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Note: Links to websites of local organizations are on our Organizations page.

 Sustainability

articles | books | interviews | orgs | resources | top 

The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) -- Committee on Sustainable Development
    "Engineers will play a critical role in sustainable development through AAES and its Committee on Sustainable Development. The Committee has been working to promote public recognition and understanding of its principles and challenges. AAES has adopted a comprehensive policy and a series of position papers on the Role of the Engineer in Sustainable Development, and in cooperation with the World Engineering Partnership on Sustainable Development, has produced a book, slide show and video on the subject."

The Bioneers
    "Since 1990, The Bioneers Conference has brought together leading scientific and social visionaries with practical solutions for restoring the earth. The Bioneers Conference has helped define the biological model and galvanize its many brilliant practitioners into a thriving culture. Their ideas are so original and pragmatic as to uplift the spirit with their extraordinary creativity and ingenuity -- to create a future environment of hope."

The Center for Livable Communities
    "The Center for Livable Communities is a national initiative of the Local Government Commission and is a principal partner in the Environmental Protection Agency's Transportation Partners program. The Local Government Commission or LGC for short, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization of elected officials, city and county staff, and other interested individuals throughout California and other states (with over 600 current members), the Local Government Commission helps local governments identify and implement solutions to today's problems.
    In 1991, working with some of the country's leading architects and planners, the Local Government Commission developed the "Ahwahnee Principles" for resource-efficient local and regional land-use planning. The Center grew out of the Commission's work helping local officials implement these principles.
    Realizing that economic vitality and livability are inextricably linked, the LGC followed up by developing a set of Economic Development Principles, with guidance from numerous nationally recognized economic development experts."

Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
    "The Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development helps communities design and implement innovative strategies that enhance the local economy as well as the local environment and quality of life. Created by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy."

CERES: California Environmental Resources Evaluation System
    "CERES is an information system developed by the California Resources Agency to facilitate access to a variety of electronic data describing California's rich and diverse environments. The goal of CERES is to improve environmental analysis and planning by integrating natural and cultural resource information from multiple contributors and by making it available and useful to a wide variety of users.

CERES: Information by Geographic Area for San_Francisco
    "Themes: Economics and Demographics | Environmental Groups and Projects | Governmental Institutions | Land Use Planning | Media Sources | Recreation | Road and Weather Conditions | Special Status Species | Water Resources | Vegetation and Habitats; Information Types: Maps and Spatial Data | Photos and Satellite Imagery | Documents and Publications;| Related Geographic Regions: Bay Delta"

CERES: Land Use Planning Information Network (LUPIN)
    "CERES and its project LUPIN are programs of the California Resources Agency. The goal of LUPIN is to formulate and implement an information service to support and address land use and planning via the CERES Web."

The Change Project: Healthy Cities
    "You know what a healthy community is. Somewhere, you've experienced it - a community that nurtures its members, that makes us all more than we were. But what makes a community healthy? What builds health, it turns out, also builds community, safety, wealth, and families. The health of a community grows from how many children people have, in what kind of families, with how much money and education, from a sense of choice, and from friends and family who give life meaning, from clean water and air, and basic medicine, from families who eat well, are well housed, secure from crime, and not deranged by drugs or alcohol.
    Building a healthy community requires all the energy the community can muster, from everyone who can make a difference - but it can be done. There are ways to do it. This powerful idea has taken hold in over a thousand cities and towns around the world. This is how to build a world that works."

Cities and Counties: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally
    "Numerous cities and counties are designing and implementing sustainable plans. ... This study examines how various governmental policies, institutional configurations, and intergovernmental relationships are enabling local governments to identify and achieve sustainability objectives."

City of Santa Monica Sustainable City Program

The Coalition for Healthier Cities and Communities
    "Across America, over twelve hundred multisectoral, comprehensive, community-based health and quality of life improvement initiatives are seeking local solutions to address America's challenges. This movement has its roots in community, not in a national agenda. At its core, is a local phenomenon which mobilizes local creativity and resources. In serving this movement, the Coalition is a strategic linkage of these local forces. In its two primary directions of activity, it brings together scores of local, state and national organizations, collaborative partnerships and citizens to assist these local efforts in creating healthier communities and improving the well-being of families and children."

Communications for a Sustainable Future

Earth Network for Sustainable Development
    "The Earth Council is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that was created in September 1992 to promote and advance the implementation of the Earth Summit agreements. It is led by a body of 18 Members, drawn from the world's political, business, scientific and non-governmental communities. Sixteen eminent world leaders serve as Honorary Members, and an 18 member Earth Council Institute functions as an advisory board.
    Three fundamental objectives have guided the work of the Earth Council since its inception: • to promote awareness for the needed transition to more sustainable and equitable patterns of development; • to encourage public participation in decision-making processes at all levels of government; • to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between important actors of civil society and governments worldwide."

EcoIQ
    "EcoIQ provides internet publications, professional development resources, and consulting and client services designed to help communities and their local governments become more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. To accomplish this, EcoIQ focuses on helping programs and professionals -- in resource management, environmental management, and land use and transportation planning -- become more effective."

Ecological and Environmental Seminars @ CSF

The E. F. Schumacher Society
    "The E.F. Schumacher Society was founded in 1980 to promote the ideas inherent in the decentralist tradition and to implement them in practical programs that link economics, ecology, and culture. Named for Fritz Schumacher, whose 1973 book Small is Beautiful: Economics as If People Mattered continues to influence new generations, the society has developed model self-help economic programs in its home region of the Berkshires."

EnviroLink
    "EnviroLink is dedicated to providing you with the most comprehensive, up-to-date environmental resources available."

Environmental Defense Fund
    "EDF is dedicated to protecting the environmental rights of all people, including future generations. Among these rights are clean air, clean water, healthy, nourishing food, and a flourishing ecosystem.
    EDF will be guided by scientific evaluation of environmental problems, and the solutions we advocate will be based on science, even when it leads in unfamiliar directions. EDF will work to create solutions that win lasting political, economic, and social support because they are bipartisan, efficient, and fair."

The Green Plan Center
    "This site has been developed to educate and inform those interested in Green Plans as the means to a sustainable environment and economy."

Institute For Local Self Reliance
    "ILSR helps communities throughout the U.S. and abroad reap the benefits of recycling. Our innovative advice and analysis link community waste management needs with economic development. Through research, policy initiatives, coalition building, and technical assistance, we lay the groundwork for developing humanly-scaled, sustainable economic systems. For 21 years ILSR has helped businesses, community groups and local governments."

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)
    "The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is the international environmental agency for local governments. We know from concrete experience that local actions can have a global impact. Global consumption and waste production is increasingly concentrated in urban areas. The concentration of people in cities provides unparalleled opportunities to both meet human needs and reduce and manage wastes. Meanwhile, by strengthening rural communities we can reduce the pattern of ecological destruction and population migration which is often a result of rural poverty and desperation.
    Local governments, in partnership with their residents and local businesses, are taking action. ICLEI was established in 1990 through a partnership of the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), and the Center for Innovative Diplomacy."

International Institute for Sustainable Development
    "IISD's mission is to promote sustainable development in decision making internationally and within Canada. We contribute new knowledge and concepts, analyze policies, identify and disseminate information about best practices, demonstrate how to measure progress, and build partnerships to amplify these messages. Our audiences and clients are businesses, governments, communities and concerned individuals. Through Internet communications, working groups and project activities we create networks designed to move sustainable development from concept to practice."

Links to other Healthy Cities
    "The Healthy Cities project was begun by WHO's Regional Office for Europe to develop local strategies and action for health for all. One of the main objectives is to change the ways in which individuals, communities, private and voluntary organizations and local governments think about, understand and make decisions about health. Ultimately the Healthy Cities project aims to enhance the physical, mental, social and environmental wellbeing of the people who live and work in the cities. The project is a long-term international development effort that seeks to put health on the agenda of decision-makers in cities and to build a strong lobby for public health at the local level. A fundamental principle of the approach is the recognition that city government can play a key role in promoting and maintaining the health of its citizens and has a unique capacity to mobilize action for sustainable development."

Livable Places Initiative -- Southern California Association of Governments
    "A shared community vision of pedestrian friendly, mixed use and transit oriented places scaled to people, not automobiles, and connected to vibrant civic and public spaces."

The Local Agenda 21 Initiative (ICLEI U.S.)
    "Through the Local Agenda 21 Initiative, ICLEI works with local governments around the world to prepare Local Agenda 21 action plans, to develop and test sustainable development planning, and to implement specific pilot projects. In the United States, the Local Agenda 21-US Project develops and evaluates methods to plan, develop, and manage communities sustainably: encompassing concern for the environment, the economy and human equity."

The Millenium Institute
    "The Mission of the Millennium Institute is to use systems thinking and the turn of the Millennium to catalyze a redirection of human civilization toward a peaceful, just, and sustainable future."

The Natural Resources Defense Council
    "Dedicated to protecting the world's natural resources and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all."

The Nature Conservancy
    "Among environmental organizations, we fill a unique niche: preserving habitats and species by buying the lands and waters they need to survive. The Nature Conservancy operates the largest private system of nature sanctuaries in the world -- more than 1,500 preserves in the United States alone. ... All of them safeguard imperiled species of plants and animals."

Neighborhoods Online
    "Neighborhoods Online was created in 1995 by the Institute for the Study of Civic Values and Philadelphia's LibertyNet as an online resource center for people working to build strong communities throughout the United States.
    Our aim is to provide fast access to information and ideas covering all aspects of neighborhood revitalization, as well as to create a national network of activists working on problems that affect us where we live."

Planet Neighborhood
    "A quiet revolution has been taking place in homes, workplaces, and communities all over America. Led by mayors and mothers, little kids and big corporations, this movement is changing the way we live and introducing innovative ways to improve the environment through energy saving, wise use and re-use of resources, and sustainable development practices.
    WETA-TV, the Washington, D.C. public broadcasting station, together with its funding and outreach partners, celebrated this national environmental trend by producing a 3-part television series. ... The Planet Neighborhood web site contains all of the spoken material from the television series, highlighted with video images and links to relevant Internet sites."

The Preservation Institute: What We Believe
    "During the Nineteenth Century, most people still lived at a near-subsistence level, and rapid economic growth was needed to provide everyone basic education, health care, housing, and other necessities. The factory system was increasing production so dramatically that many people believed every aspect of life ultimately would be modernized on the factory model. Health care, child care, education, transportation and housing would all be mass-produced by specialized technological organizations managed by experts.
    Today, most people recognize that modernization and growth can harm the natural environment. The Preservation Institute believes that modernization also damages the social environment -- that many of our social problems are side-effects of modernization."

The President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD)
    "The President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) was established by President Clinton in June 1993 to advise him on sustainable development and develop bold, new approaches to achieve our economic, environmental, and equity goals. The Mission of the PCSD is to: • Forge consensus on Policy ... • Demonstrate Implementation of policy that fosters sustainable development... • Get the word out about sustainable development; and • Evaluate and report on progress"

Resources for Urban Sustainablity
    "Sustainable Community Experiments | Sustainable Communities Technical Assistance Organizations | Guides and Workbooks | Books | Articles and Reports"

Rocky Mountain Institute
    "Rocky Mountain Institute is a nonprofit research and educational foundation with a vision across boundaries. Its mission is to foster the efficient and sustainable use of resources as a path to global security. The Institute creates, and helps individuals and the private sector to practice, new solutions to old problems--mainly by harnessing the problem-solving power of market economics and of advanced techniques for resource efficiency."

SCN About Sustainable Communities
    "Find out what's happening in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Seattle, Washington; what the Green Institute is doing in the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and how the Mountain Association For Community Economic Development and Rural Action are helping rural areas of Appalachia. Learn about principles of sustainability and visioning processes and how they can help guide community initiatives.
    Discover how community indicators in Olympia , Washington or Jacksonville , Florida are helping residents define and inventory what they value. Find out about how $mart Growth can guide planning in neighborhoods and regions and what tools are available to help. Locate your local community network and civic engagement opportunities. Then tell us what other resources you need to help make your community more sustainable."

Sprawl Guide: Strategies for Dealing with Sprawl
    * Creating A Sense Of Place
    * Preserving Open Space & Farmland
    * Concentrating Growth And Investment
    * Transportation Priorities

Sustainable Communities Network
    "The Sustainable Communities Network is for those who want to help make their communities more livable. Here a broad range of issues are addressed and resources are provided to help make this happen. This web site is being developed to increase the visibility of what has worked for other communities, and to promote a lively exchange of information to help create community sustainability in both urban and rural areas."

Sustainable Conservation
    "The mission of Sustainable Conservation is to achieve conservation through innovative strategies which incorporate the incentives and capabilities of the private sector. We stay on the cutting edge of environmental thinking and take risks to go beyond the conceptual stage and implement concrete solutions that are both environmentally sound and economically sustainable."

Sustainable Development Research Institute
    "SDRI focuses on the production of applied, policy-relevant and interdisciplinary research. We believe there is a strong need to move away from simply predicting the negative impacts of environmentally unsustainable behaviour. Instead, we must articulate ecologically and socio-economically desirable futures, and determine what needs to be done to make these futures happen. The environmental agenda therefore encompasses much more than staving off ecological disaster; it involves trying to create a society that is sustainable in all its manifold dimensions."

SustainableDevelopment.Net
    "This Web site... has been created to provide the public with an introduction to the issues, major participants, success stories and resources related to sustainable development. An important feature of www.SustainableDevelopment.net is live Internet Webcast coverage of key international events beginning with the Earth Summit +5."

Sustainable Seattle
    "Sustainable Seattle is a citizen group working to improve our region's long-term health and vitality--cultural, economic, environmental and social. Our mission is to advocate for sustainability in Seattle/King County. Specifically we focus on:

Awareness: Creating opportunities to learn about the values, principles, and practices of sustainable living.
Assessment: Developing resources and tools for citizens to monitor progress and track sustainable practices in the region.
Action: Promoting citizen participation in making sustainability a reality."

Sustain Sources
    "Sustainable Sources provides resources that offer practical options to the conventional methods of building, community, travel, and more."

U.S. Geological Survey
    "The U.S. Geological Survey provides the Nation with reliable, impartial information to describe and understand the Earth. This information is used to: • minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; • manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; • enhance and protect the quality of life; and • contribute to wise economic and physical development."

WITS -- Information by Geographic Area
    "Currently, only information regarding the North Coast Region is available. We expect to have information for the other regions soon."


 Bioregionalism

articles | books | interviews | orgs | resources | top 


Cascadia Planet
    A great resource, extremely rich in articles and interviews of substance


 Air Quality

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 

 Biodiversity

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


Bird Identification
    Bird Photos and Information | Wildlife Rehabilitation | Links

California Department of Fish and Game
    "The Mission of the Department of Fish and Game is to manage California's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public."

Exploring Urban BioDiversity ("City Bugs")
    "This Field Guide is an effort by the University of California, Berkeley, partnering with the McClymonds High School, Oakland, to survey the insect species diversity within the San Francisco Bay Area. With the continued development of land, reclamation, and preservation always in flux, species diversity also is changing.
    This Guide can serve best as a reference to those species which are either commonly encountered or important. Thegroups occuring in and around homes are given the most attention."

Greg's Bay Area Bird Page
    "The San Francisco Bay Area is rich with bird life. From the south bay waterfowl refuges to Point Reyes, a wide variety of avian wild life can be observed. These pages attempt to show a small part of what you can see if you get out and visit a few places in the area. Many of these photos were taken in urban areas."

Habitat Restoration Information Center
    "Our Center's mission is to provide private landowners, river and watershed groups, environmentally conscientious businesses, environmental and conservation organizations, land and resource managers, teachers, and students with the educational tools needed to restore the environment."

North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations
    "In the summer of 1995, middle school students on a field trip to a farm pond in southern Minnesota discovered large numbers of frogs with misshapen, extra, or missing limbs. About 50% of the northern leopard frogs they caught that day were malformed. ... Malformed amphibians are not a new phenomenon, but reports were only infrequent until recently. Since 1995, reports have become increasingly common, and a number of scientists -- herpetologists, developmental biologists, aquatic toxicologists, and parasitologists -- are looking for the cause(s). ... The mission of the North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations is to facilitate the transfer of information on malformed amphibians."

Rare Bird Alerts for Northern California
    "...journals of the Rare Bird Alert (RBA) reports from various sources including the National Birding Hotline Cooperative's mailing list servers."

San Francisco Estuary Wetlands
    "Wetlands provide invaluable habitat for fish and wildlife, improve water quality, protect urban and agricultural areas from flooding, and serve many other vital functions within the San Francisco Estuary. Despite their central role in the Estuary's ecology, however, many wetlands face degradation or destruction due to urban encroachment. The San Francisco Estuary Project seeks to promote conservation, restoration, and environmentally sound management of the Estuary's wetlands."

Swallow
    "Swallows are dark blue above with a metallic sheen. They have brown or chestnut foreheads, chin and throat with a blue collar on the breast - the rest of the underparts are dull white. The adults have a deeply forked tail (juveniles less deep) with exaggeratedly long outer feathers on the male -- almost the consistency of wire at the tip. The tail has white marks (windows) around it near the tip."

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service -- Pacific Region
    "The Pacific Region includes the regional office in Portland, Oregon, and 105 national wildlife refuges, 19 national fish hatcheries, 8 ecological services field offices, 20 law enforcement offices, including the National Forensics Laboratory, and 9 fisheries resources offices located in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the U.S. Trust Territories in the Pacific Ocean. ... The Pacific Region is engaged in numerous programs to fulfill the Service's mission ‘to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitat for the continuing benefit of the American people.'"

The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
    "WHSRN links wetland and grassland sites essential to migratory shorebirds in a voluntary, nonregulatory program of research, training, and collaborative effort for habitat management and protection. Shorebirds migrate across the hemisphere, some from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. Their movements carry them through wetlands with immense natural value to wildlife and to humans alike. The Network uses shorebirds as symbols of the intense conservation challenge that wetlands face and of the need for international cooperation in the protection of these areas."

WHSRN-California/San Francisco Bay
    "The San Francisco Estuary Hemispheric Reserve is made up of a mosaic of seven subsites, all used by shorebirds dependent upon the San Francisco Bay system. ... Located on the west coast of the United States, the reserve extends from California's San Pablo Bay (north) to South San Francisco Bay (south)."


 Energy, Climate, Ozone Depletion

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
    "The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection. ACEEE fulfills its mission by: conducting in-depth technical and policy assessments; advising governments and utilities; working collaboratively with businesses and other organizations; publishing books, conference proceedings, and reports; organizing conferences; informing consumers."
 
American Solar Energy Society
    "The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is a national organization dedicated to advancing the use of solar energy for the benefit of U.S. citizens and the global environment. ASES promotes the widespread near-term and long-term use of solar energy. ASES sponsors the National Solar Energy Conference, publishes SOLAR TODAY magazine and Advances in Solar Energy, publishes white papers, sponsors issue Roundtables in Washington, DC, distributes solar publications, organizes a Solar Action Network and has regional chapters throughout the country. ASES is the United States Section of the International Solar Energy Society."

Cities for Climate Protection
    "We are a campaign of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), which encourages cities to reduce local emissions of carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming (climate change), and related air pollutants. Over one hundred and fifty municipalities have joined the campaign and their number is growing. This Web site gives you a tour of the climate issues as it affects urban areas, and illustrates actions you can take as a citizen or local elected official."

Cities for Climate Protection (U.S.)

Climate Change Briefing
    "The following document answers some of the typical questions that you might have about urban carbon dioxide reduction. Find out who and what is responsible for the greenhouse effect, what we know for sure, and what we still don't know, what kinds of problems we can expect as the planet heats up, and what municipalities can do about it right now. Finally, learn how municipalities can create jobs, keep money in the community, improve international competitiveness, and save more than they spend on reducing carbon dioxide emissions."

Conference on Demand
    The Kyoto negotiations, speeches, and responses in session can be listened to on the internet, along with some stunning visuals. To do this you'll need a copy of the RealPlayer plug-in for your net browser.

Eco: The Climate Action Network Newsletter
    "Eco is: the definitive source - it's what government negotiators and journalists alike read to find out what's really going on at the negotiations.
    Produced and written by the Climate Action Network (consisting of over 160 Non-Governmental Organizations from around the world), and distributed electronically worldwide, Eco's contributors include leading independent scientists and political analysts, giving you unrivaled access to the negotiations and what they really mean."

Energy Fact Sheets
    "The following articles where originally prepared for The Energy Eduators of Ontario. They have been made available on the Web by ICLEI. This series of articles discusses our past, present and future use of energy. The most commonly used energy sources today, are not without their consequenses to the environment. Advantages and disadvantages of various energy sources and the potential of alternatives are described."
Traditional Fuels - Fuels of Today and Yesterday | Nuclear Energy | Energy Use/Waste and Society | Consequenses | Alternative Fuels | Renewable Energy Sources

Global Warming Central
    "Global Warming Central, which is growing daily, is presently focused on three key issues: the limits on greenhouse gas emissions that will be set at Kyoto in December; the actions needed post-Kyoto to meet these limits; and the moral, political and economic issues underlying the global warming debate.
    U.S. Position | Key Reports | World Speaks Out | Legislative Action | Key Experts | Great Global Warming Debate | Key Websites | Key Government Documents | Key NGO Documents | Key Treaties"

ICLEI Personal CO2 Calculation
    "Fill in the following form as accurately as you can and then press the "Calculate Emissions" button to calculate your yearly direct personal carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This will be compared to world averages and suggestions for reducing this amount will be given."

The International Solar Energy Society

    "The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) represents an international network of scientists, businesspeople and decisionmakers in more than 118 countries around the world. These form a Global Alliance aimed at the advancement of renewable energy through research, technology transfer, commercialisation and education."

The Kyoto Convention on Climate Change Official Web Site
    The Convention | Info for Participants | Info for Media | Official Documents | Daily Programme | Special Events | Exhibits | List of Participants | Special Features | Kyoto Information

Kyoto Compromise
    A summary of what was achieved | The complete text of the "KYOTO PROTOCOL" | An assessment of Vice-President Al Gore's speech | Analysis of Climate Change "Misinformation" | Reactions from the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, India | Reactions of selected NGOs |Printed Resources for further reading

Linkages: Coverage of the Kyoto Convention
    The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has one of the best NGO sites on global warming and the Kyoto Protocol.

Mission of The Committee For Nuclear Responsibility
    "One of CNR's priorities is to make actual progress in preventing cancer, by helping other groups and individuals to eliminate the careless xray overdosing which occurs today in medicine. Xray dosage can be cut in half (or more) without interfering with good diagnostic information. CNR supplies the evidence for such action, and regards "getting the job done" as an ethical imperative --- because every action which reduces unnecessary irradiation is guaranteed to prevent a share of future cancers which would otherwise occur.
    A second function of CNR is helping other groups and individuals to prevent additional nuclear pollution of the planet. The importance of such prevention is supported by CNR's detailed proof that there is no safe dose (threshold dose) of ionizing radiation with respect to causing mutations and human cancer."

Nuclear Information and Resource Service
    "NIRS is the information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues."

The Solar Century
    "The Solar Century seeks to expand the use of solar power in order to fight global warming and promote sustainable development. We do this in two ways: by building a global solar consumer alliance of businesses, organisations, and individuals and by developing an investor's forum to promote investment in solar companies and projects."

Solar Information Center
    "The Solar Information Center is a student-run organization sponsored by ASUO (the Associated Students of the University of Oregon ) and EWEB (Eugene Water and Electric Board). Our purpose is to serve as a research, education, and information center on solar and alternative energies, their applications in architecture and sustainable design and development."

Solstice: Sustainable Energy and Development
    "Solstice is the Internet information service of the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST), and is your site for Sustainable Energy and Development Information."

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The Official Web Site of the Climate Change Secretariat
    The Convention | The Secretariat | What is Climate Change | CC:INFO Products | Official Documents | Country Information | Emissions and other Data | Meetings / Workshops | Handbook


 Food and Agriculture

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


American Farmland Trust
    "How we eat tomorrow depends on what we do today. Most Americans take for granted the cornucopia on our grocery shelves. Whether it is a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or a head of lettuce, the fruits of a farmer's labor are always available to consumers with a few dollars to spend. Yet our best farmland -- and the food and fiber, jobs, open space and wildlife habitat it provides -- has been vanishing. In its place have come poorly planned subdivisions, shopping malls and traffic-clogged roads. On Capitol Hill, at USDA, and around the country, American Farmland Trust is looked to as a responsible voice for the majority of America's farmers that care about the problem of farmland loss and the future of American agriculture."

City Farmer's Urban Agriculture Notes
    "Our non-profit society promotes urban food production and environmental conservation from a small office in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia and from our demonstration food garden in nearby Kitsilano, a residential neighbourhood.
    Urban Agriculture is a new and growing field that is not completely defined yet even by those closest to it. It concerns itself with all manner of subjects from rooftop gardens, to composting toilets, to air pollution and community development. It encompasses mental and physical health, entertainment, building codes, rats, fruit trees, herbs, recipes and much more."

The Compost Resource Page
    "This site is intended to serve as a hub of information for anyone interested in the various aspects of composting. I hope it will provide many useful links to answer your questions, pique your interest, and inspire you to participate in this eternal process."

The Organic Farmers Marketing Association
    "The Organic Farmers Marketing Association, or OFMA, was created at the March, 1996, Leavenworth, KS Meeting, in an effort to assist organic farmers in marketing, communication and public advocacy. In the spirit of such cooperation, this Website has been created to bring together organic farmers, consumers and supporters of organic agriculture from all over the world."  

Permaculture Magazine Information Service
    "This site currently offers you a brief and longer definition of permaculture, information about Permaculture Magazine and the team who put it together, a plan of our site, permaculture news from around Britain and an introduction to forest gardening by Robert Hart."

Pesticide Action Network North America Regional Center (PANNA)
    "For 15 years, the Pesticide Action Network has campaigned to replace pesticide use with ecologically sound alternatives. As one of five Regional Centers worldwide, PAN North America links individuals, researchers, farmers, opinion leaders, businesses and public interest organizations in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. with over 400 consumer, labor, health, environment and agriculture groups in more than 60 countries."

 

 


 Hazardous Materials

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


California Center for Land Recycling
    "The mission of CCLR is to encourage and facilitate the development of idle, abandoned and underutilized land and buildings in urban or rural areas as an integral strategy for revitalization and the creation of sustainable communities. CCLR acts as a catalyst for mobilizing public and private sector resources to facilitate the redevelopment of this land commonly called brownfields."

 Human Health

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


Communities in Focus: California Healthy Cities Project
    "These are stories collected and updated regularly by our members featuring the experiences and profiles of Communities that have really excelled in promoting a healthy cities and communities agenda."

 Parks, Open Spaces and Streetscapes

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


National Park Service


 Solid Waste

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


Californians Against Waste
    "Established in 1977, Californians Against Waste (CAW) is a nonprofit grassroots organization that has grown to represent the interests of more than 24,000 Californians. We rely on individual donations for over 90% of our operating funds, and therefore answer only to our activist citizen membership base. We are the only environmental group in California with full-time staff lobbying exclusively in support of a recycling economy. We advocate policy initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels."

California Integrated Waste Management Board
    "The California Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for managing California's solid waste stream. The Board is helping California divert 50 percent of its waste from landfills by 2000 by developing waste reduction programs, providing public education and outreach, assisting local governments and businesses, and fostering market development for recyclable materials. The Board also protects public health and the environment by encouraging used oil recycling, regulating waste management facilities, and cleaning up abandoned and illegal dump sites. The Waste Board is one of six agencies under the umbrella of the California Environmental Protection Agency."

The Compost Resource Page

The Internet Consumer Recycling Guide
    "This recycling guide provides a starting point for consumers in the USA and Canada searching the net for recycling information. The information is for regular folks with regular household quantities of materials to recycle. The goal is to help make recycling so easy and automatic that it blends into the flow of everyday life."

 Transportation

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


CALSTART
    "CALSTART is a non-profit organization, dedicated to the creation of an advanced transportation technologies industry and related markets. CALSTART is made up of over 200 companies and organizations involved in the electric, hybrid electric, natural gas and intelligent transportation systems arenas. CALSTART participants range from large companies like Toyota and Hewlett Packard to small start-up technology businesses."

TransWeb news
    "This section of TransWeb summarizes transportation news stories from daily and weekly newspapers. The focus is on surface transportation news from California and beyond.
(A Transportation Web Site Service provided by the Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies (IISTPS) at the College of Business of San Jose State University)"


 Water and Wastewater

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Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region (U.S. Department of the Interior)
    "Our Mission: Manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally & economically sound manner in the interest of the American public."

California Department of Water Resources
    "To manage the water resources of California in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the State's people, and to protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environments."

Carter's Water Web
    "I'm Carter, and I'm a water interdisciplinarian. I study about and practice in many aspects of water. Like the art of water, or the politics of water. The chemistry of water. The economics of water. The ownership of water. The movement of water. The spirituality of water. The problem of water. The everything of water. Literally. The language of water. The voices of water. The words of water. The shape of water. The speed of water. The music of water. The birth of water. The taste of water. The temperature of water. The age of water."

Estuary
    "ESTUARY is a bimonthly newsletter that describes the activities of over 50 different organization and government agencies involved in protecting and restoring the waters and watershed of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary."

The Groundwater Foundation
    "The Groundwater Foundation is dedicated to informing the public about one of our greatest hidden resources, groundwater. Through our programs and publications we show the benefits everyone receives from groundwater and the very real risks to groundwater. And, we make learning about groundwater fun and understandable for kids and adults."

Projects in the Bay Area and Delta Bioregion
    "The California Watershed Projects Inventory (CWPI) is a non-profit cooperative effort to establish a database and geographic information system (GIS) to improve statewide access to information on watershed projects and associated data in California. The database provides a means to group projects and associated data by region and is a tool for ecosystem planning and management efforts."

Protecting Your Property From Erosion
    "The loss of soil from a construction site results in loss of topsoil, minerals and nutrients, and it causes ugly cuts and gullies in the landscape. Surface runoff and the materials it carries with it clog our culverts, flood channels and streams. Sometimes it destroys wildlife and damages recreational areas such as lakes and reservoirs.
    Such erosion costs the home construction industry, local governments, and homeowners of the Bay Area millions of dollars a year. We have to pay for damage to roads and property and our tax money has to be spent on cleaning out sediment from storm drains, channels, lakes, and the Bay. As an example, road and home building in the Oakland hills above Lake Temescal filled the lake to such an extent that it had to be dredged in 1979 at a public cost of $750,000."

State of the Estuary
    "A transcript of the third biennial State of the Estuary Conference. ... Numerous technical sessions and information exchange occurred the first two days around various issue areas, Biological Resources Freshwater Flows, Contaminants, Wetlands, Land Use/Watershed Management."

State Water Resources Control Board -- California Environmental Protection Agency
    "Protecting California's waters and ensuring their proper allocation."

Water Education Foundation
    "The mission of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial non-profit organization, is to develop and implement education programs leading to a broader understanding of water issues and to resolution of water problems."

The Watercourse
    "Established in 1989, The Watercourse is a not-for profit water science and education program based at Montana State University, Bozeman. Specializing in the development of educational materials on water and water related management issues, The Watercourse distributes these materials through training workshops and institutes. The goal is to promote and facilitate public understanding of atmospheric, surface, and ground water resources and related management issues through publications, instruction, and networking. The scope of The Watercourse Program is international, its delivery unbiased, and its mission is to build informed leadership in resource decision-making."

The Watershed Management Council
    "The Watershed Management Council is a non-profit organization whose members represent a broad range of watershed management interests and disciplines. Membership includes professionals, students, teachers, and individuals whose interest is in promoting proper watershed management."


 Economy and Economic Development

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Center for Partnership Studies
    "All economic institutions -- from stock exchanges and sweatshops to banks and social security - are human inventions. Economic inventions that recognize the value of caring and caretaking are necessary if we are to move toward a more sustainable, equitable, and humane future.
    These economic inventions will help facilitate the ongoing transition toward what I call partnership economics. This is a new economic paradigm that incorporates the best aspects of both capitalism and socialism but goes much further, supporting and rewarding caring and ethical human relations as well as consciousness of and respect for our natural habitat."

The Sustainable Business Network
    "We offer you the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) to use as a catalyst to POP! the momentum currently accelerating from 99 directions. For our propellant, we need knowledge and connection. Acronyms like ISO 14000, IDEA21, GEMI, Smart Wood, ECO-OK, need to roll off our collective tongue as do breakthrough companies and technologies like The Natural Step and Natural Cotton Colours. People from business large and small gain from this cross-pollination."

Transaction Net: How Currency Systems Work
    "A growing number of currency and payment systems, each oriented toward different social and material incentives, are available for use today. The most appropriate one for any given transaction will depend on the needs and objectives of those taking part in the exchange. We present here an overview of the design characteristics of some representative currency systems, all of which are explained in further detail in our glossary of important terms and concepts and under discussion in The Money Conference."


 Environmental Justice

articles | books | interviews | news | orgs | plan | resources | top 


The EcoJustice Network
    "The EcoJustice Network provides on-line services, informational resources and training for activists and organizations involved in the environmental justice movement."


 Municipal Expenditures

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San Jose, California
    "Through its Integrated Waste Management Program and its Source Reduction and Recycling Procurement Policy, San Jose has become a national leader in stimulating markets for recycled products. The San Jose strategy requires that the city consider the recycled content and recyclability of products and packaging in its procurement decisions."


 

 

 


 Public Information and Education

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E2: Environment & Education
    "In response to the need for environmental education materials that emphasize personal responsibility and action based on informed decisions, E2 has developed an activity based supplementary curriculum called Environmental ACTION. The issue based modules guide students through investigations of human health, resource consumption and environmental issues at their school/home/community and encourage taking actions for improvement."

Estuary Education Program
    "At the workshops, we introduce Estuarine Encounters, an activity guide for grades K-12. Estuarine Encounters, a curriculum guide developed by Friends and the Estuary Project, presents eight key habitats within the Bay and Delta, including mudflats, tidal marshes and riparian corridors. By studying an organism that lives within a habitat, students learn about current Estuary issues. The interdisciplinary guide blends natural science with social science, history, geography and literature. Estuarine Encounters includes a chapter on nonpoint source pollution and related activities."

Research Program in Environmental Planning and Geographic Information Systems (REGIS)
    "The mission of our research program is to develop GIS tools and apply them in environmental planning, management, research, and teaching. REGIS supports open computing hardware architecture, public-domain GIS software, and open access to digital information on the environment and land use. GIS work started here in 1969, with support for the first Lake Tahoe Basin Regional Plan and Land Capability analysis. REGIS is housed in, and supported through, the University's Center for Environmental Design Research (CEDR)."

 Risk Management

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Operation Fresh Start -- Sustainable Development Overview
    "Operation Fresh Start is a U.S. Department of Energy initiative that aims to help communities apply the principles of sustainable development when recovering from natural disasters, as well as to use sustainable planning techniques in pre-disaster development."

Preparing for El Nino
    "El Nino, also known as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), has been forecasted to occur this winter. In an effort to help people understand this incredible weather phenomenon, ABAG is happy to provide this informative website to help you learn more and get ready for the potentially tumultuous winter ahead."

Recent Earthquakes for SF_Bay

San Francisco Bay Area Current Earthquake Information

 


 Civic Renewal

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Alliance for National Renewal
    "The Alliance for National Renewal (ANR) brings together a network of people and organizations who want to better their communities. At the grassroots, all over the nation, inspiring stories of community renewal are waiting to be told and heard. This is your opportunity to tap into this rich and growing movement."

Institute for the Study of Civic Values
    "The Institute for the Study of Civic Values is a non-profit organization established in Philadelphia in 1973 to promote the fulfillment of America's historic civic ideals.
    At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to identify the values that we share, the Institute for the Study of Civic Values believes that it is our civic values -- the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights -- that bring us together as a people."

National Civic League
    "The National Civic League (NCL) advocates a new civic agenda to create communities that work for everyone and promotes the principles of collaborative problem-solving and consensus-based decision making. NCL accomplishes its mission through technical assistance, publishing, research and an awards program."

Seattle Community Network
    "The Seattle Community Network is a free, public-access computer network run by volunteers."


 Indices

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Agriculture and Horticulture Resources
    Featured Sites | Articles, Reviews and Bibliographies | Seeds, Germplasm, Biodiversity | Community Supported Agriculture | Organic Growing | Wild, Native and Perennial Plants | Research | Organizations | Clearinghouses, Directories and Databases | Specific Species | Events | Sustainable Agriculture | Miscellany

American Solar Energy Society -- Related Websites
    Nonprofit Organizations | ASES Chapters | Government Agencies | University Sites
Renewable Energy Publications | Miscellaneous Sites | Events


Architecture and Community Design
    Original Works and Featured Sites | Sustainable Communities, Development and Indicators | Essays, Bibliographies | Natural Buildings | Architecture | Homesteading, Self-Reliance, Practical Skills | Discussion Groups | Land in Trust and Conservation | "Waste" | Miscellany

Bay Area Progressive Directory
    A guide to about 1000 organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area of interest to progressive activists.

The Biodiversity Forum -- Web Resources
    • General Browsers • Topical Sites: Regional Sites | Terrestrial Biodiversity | Wetland Biodiversity | Marine Biodiversity | International Law/Policy | Biotechnology | Plant Genetic Resources | Intellectual Property,
Traditional Peoples', and Farmers' Rights; • International Organizations: Governmental Orgs | Non-Governmental Orgs; • United States Organizations: Governmental: Interior Dept. | Governmental: Agriculture Department | Governmental: Other | Non-Governmental

Bioneer's Biolinks

Community-Building Resources
    "Academic Resources | Agricultural Resources | Children's Resources | Community Radio | Community Resources | Community Service | Conflict Resolution Resources | Economics Resources | Fine Arts Resources | Game Theory Resources | General Reference | Global Knowledge Resources | Legislative Resources | Multicultural Resources | Natural Gardening | Natural Science | Peace Studies | Publications & Archives | Related Reading | Resources For Health | Spiritual Resources | University Mediation Services | Vocational Resources"

Cooperatives and Nonprofits on the Internet
    Discussion Groups | Clearinghouses and General Sources for Cooperative Information | Essays, Guides and Pamphlets | Food | Community Housing | Consumer | Workers' | Rural and Agricultural | Health Care | Energy | Credit Unions and Banks | Non-profits | Internet Cooperatives

Corporate Watch - Links
    Corporations and U.S. Politics: Campaign Finance Reform | Corporate Crime | Corporate Rule | Corporate Sleaze | Corporate Welfare | U.S. & Global Economy
Corporate Globalization: Multilateral Development Banks | Trade & Investment
Intergovernmental Resources: United Nations

Earth Dream Eco Links

Local-Links-San Francisco Bay Area

On the Net

Raptor Link Clearinghouse
    substantial

Resources on Energy

Sustainable Discussion Groups
    Featured Discussion Groups | Directories of Mailing Lists | Horticulural Lists | Environmental Lists | Architecture and Community Lists | Human Systems Lists | Miscellany

Sustainable Resources on the Internet
    Featured Links | Land | Water and Deserts | The Natural Environment | Clearinghouses and Directories | Business and Economics | Employment | Recommended Reading | Interesting People | Food | Consumer Choices | Sustainable Development, Indicators | Health | Language

Top URL's
: Web sites rated as high quality by The Coalition for Healthier Cities and Communities

We The People: Sustainability Links

The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Environment

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