TOOLS
Find Green Businesses
Search for organic restaurants and green cleaning services on Ecovian, a guide to eco-friendly businesses in certain U.S. cities. The site rates the businesses on a scale of “greenness.”
www.ecovian.com
Recycle Everything
Newspapers and aluminum cans are relatively easy to recycle. Earth911 is a database of where to recycle less conventional items—everything from printer cartridges and televisions to paint, car parts, asbestos and even explosives.
http://earth911.com
Free Money
Tax credits, rebates and other incentives in your state for all kinds of home and business projects that save energy or use renewable power can be found at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.
www.dsireusa.org
Just Shoe It
Recycle your old kicks by dropping them off at one of 300 locations worldwide sponsored by Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program. The shoes are turned into materials for synthetic running tracks and tennis courts.
www.nikereuseashoe.com
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
ACTIVITIES
Water Cleanup
Waterways are a precious resource. Volunteer to help monitor water quality and collect trash with local “stream teams” and other groups. The Adopt Your Watershed campaign tracks such initiatives around the country.
www.epa.gov/adopt
Roll Up Your Sleeves
The Clean Up the World campaign, supported by the United Nations Environment Program, helps to coordinate volunteers to plant trees, recycle and participate in many Earth-friendly activities. To date, some 35 million people have taken part. Clean Up the World Weekend in 2009 is September 19–20.
www.cleanuptheworld.org/en
Get Out
The Ecopalooza Green Living Network offers an online calendar of eco-events around the U.S. Feel free to submit your own.
www.ecopalooza.net
Go Frogging
You might know the calls of birds in your backyard, but if you don’t mind learning a few frog calls you could help scientists monitor amphibian populations throughout the spring and summer.
www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp
BOOKS
Frommer’s 500 Places to See before They Disappear
by Holly Hughes, with Larry West (Wiley).
Forget about visiting places before you die. See these natural, cultural and historic spots before they expire.
State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World
by The Worldwatch Institute (W.W. Norton).
This annual climate change handbook provides analyses of and solutions to one of the biggest problems of our time.
Eco-Logical
This online bookseller based in the U.K. publishes a wide variety of guides on green topics, including growing wild mushrooms and planning your eco-funeral.
www.eco-logicbooks.com
VIDEO AND AUDIO
Rent It Tonight
Tired of Blockbuster night? Green Planet Films, a nonprofit organization, rents and sells DVDs on topics ranging from the coal and fishing industries to bicycle advocacy and recycling for kids.
http://greenplanetfilms.org
60-Second Earth
In just one minute, you can learn about the world’s energy future, climate change, what to do with the waste from gold mines and other cool (or hot) topics from Scientific American’s 60-Second Earth podcast.
www.SciAm.com/podcast
EXHIBITS
Nice Place to Live
Green buildings seem to be popping up everywhere. But sustainable universities, neighborhoods, towns and entire urban centers are featured in Green Community, an exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., until October 25.
www.nbm.org
Insects Galore
Audubon Insectarium—a museum devoted to bugs—recently opened its doors in New
Orleans. Exhibits show that insects are not only important for pollinating and decomposing—key factors in maintaining biodiversity and viable ecosystems—sometimes they’re even tasty.
www.auduboninstitute.org
Note: This article was originally printed with the title, "Resources".