Resources for You
Links we like | Yahoogroups we moderate
| Videos (opens separate page)
| Notes from our Second Sunday Forums in Bethesda
Links we like
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZERS
HAUL IT AWAY
JUNK MAIL/TELEMARKETERS
CREDIT REPORTS
Free Annual Credit Report: www.annualcreditreport.com
, 877-322-8228
SUPPORT GROUPS
Co-housing
Energy
Environment
Faith-Based Initiatives
Global Warming
Green Building
Green Cleaning Products
- A Greater Gift --
agreatergift.org. Associated with SERRV International, this store offers fair-trade
and eco-friendly gifts.
- GreenGlass -- greenglass.org. This
company in Wisconsin makes gorgeous glasses, vases, candle holders and more
from reclaimed wine bottles and other materials.
- Co-op
America's Holiday Green Gifts Catalog -- www.coopamerica.org. Also check
out their No-Walmart Holiday Gift Pledge
- Green Gift Guide -- greengiftguide.com.
Gifts made from recycled materials
- Green gifts
for Hanukkah -- coejl.org.
- Greener, Healthier, Friendlier
Gifts for the Whole Year -- planetfriendly.org. Includes directories of
green stores in the US and in Canada
- OneWorld Store
-- http://us.oneworld.net. Holiday Shopping that supports the OneWorld campaign.
- Sierra Club
Green Gift Ideas -- sierraclub.org. Ideas for green gifts intended for
the gadget freak, people who need to get out a little more, the artistically
inclined, kids, the gourmet, people on a fixed income, and people who have
everything.
- Union
of Concerned Scientists -- www.ucsusa.org. Tips for a Merry and Green
Holiday
- Sustainable Living
Literature Collection for Children (PDF) -- www.vtearthinstitute.org. Compiled
by the Vermont Earth Institute, this list contains descriptions
of each book and recommended age level.
Green Investing
Green Toothbrushes
- Fuchs Toothbrushes -- Ekotec Replaceable Head
Toothbrush, $4.21 each, comes with two extra heads. Can be ordered through
Internatural.
- Preserve Toothbrush -- 4 units for $13.00,
made of recycled Stonyfield yogurt containers. Comes with postage-paid return
recycling mailers. Order through Recycline
or buy locally at David's Market in Columbia and Roots Market in Clarksville.
Healthy Food
- Approximate harvest dates of locally grown produce (.doc, 20 kb)
- "Buying local can help stop global warming" -- (pdf, 13 kb). Article from the Sierra Club's True Cost of Food campaign.
- Database of Community Supported Agriculture -- nal.usda.gov. A wealth of general information.
- "Food at Your Fingertips" -- simplicity-matters.org. Resources compiled by Melissa Ehrenreich, who spoke at our May 2006 Second Sunday Forum.
- Future Harvest-CASA 2005 -- futureharvestcasa.org. Directory of Community Supported Agriculture Farms in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia.
- Home Grown Food -- dcfood.org. Local food in Maryland, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia
- Local Harvest -- localharvest.org. Classified by state.
- Local Harvest Community Level Map -- foodroutes.org. Includes the famous "Meatrix" flash video. Find sustainable farmers, farmers' markets and Community Supported Agriculture projects (CSAs) in your area.
- Local listing of CSAs in MD, DC, and VA -- ecostewardsalliance.org. Local listing of CSAs in MD, DC, VA.
- Maryland Farmers' Market Directory -- mda.state.md.us. One of the principles of Voluntary Simplicity relates to supporting local businesses and farmers. We are also encouraged to purchase and eat food that is local to our bio-region. For that reason, we hope to support our local farmers markets.
- Pick Your Own
- Vegan Grocery Stores in the DC area -- vegdc.com -- grocery stores that strongly cater to vegans in the District, Maryland and Virginia metro area
Parenting
Recycling, Donating, Reusing (see also E-cycling)
- Earth 911 - maryland.earth911.org
-- Enter your postal code and find a plethora of resources.
- Freecycle - freecycle.org -- Find a Freecycle yahoogroups close to you (U.S. Northeast)
- Jewish Information & Referral Service --
www.jirs.org. A comprehensive list of organizations that need your stuff
(click on D for donations).
- Montgomery
County Use It Again -- montgomerycountymd.gov. Select a category of thing,
then respond to whether you'd like to donate/recycle it, buy it used, repair
it, rent it, or need home pickup, and the database will provide you with pertinent
hits such as thrift stores.
- Maryland Recycles -- mdrecycles.com.
Find a recycler near you for several kinds of materials.
- Repair Baltimore -- environmentproject.org.
Information about how to repair, reuse, recycle, or dispose of all kinds
of stuff; links to lots of information, from how to repair things yourself
to how to dispose of electronic equipment; listing of repair shops in Baltimore
City. PDF
of the booklet (485 KB, December 2005)
Simple and Sustainable Living (see also General)
- EcoStewards Alliance --
ecostewardsalliance.org. The host organization of our sister Earth Institute
in Virginia, their site includes resources for learning more about living
simply.
- Interconnections --
knowing.org. Links to local groups and gatherings of all sorts. Includes
an events calendar.
- Living
Green -- coopamerica.org. Co-Op America's green living, purchasing and
investing advice column. Includes a link to archives.
- New American Dream --
newdream.org. The Center for a New American Dream helps Americans consume
responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote
social justice. This link to their sitemap gives a good idea of what this
organization does.
- Pomegranate Seeds - www.pomegranateseeds.net.
An advertisement-free magazine edited and published six times a year in Cabin
John, MD. Articles are written in the first-person by women who desire to
have more time and less anxiety while walking lightly on the earth, and focus
on ways in which we can consume less, enjoy more, utilize local producers
for goods and services, and celebrate Mother Nature as teacher and partner.
Pomegranate Seeds is also a local community who come together for workshops,
discussion groups, and plant swaps in the DC area, and who participate in
two email discussion groups. Contact Jeri Metz at pomegranateseeds@comcast.net.
- SustainUS - www.sustainus.org/mambo. The U.S. Youth Network for Sustainable Development offers resources about several geoclusters, including Washington DC. You can download a "Conscious Consumer Map" of DC (PDF, 935 KB) and read about their projects.
- Simplicity Forum - www.simplicityforum.org. Resource list including websites, research and articles written by members of The Simplicity Forum, an alliance of "simplicity leaders" who are committed to "achieving and honoring simple, just and sustainable ways of life."
- Vermont Earth
Institute -- vtearthinstitute.org. Education links from our sister
Earth Institute include lists of videos and books for adults and children.
Got a resource you'd like to see listed here? Send the information to Lena, Lena@simplicity-matters.org,
or Susanne,
wormlady@gmail.com
Yahoogroups we Moderate
- DCMetroSimplifiers -
This is a forum for folks living in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC
to network and develop relationships around the ideas of Simple Living, Ecology
and how we can work together to create a sustainable future.
- FoodPassionESA -
We are passionate about healthful and delicious food! Participants share
resources and tips about how we can best eat well in our region (most of
us are from Maryland, DC and northern Virginia), as well as discuss general
trends (GMOs, organic farming, etc.) affecting food and nutrition.
- A Greener Home -
A forum for discussing ways to make our homes more environmentally-friendly,
sustainable, conserving of resources, incorporating "greener" materials
and more.
Notes from our Second Sunday Forums in Bethesda
In our monthly forums we aim to address different aspects of
the Simple
Living Wheel. If you would like to us to repeat one of the topics listed
below or wish to suggest a topic or a speaker, please contact Marney
Bruce, (301) 652-0492. More details about forthcoming forums
2008
2007
- January: "Preserving our Forests," with Bob deGroot, www.magicalliance.org
- February: Movie Night in Laurel, MD: "Renewable Energy, Abundant Possibilities"
- March: "Reducing Waste in Organizations and the Workplace," facilitated by Susanne Wiggins (resources)
- April: "Natural Hope!" with Mare Cromwell (resources)
- May: "Who Defines the Consumer?" with Mike Taylor, Integral Life Solutions
- June: "Individuals Can Make a Difference" with Susan Lower
- September: "Improve Your Garden and Make a Difference!" with Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine
- October: "Tools for Cultural Change," with Bob Morris, author of The Owl and the Oak: The Climate Change Novel
- November: "Live Consciously; Buy Wisely; Make a Difference," with Hanaa Rifaey, Center for a New American Dream
- December: "Fair Trade," with Jackie DeCarlo.
2006
- January: Film and Discussion: A Taste of "Simple Living with Wanda
Urbanska"
- March: "Why Cohousing?" with Ann Zabaldo
- April: "Gardening Simplified" with Pat Kenny
- May: "Food at Your Fingertips" with Melissa Ehrenreich (resources)
- June: "Population: Beyond the Limits?" with Michelle Collins (resources)
- July: Field trip to "The Green House: New Directions In Sustainable Architecture and Design" at the National Building Museum
- July: EXTRA! Event with Gerald Iverson
- September: "Carbon Offsets, Green Power and Living a ZeroCarbon Life" with Eric Carlson, carbonfund.org
- October: Showing and discussion of "An Inconvenient Truth," courtesy of gwipl.org
- November: "Making Your Time Really Pay Off," with Dr. Edgar Cahn, TimeBanks.org
- December: "Natural Hope!" with Mare Cromwell [postponed]
2005
- February: "Low-Tech Water Recycling" with Jeri Metz
- March: "The Many Benefits of Energy Efficiency" with Laura Gubisch
- April: "Delicious and Healthful Food" with Susan Leonadi and Allegra Foley
- May: "Sustainable Transportation Choices" with Marney Bruce
- June: "How Easy is it to be Green?" with Marney Bruce
- July: Field trip to Urban Oasis
- August: Film and Discussion of an episode of "30 Days" (w/ Sierra
Club)
- September: "Healthy Children-Healthy Planet" with Lore Rosenthal
- October: "Making Time for What's Really Important" with Lena Rotenberg
- November: "Simplifying the Holidays" with Lore Rosenthal
- December: "Conquer Your Clutter" with Joyce Hedgepath
2004
- January: Film and Discussion: "The Next Industrial Revolution"
- February: "Creating a Non-Toxic Environment for your Home or Office" with
Toni Grossman
- March: "From the Farmer Herself: Organic Farming and CSAs" with Mariette
Hiu Newcomb
- April: "Earth-Friendly Gardening in the DC Metro Area" with Corinne Irwin
- May: Film and Discussion: "We are All Smith Islanders"
- June: "Greenbuilding, How to Build Using Earth-friendly Methods and Materials" with
Polly Bart (resources)
- July: Field trip to the CBF's Philip Merrill Environmental Center
- September: "Do I Really Need All this Stuff?" with
Kathi Duffy (resources)
- October: "Green Medicine: What Would it Look Like?" with Rebecca Pope
- November: "Simplifying the Holidays" with Marat Moore
- December: "Budgeting for Simplicity-Minded Folks" with Lore Rosenthal
2003
- February: Film and Discussion: "More Fun Less Stuff"
- March: "Food for Fun" with Susan Leonardi
- April: "Take Back Your Time Day" with Sean Sheehan
- May: "Beyond the Blue Bin" with Susanne Wiggins
- June: Field trip to "Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture"
at the National Building Museum
- July: Field trip to Mike Tidwell's home: "Renewable Energy Options for
your Home"
- September:
"Inner & Outer Clutter" with Marney Bruce and Lore Rosenthal
- October: Film and Discussion: "Affluenza"
- November: "Aligning the Holidays with your Values" with Peter Kelsey
2002
- January: "Simplicity Circles"
- February: "Inner and Outer Clutter - a Metaphor" with Susan Marker
Levin
- March: "Co-housing, More than Just Buildings" with Ann Zabaldo
- April: "Simplicity and the Environment" with Marney Bruce
- May: "Take Back Your Life by Getting Control of Your Money" with Janet
Kane
Page last updated 19-Jun-2008
by Lena