Wholesome Practice: Green Building

Climate Change & Colleges – How Campuses & Students Are Helping to Save the Planet

“Humans played a big role in the changes to the earth’s climate over the last century, and scientists predict catastrophic problems if climate change goes unchecked. America is the second largest contributor to carbon dioxide in the world but accounts for only 4.4% of the global population, which means people in the U.S. can make great strides in the fight against climate change with the right tools, information, and resources. College is a great place to start, and there are many opportunities for involvement as a student. See what climate change experts have to say on the matter and learn more about the different ways you can get involved on campus and beyond.”

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A guide to green careers

“Make A Living, Make A Difference. Renewability. Sustainability. Efficiency. These three words describe the engine that will drive the economic growth in the near future and for decades to come. As the world’s economy goes, so goes its jobs market. This guidebook has been created to help readers better understand exactly what lies ahead for job seekers in a renewable, sustainable and more efficient world. If you are interested in finding a career where you can make a difference while making a living, this guidebook is for you.”

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World Green Building Council

“The World Green Building Council is a global network of Green Building Councils which is transforming the places we live, work, play, heal and learn. We believe green buildings can and must be at the centre of our lives. Our changing climate means we must reshape the way we grow and build, enabling people to thrive both today and tomorrow. We take action – championing local and global leadership, and empowering our community to drive change. Together, we are greater than the sum of our parts, and commit to green buildings for everyone, everywhere.”

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Within Reach

“Within Reach is a film documenting one resilient couple’s 6,500 mile bicycling journey across the United States in search of sustainable communities. Mandy and Ryan gave up their corporate jobs and houses to travel thousands of miles in search of a new home, while also looking within. One of the most important questions facing the world today is “Can humans live sustainably?” This film answers this in a resounding way – Yes! Within Reach: Journey to Find Sustainable Community. Meet people from around the country showing that there might just be a better way we can live together on this planet. It is not only possible, it is already underway!”

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Waste = Food (2007)

“Man is the only creature that produces landfills. Natural resources are being depleted on a rapid scale while production and consumption are rising in na­tions like China and India. The waste production world wide is enormous and if we do not do anything we will soon have turned all our resources into giant landfills of waste. But there is hope. The German chemist, Michael Braungart, and the American designer-architect William McDonough are fundamentally changing the way we produce and build. If waste would become food for the biosphere or the technosphere (all the technical products we make), produc­tion and consumption could become beneficial for the planet. A design and production concept that they call Cradle to Cradle. A concept that is seen as the next industrial revolution.”

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TreeHugger

“TreeHugger is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, we strive to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information. We publish an up to the minute blog, weekly and daily newsletters, and regularly updated Twitter and Facebook pages. “

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The City Repair Project

“Mission: The City Repair Project fosters thriving, inclusive and sustainable communities through the creative reclamation of public space. We facilitate artistic and ecologically-oriented placemaking through projects that honor the interconnection of human communities and the natural world. We are an organized group action that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live. The many projects of City Repair have been accomplished by a mostly volunteer staff and thousands of volunteer citizen activists. Our immediate service area is the Portland Metro Area and we have worked with communities in Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Oregon City, and Vancouver. Additionally, we can consulate with communities and organizations outside of our region. “

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SustainableBusiness.com

“We Help Green Businesses Grow. Our services will continue to help shift us toward a restorative economy: -Daily Green Business News: concise news from around the world that keeps you informed about the latest trends and legislation. -Green Dream Jobs: connects people looking for jobs with environmentally conscious nonprofits, government agencies and businesses. -Green Education Directory: profiles all relevant degree, certificate and executive development programs. -Venture Capital Directory: profiles investors across the world that finance green businesses of all kinds.”

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Spiralseed

“Are you tired of ‘the problems’ and want to be more solutions-focused? Do you seek to live compassionately without the unnecessary exploitation of people, animals and the environment? Are you concerned about climate change and future generations? Create the change you wish to see in this world with permaculture! Our focus is on active learning, designing innovative courses and workshops that are participatory, fun, lively and inclusive. Adapted from the Permaculture Association (Britain)’s PDC core curriculum and much more, we create learning experiences that empower you, your organisation or your community to make positive change happen today.”

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Singapore: Biophilic City (2012)

“A whirlwind week in Singapore exploring the amazing story of how Singapore came to be one of the most ‘biophilic’ cities of the world, on the cutting edge of ecocity design and innovation. Did you have any idea? There has been unprecedented priority given in recent years to sustainable cities and green building (a very positive trend), but too often the result are places that are not especially green in the literal sense. While not a perfect story, there are few dense cities in the world today that can claim a better record of greening the city than Singapore.”

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POGO

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing.

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Passive House Revolution

Film: “Create a Low Energy Home: Join the Passive House Revolution! Passive House Revolution catches you up to all of the most important developments in efficient building and home design over the last 20 years. Applying an innovative combination of construction and retrofitting techniques, and making certain materials and orientation decisions, a home or building can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 80%! Because of this enormous built in energy savings, the Passive House creates an exceptional return from both an environmental and financial perspective.”

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Living Outside the Box

“A Few Simple Technologies for Daily Living. This website highlights our on-going exploration of some practical aspects of simple, land-integrated living. The emphasis is on simple technologies and skills that address basic needs such as food, water, shelter, etc. You will find examples from our years in South Texas, and also from Arizona and Oregon, where we currently split our time.” Topics: History, Shelter, Composting Toilets, Water Use, Water Reuse, Other Biological Toilets, Other Graywater Systems, Gardening, Food Preservation and Storage, Native Desert Foods, Solar Ovens, A Wood-Fired Cooker, Adventure, Design, Why?

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Humanure Handbook

“Center of the Humanure Universe. Compost toilets can provide a sanitation solution when water or electricity are not available, or when you simply want to make more compost or less environmental pollution.”

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Honor the Earth

“Honor the Earth uses indigenous wisdom, music, art, and the media to raise awareness and support for Indigenous Environmental Issues.  We leverage this awareness and support to develop financial and political capital for Indigenous struggles for land and life.”

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Global Stewards

An extensive resource directory of eco tips, green actions and issues. “The goal of Global Stewards, created in 1998, is to provide green eco tips for creating a sustainable lifestyle. This site is run by Lea Dutton and supported with inspirations from concerned humans around the globe. Global stewards defined: I define a “global steward” as being someone who, in recognizing their kinship with all living beings, chooses a lifestyle that is sustainable for all life, including future generations. This is a form of conscious stewardship over our own lives vs. stewardship over nature. “

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Global Ecovillage Network (GEN)

“The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) catalyzes communities for a regenerative world. GEN is a growing network of regenerative communities and initiatives that bridge cultures, countries, and continents. GEN builds bridges between policy-makers, governments, NGOs, academics, entrepreneurs, activists, community networks and ecologically-minded individuals across the globe in order to develop strategies for a global transition to resilient communities and cultures.”

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Global Ecovillage Network – Magazines

“What is it like to live in an ecovillage, cohousing neighborhood, or intentional community? How do you start one, sustain it, grow it, and solve the hardest challenges? Communities magazine addresses these questions, and shares new models for society. For nearly 45 years this magazine has connected people to the pulse of the communities movement, by chronicling the people, organizations, methods and ideas making it so. Discover inspiring examples of cooperation and creativity, as people work together to solve problems and create a better, more equitable, and ecological world. Diverse Themes: Each quarterly issue focuses on a different theme, such as: Food and Community, Community and the Law, The Many Faces of Community, Finding or Starting Community, etc.”

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Friends of the Earth

“Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.”

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First Earth: Uncompromising Ecological Architecture (2010)

“FIRST EARTH is a documentary about the movement towards a massive paradigm shift for shelter — building healthy houses in the old ways, out of the very earth itself, and living together like in the old days, by recreating villages. It is a sprawling film, shot on location from the West Coast to West Africa. An audiovisual manifesto filmed over the course of 4 years and 4 continents, FIRST EARTH makes the case that earthen homes are the healthiest housing in the world; and that since it still takes a village to raise a healthy child, it is incumbent upon us to transform our suburban sprawl into eco-villages, a new North American dream. Chocking up over 300,000 hits on YouTube even before its official release, FIRST EARTH is not a how-to film; rather, it’s a why-to film. It establishes the appropriateness of earthen building in every cultural context, under all socio-economic conditions, from third-world communities to first-world countrysides, from Arabian deserts to American urban jungles. In the age of environmental and economic collapse, peak oil and other converging emergencies, the solution to many of our ills might just be getting back to basics, focusing on food, clothes, and shelter. We need to think differently about house and home, for material and for spiritual reasons, both the personal and the political.”

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EnviroVideo – Index of Programs

Index of programs “EnviroVideo produces environmental and social justice programs for television – including interview and news shows, specials, and documentaries. The underlying premise of EnviroVideo is that there are critical environmental issues at hand that can best be communicated to large numbers of people through the media most favored for news and information – television and now on-line. When there is broad public awareness, pressing environmental matters can be dealt with and action taken to truly resolve them. Our goal is to provide information people can use to make informed decisions and take positive action to create a sustainable future.”

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EnviroVideo

“EnviroVideo produces environmental and social justice programs for television – including interview and news shows, specials, and documentaries. The underlying premise of EnviroVideo is that there are critical environmental issues at hand that can best be communicated to large numbers of people through the media most favored for news and information – television and now on-line. When there is broad public awareness, pressing environmental matters can be dealt with and action taken to truly resolve them. Our goal is to provide information people can use to make informed decisions and take positive action to create a sustainable future.”

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Environmental Education Fund

“The mission of EEF is to promote eco-literacy and stewardship of the environment by encouraging and helping individuals, communities, schools, religious and other organizations plan and hold engaging programs using film and multimedia events. EEF believes in the power of cinema as a vehicle for information on environmental reality and inspiration for action and hope of change. We have developed relationships with some of the most influential Environmental filmmakers in the country and continue to explore the entire arena of environmental films for the EEF roster. “

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EnviroLink

“EnviroLink is a non-profit organization… a grassroots online community that unites hundreds of organizations and volunteers around the world with millions of people in almost every country in the world. EnviroLink is dedicated to providing comprehensive, up-to-date environmental information and news.”

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Ecobob

“Ecobob is a platform specifically developed to make eco friendly living easy and accessible for all walks of life. If you are looking for inspiration, information and eco home products and services, Ecobob has got you covered. Visiting Ecobob.co.nz means having access to relevant and up to date information on the ever changing, ever expanding world of eco homes, zero energy homes and high performance homes. At Ecobob, we believe that owning or living in an eco home shouldn’t affect your ability to enjoy the creature comforts of luxurious living, in fact quite the opposite. Present day eco homes offer the latest environmentally sound technologies coupled with state of the art architecture completed with small-scale renewable energy generation. This allows occupants to enjoy power on their own terms, free from constant, expensive monthly power bills. Ecobob makes it easy for like-minded individuals to engage in environmentally conscious practices by having up to date, practical information at their fingertips.”

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Earthcare Education Aotearoa (Facebook page)

“Enlivening Community through Permaculture and Deep Ecology. A non-profit trust dedicated to the ethics and principles of sustainability and Permaculture….Our mission (kaupapa) is: * Recreating Right Relationship with ALL Communities – respecting ALL life as sacred. * Facilitating sustainable human settlements, where culture embraces nature. * Restoring ecosystems whilst establishing food security.”

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