range of goods for sale.
Green Beauty
When it comes to being green, what you put on your skin is important - toxic chemicals, unnatural ingredients, packaging that's harmful to the environment...the list is long. So the more you know, the better!
- Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database
- Skin Deep is a safety guide to personal care products from the non-profit Environmental Working Group.
Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind.
The FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety, so if you're concerned about what's in your lipstick, your deodorant, your child's sunscreen, or any other skin, hair, body, or makeup product, you'll want to look it up in this database. You can also look up specific ingredients, from aloe vera to zinc (and especially mercury and lead!) as well. - Campaign For Safe Cosmetics
- This coalition is working to protect your health by calling for the elimination of chemicals used in the cosmetics industry linked to cancer, birth defects, and other health problems.
Green Shopping
You can find a broad array of green products at these websites.
- EVO
- From hybrid vehicles to home furnishings, EVO provides a huge selection (more than 20,000 so far) of green products, services, and information all in one place. Each product is green-rated.
How green a product is depends on what it's made from, how it's produced, the distance it travels to reach the consumer, and what type of energy is used to power it. EVO's rating system helps you see the "Green Attributes" of every item listed on the site. Next to each product you'll see 1 to 5 leaves. The more green leaves, the greener the product.
When you sign up (free) EVO will plant a tree. They also have a refer-a-friend program and will plant a tree for every new member you refer. - Sprig.com
- Gorgeous and Green, Organic, Eco, Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Living at Sprig.com
- Wedge Worldwide
- Wedge Worldwide carries a wonderful array of earth-friendly products. Its aim is to empower shoppers so they are able to make lifestyle choices that support their well-being, their health and the health of our planet. Its product line includes eco-friendly, natural, organic, fair trade, recycled, and locally made.
Get rid of junk mail
Better to stop it at the source than have to recycle it!
- Stop Wasteful Junk Mail
- This Direct Marketing Association (DMA) consumer website enables you to remove your name from mailing lists, so if you are receiving unwanted catalogs and other marketing materials, visit this site and click on "Remove My Name From Those Lists." This is one easy way to reduce the use of paper. Think of the energy that's saved as well - less printing, transporation, and so forth.
Make Your Own Power!
You can do it! These resources will show you how to make solar, wind, and other types of renewable energy yourself, whether you are on the grid or off. It's good for our planet, and it's really good for your wallet!
- Earth4Energy
- This guide will teach you everything you need to know about producing your own electricity by using wind and solar power. A complete step-by-step setup fully illustrated manual enables you to create your renewable energy solutions in your own backyard.
- Renewable Energy Solutions
- Make a wind generator, learn everything you need to know about what types of solar panels to use and how to install them, create biodiesel fuel yourself, and more ways to get started with renewable energy without breaking the bank.
- Make Natural Power
- Build your own solar panels and wind turbine using materials you probably already have in your basement. You can significantly reduce or even eliminate your energy bill by producing your own energy.
by Silver_Lotus
From the first Earth Day until now, Silver Lotus has been involved in the green movement in many different ways, including environmental protests, vol... (more)
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