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Anyone who has been reading this site for any period of time, knows that I am very interested in creating my own rainwater harvesting system. In fact I think we will end up with 3 separate systems.

Ideally all of these systems would tie together into one larger one, but with 3 different structures on the property several hundred feet apart, it just isn’t practical. Also with our property sloped it makes sense to have separate systems at different levels to allow us to irrigate by level without the need for pumps.

We recently had new gutters put on the house from Mastershield. These gutters have micro mesh screens that keep ALL debris out, and they work phenomenally well. Our house sits near several old growth Douglas Fir trees. These trees drop several hundred pounds of needles every month. Most of which seem to land on our roof, and it being a metal roof, promptly fell into our gutters. Before the new Mastershield gutters I would clean the gutters no less than once a month, and by then they were packed full of needles. Needless to say the new gutters were a good investment, even if we weren’t planning a rain barrel system.

We are planning to capture the rain water. The gutters help in that regard as well, because now we don’t need to filter the water before putting it into the storage tank. one less thing to worry about.

the next step for us is finding the right “rain barrels“, and I recently came across a website that just made that search easy, http://www.simplyrainbarrels.com. They have a ton of rain barrels for sale. From small 55 gallon drum sized containers to 3000 gallon bladders, they have a very wide array of choices. I am very impressed with the variety, and quality of choices. The tough part will be on choosing one.

I recently came across a site that I find tremendously useful, ShopWiki. It reminds me of the game changer that Google was when it came into being, however rather than organizing the web into a search-able structure, shopwiki puts every product sold on the Internet in one place. This is huge, I am always trying to find gardening tools or hoses or a wide variety of other products needed in my quest to turn my home into a self sustaining “homestead” and this tool just made it much simpler to do that. it is a game changer.

The first question you have to be asking is “How is this green?” It is not overtly green, however not having to drive all over town to track down a particular product is very much a green shopping ideal. Another way this is helpful is giving the little store around the corner the ability to compete with large Internet retailers and big box stores. All the Mom and Pop needs to do is get their products online and there they are.

With the ability to search all products listed on the Internet you can find very specific things, and to me this is the greatest benefit. I want to find locally sold, owned, and manufactured products first. Better yet are they done in a sustainable fashion out of reclaimed materials? Just imagine how Google has changed the web, and now imagine finding tools, and products with that same unimaginable depth and refinement. That is exactly what Shopwiki.com is.

Call me a cynic, call me a conspiracy nut, just don’t call me a fool.
For some time now this wonderful nation of ours has been under attack. Our ideals, goals and history are being revised by those who believe they have the divine right to rule. They were born into wealth and see it as evolution on a social order, that money and power show superior genes. They were born to wield almighty power, and only they know right from wrong, that all of us “peasants” should gladly accept their divinations from on high. They are the moral authority; they are the authors of our destiny. They are above the law, above the constitution and beyond reproach. And they sell us this story in every media and outlet, and we buy it with enthusiasm.

Who are they? It would be simple and naive to say Republicans. As Former president George W. bush once said “This is an impressive crowd of the haves and have mores. Some people call you the elite, I call you my base.” At least he was honest about it. This group of elitists really is the base of the Republican Party, no matter their new-found populist mantra. But the Democratic Party is far from free of guilt. Following the overwhelming victory of Ronald Reagan in 1980, a new movement in the party began. This group of southern Democrats gained strength and momentum as Reagan began union busting.
This move by Reagan was both political and ideological in nature.

This is where I start to see the pattern. Reagan went about systematically destroying the unions for two related reasons. First the Democratic Party, his chief rivals, were heavily funded and supported by unions. Destroying the unions eliminated his opposition’s chief strength. And second, Reagan, and the Republican’s in general, were supported by corporatists that wanted unions to lose power and there-by strengthen the power at the top of their enterprises. After all unions represent democracy in the workplace, and what monarch (CEO) wants to deal with that?

In this power vacuum within the Democratic Party, caused by the fall of the unions, the new corporatist’s element gained strength. It is obvious why; to win major national and even regional elections you need money, mountains of it. The unions were smaller, less powerful and far poorer. They could no longer be relied upon to fund the party. The Blue Dog Democrats had the answer. Go to the same deep well the Republicans siphoned from. Support corporations over workers. Support the rich over the poor. Support anything that helps convince the rich, elite and powerful to fund your campaign. And boy did they.

I’ve never met a neo-liberal a.k.a. neo-conservative a.k.a. conservative who liked former president Bill Clinton. I’ve also never met an actual liberal who supported his policies. He was hated by the Neo-Conservatives because he was not a Republican. And the Republicans as a party are great at tearing down. They began his destruction in the eyes of their loyal followers even before he was elected president. And they put the petal to the metal the moment he entered the White House. They fabricated or exaggerated every possible failure or character flaw in the man. They should have loved him; he was as much a neo-conservative as Newt Gingrich. A Liberal president NEVER signs NAFTA. Even a true conservative never signs NAFTA. He continued the Reagan Tax cuts; he continued the ridiculous military spending of his Neo-Conservative predecessors. The only thing that stopped him from being openly embraced by the Neo-Cons was his party affiliation and that he didn’t openly support their social policies.

The Newt Gingrich Revolution
On the backs of trumped up scandal and outrage, the Neo-Conservatives took control of Congress in a sweeping victory. They denounced then President Clinton for being an adulterer; they denounced his Liberal agenda, and promoted populist change. Fewer taxes, smaller government, promote family values etc. And here is one of those moments when truth is spun on its head. Most of those promoting “family values” and “saving marriage” were adulterers caught in scandals beyond imagination. (Scandals)
This is the legacy of the so called “Moral Majority”. It goes to the old adage, “Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.” You cannot scream about illegal aliens and then hire them, you cannot fight a war on Drugs and use them (Ehem, Rush…), and you cannot condemn adultery and then have affairs. It makes a liar of you, and a fool of those that buy into your rhetoric.

This “Moral Outrage” is a screen, its cover, nothing else. As is their embracing of the Religious Fundamentalists. Organized religion has long been a tool of the powerful. Preach politics from the pulpit and use the church to promote your goals. Turn followers into evangelists, it is a very powerful tool.
If the modern Corporatists (I shy away from calling them conservatives, or Republicans as it crosses party lines) were to show their actual goals in the light of day, they would be hunted down and destroyed publicly. Their goals are as Anti-American as Stalin’s Russia. Grover Norquist put it succinctly: “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” I have no problem with cutting the government in half, in many ways I support that, but that is not what he is saying, he wants to be able to drown it in a bathtub, to kill it entirely. That is anarchy, not democracy. It is the goal of the Corporatists to utterly destroy the American Republic; after all it was George W Bush who said: “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just as long as I’m the dictator.”

Never forget that his is the whole goal, starve government until it can be drowned in a bathtub, so that the wealthy can influence every decision for their best interests. Thereby turning a Democracy into a corporate state. Fascism in the 21st Century.
We are already on the brink. Maybe we have already slipped into it.

It was Eisenhower who warned, during his farewell address: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex.” He was Right, but we must guard against all of the industrial complexes.

Today the medical Industrial complex fights against Health Insurance for all, because it will cut into their profits. They claim that a state run program will have unfair advantages and reduce the quality of Healthcare. They claim that we will have to stand in lines to get medical treatment. (I don’t know about you, but every time I’ve been to an Emergency room I already have to wait for sometimes hours. At for profit hospitals) So how can it be that a not-for-profit system would hurt me as a consumer? I find this very confusing, if you listen to the Neo-Conservative Free Market ideologues, they state that the free market is always better for the consumer, competition keeps prices down etc. So how can a government run institution, not motivated by profit hurt the consumer? The truth is, it doesn’t, this is just the typical hysterical fear-mongering they promote to convince us to vote against our own best interests.

What we actually find, is that in a Free market eventually you always end up with monopolies controlling entire industries. A company gets an advantage, uses it to pressure competitors, gain market share, then they acquire the competitors, use the new size to pressure other competitors, and on and on, until only the one remains. Corporations have no interest in the public good; their only goal is to make a profit. It is the part of government to regulate the markets to ensure that the public is not being fed upon by predatory forces and to stop monopolies from forming in the first place.

In Health Care many people wonder why the costs have sky rocketed over the last 25 years. It doesn’t take a cryptologist to figure this one out. We deregulated the medical industry and allowed hospitals to become profit based entities. Me, personally, I do not want a hospitals decision to save a my life to depend on whether or not it positively affects the corporation’s bottom line.

It happened in banking, it happened in health Care, and it happens in every market we deregulate. Prices go up, and eventually the quality of service goes down. The Health Insurance Industry is trying to stop Healthcare for all, not because it will help American’s but because they are trying to protect their enormous profits, and overly generous Executive compensation. They know that an entity that doesn’t pay its CEO tens of millions of dollars a year has a competitive advantage. They know that an enterprise that doesn’t pay stock dividends has an advantage. Those advantages will reduce the cost of healthcare at the not-for-profit’s and cause the for profits to have to cut costs. But to do it without degrading the quality of care provided they will need to cut bonuses for executives and administrators as well as salaries and dividend payments, what do you think the likely-hood of that will be? So maybe they are right that it will cut quality at the for-profit institutions, because god forbid they cut administrative and Executive costs.

So this political battle, as with most we face, pits the Uber-Rich vested interests against those of the general American population. It is the Rich versus every one else. For the last 30 years the rich have won. Who will win this time?

This is not a Democrat versus Republican war; this is not a Liberal versus Conservative fight. This is the Rich Elite versus all of us. They control the media, the message, the government, and the economy. The economy has been taken hostage by Wall Street. The nation is being held at ransom by thieves, and criminals. There is a war on Terror, but the terrorists are not in some distant land, they are right here at home. They control the banks, they control the systems of money and they own our nation.

“During the short boom of the late 1990s, conservative analysts asserted that, yes, the gap between rich and poor was growing, but that incomes for the poor were still increasing over previous levels. Today most economists, regardless of their political persuasion, agree that the data over the last 25 to 30 years is unequivocal. The top 5% is capturing an increasingly greater portion of the pie while the bottom 95% is clearly losing ground, and the highly touted American middle class is fast disappearing.” — Project Censored.org

The numbers we now see on the distribution of wealth in this nation more match 3rd world nations than our other industrialized counterparts.

I’d like to end with this quote:
“…The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this.” – GARRISON KEILLOR

The Green Expo taught me a very important lesson. Green Entrepreneurs need a place to pitch the world on their unique vision. So in the hopes of furthering their cause I humbly offer Mindzle as a place to make the pitch.

It has been a long held passion of mine to help other people reach their goals and dreams. In 2000 I started a technology incubator with a business partner. Soon after we started a networking event, that allowed idea people to mingle, and collaborate. At this event we created the “Pitch Box”, which was a streaming video feed that also displayed on big screens at the event. Any attendees could get up on the “Pitch Box” and deliver a 3 minute presentation. This opportunity was very popular, and helped many entrepreneurs find partners, and investors.

Given this passion, and past experience I want to help spread the word of any business or person doing good for the larger world. So do you have a great green story? Do you know of a business or product who’d like to tell the world? If so I’d love to help get the word out.

What I am looking for:

1) Tell us about your green, organic, or sustainable product, idea or business. I don’t want to know about market caps, and the fuzzy number projections. I do want to know why I as a potential customer would feel good about it. What is special about the service or product?

2) Photos of the product, people involved, services in jpeg format. Again this is an opportunity to tell people about your business, so make the images tasteful and relevant.

3) Include a “head-shot” of the author and a brief (20-50 word) bio.

4) Send this as an email with 200-800 words to hammer@mindzle.com Make sure to include relavent email and web addresses, and contact information.

If you have a home or personal project, I’d also love to hear from you. If it is green, organic, sustainable and helps me decrease my reliance on foriegn oil, and imported food or just something you are truly passionate about, send me an email at hammer@mindzle.com.

Whole house rain water system

It should be clear to all of us that water is the single most important “element” for life. When scientists look for signs of life out in the greater universe, they first look for signs of liquid water. And here at home on Earth we know all life needs this fluid of life to exist. Yet when we think of the bright green future, rarely is water put out front. We talk of Solar, wind, algae based bio fuels etc. But not about our diminishing supply of fresh, clean water. It seems that the only people who pay attention to this are in areas where it is already a scarce commodity, such as the Dessert Southwest and the Australia outback.

Here I live in a part of the world known for our over-abundance of fresh water. We have the mighty Columbia River, plentiful rainfall and immense aquifers. But even in this land of abundant water, we are already seeing our resource start to be used beyond the capacity of nature to refill. Many of the local municipalities are spending MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to increase storage and supply, as growth here has far outpaced the infrastructure.

It hit home recently. We are in need of replacing our gutters. This winter they have been damaged by ice, branches, etc, to the point they no longer work properly. And, properly working gutters are not a nicety, they are necessary. So, I starting doing the math to calculate how much water hits our metal roof in a year, and then travels through our gutters, and is “disposed” of. And then starting looking at our water bills to determine how much water we use in the summer for the yard… We get 20,000+ gallons of fresh rainwater on our roof every year. In the summer we will use 17,000 gallons for our yard…

That water comes from our community well, which is treated with fluoride, chlorine etc. So why am I using this water, that is treated to make it “safe” to drink, to water plants, who then spend energy to get rid of the chemicals we treat the water with? Why am I using it to flush my toilets? The plants would prefer rain water, and the toilets could care less.

The inevitable outcome of this type of thinking is to start capturing and storing the rainwater. Use that water on the garden, toilets etc. In the overall scheme of things, it is a small additional price when adding or replacing gutters to include a cistern. We’d love to capture and store the full 20,000 gallons, but are starting small. As part of our gutter system we are installing 2x 550 gallons tanks that will be used primarily on the garden. When we remodel the house (hopefully soon) we will adding several more tanks and install a Purple Water system (aka grey water, but using rainwater) for the bathrooms.

I promise to post pictures, and a detailed account of how the system goes together. Step one, the gutters will occur March 12th, weather permitting.

If you have been following along with my coverage of the “Everything Green Expo” here in Portland Oregon then you know my excitement about many of the products, services and ideas I learned of while there. This post is another in that vein. I expected to see new products from new companies and hopeful entrepreneurs. I was genuinely surprised to see the number of old established companies in attendance. In part 2 I talked of a local skylight company (Skylights NW) that now installs Solar Water Heaters. In this post one of the largest manufacturers on Earth shows there new Green wares!

The Portland Rebuilding Center

As promised here are a few of my favorite products and services I met at the Everything Green Expo:

1) EcoStone -Eco-Friendly pavers made from reclaimed granite.

Ecostone Booth at the Everything Green Expo

EcoStone is a Portland based company that manufactures tile, landscaping pavers and interior/exterior stone from reclaimed granite and other natural stone. A typical kitchen granite counter install results in a 30% waste of material, most of which ends up in landfills. EcoStone collects this “waste” material from several stone fabricators in the Portland area and uses a patented hydralic press to tranform it into solid granite tile and pavers of various shapes and sizes. Any resulting waste is crushed into gravel and used as aggregate with zero net waste ending up in ladnfills. Thier goal is to keep 1,000,000 pounds of waste out of Oregon landfill each year. I hope they exceed this goal. In fact we will be installing an EcoStone patio to replace our existing ground level deck that is in it’s last years of useability. I will definately be posting more about this product, and the installation of our patio in the near future. Check out http://www.ecostonenw.com for more information.

The Solar Oregon Booth at the Expo

2) Solar Oregon – Good Energy for Oregonians, is there slogan. My first question to them was: Is Oregon sunny enough for solar?The answer a resounding YES! Even portland and the rainy Willamette Valley recieve as much sunshine as the average US city. In fact, solar is Oregon’s most abundant renewable resource. Today, more than 17,000 Oregon households use solar energy systems to generate electricity or heat water. Suprisingly half the power we use in Oregon is generated by power plants that contribute to climate change and pollution. the sun is a clean, renewable source of energy that can help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Okay, great we can do solar in Oregon, but what does Solar Oregon do? They make it easy for homeowners to install solar energy systems. They are a nonprofit organization that offers free workshops, expert advice, cash incentives from the Energy Trust, State of Oregon Tax Credits, information about Federal Tax Credits, referrals to qualified contractors and access to affordable financing. To learn more or attend a free workshop go to http://www.solarnoworegon.org Their Solar Now! campaign connects Oregonians with the resources and assistance they need to choose solar energy.

3) McGee Salvage- Purveyors of quality reclaimed hardwood floors. Their business is reclaiming hardwood flooring from gymnasiums, homes, hotels, churches, dance halls, etc. around the Pacific Northwest. They then sell the reclaimed materials to customers who are interested in hardwood flooring that is unique in character, antique out-of-production, and green eco-friendly. You can visit them online at http://www.mcgeesalvage.com

The Master Shield demo at the Everything Green Expo

4) Master Shield – Gutter protection that actually works. the single largest problem with gutters on my own home is pine needles. They clog the downspouts, fill the gutters, and always seem to somehow overcome any device designed to stop them. But, believe me this system actually works. We are having them installed on all our gutters. I will be writing about the install with plenty of photos.  They say it keeps ALL debris, including leaves, pine and fir needles, twigs, seedpods, oak tassels – you name it! And after seeing the product I believe it. They give an unconditional 100% money back warranty if it ever clogs. They say they have never had a gutter clog, anywhere, nationwide.

This makes the water in the gutters the cleanest of any gutter system, and eliminates all debris. Which brings about the real importance of this system, it makes rainwater cistern projects much simpler. And this is why we are so excited to install the system. Our hope is to soon be installing a gray-water system for the toilets and gardens using the rain water from the 8000 gallon cistern.

You can learn more about Master Shield and find a local contractor to install the system at their website http://www.mastershield.com

5) Skylights NW- Adding light to your life. Skylights are less than exciting. Though, we will be adding a few to our home to allow more natural light. What is exciting is this 65 year old, established company is now selling and installing Velux Solar water heating systems. On average, installing a solar water heater, your water heating bills should drop 50%-80%. Also, because the sun is free, you’re protected from future fuel shortages and price hikes. On average it takes 3-7 years to payback the system in most areas.

We have not yet chosen a solar hot water system or contractor, but this Velux system is one of the more interesting ones. You can find more information at: http://www.veluxusa.com/solar

In the next part of this series I will be talking of several photovoltaic systems, and  more from the Everything Green Expo.

Over Valentines weekend we had the “Everything Green” expo at the Oregon Convention Center.

If knowledge is power than a green expo has Megawatts of potential. Very few times in your life do all the right conditions and critical mass come together to spark a massive change. I was at the begining of the dot com’s and fell when it crashed. I’ve also grown through the web 2.0 “thing” and note that it is little more than repackaging of the original dot com’s with realistic expectations. In the same manner, the green movement in the USA has been building from the ashes of the last.

The ideas of the green movement are nothing new, going back to Ansel Adams and others in the late 19th century who didn’t want to see the end of open spaces. It has taken generations working towards a better tomorrow and the looming threat of Global Warming, to gain traction with the US general public.

Much like the dot com bubble burst changed the expectations of the web, and taught a new round of idealogues a better way to move forward. This new web 2.0 movement could not come about without the failings of the dot coms, which weren’t even possible until the break-up of AT&T. Making the internet a tool of more than university scientists and the military. The new green movement feels much like the current web 2.0 and not like the dot coms of the early 1990′s.  I see this as a movement from the ideals down, that is not built on hype and over enflated expectations, but one built on concious decisions of right and wrong, of quality over vollume and healthy versus toxic.

Living in what many consider to be the epicenter of the movement gives you insights and opportunities that cannot be underestimated. Being here, I was able to attend the Portland, “Everything Green Expo”. I went in with, a very broad knowledge, and expectations of seeing nothing new. What I found was renewed energy, new ideas and many exciting new products. By the time I left I had made contact with manufacturers, entreprenuers, idealogues and green merchants galore. All of them excited by the future and the hope that a new day brings. But all of them realistic in their expectations and most built on solid fundamentals. I will be talking about these in the next part of this series.

Recently my friends have been asking me for a good place to buy organic and heirloom seeds and plants. I thought this was a great topic, so here are my favorite 7 suppliers.

Johnny Seeds Offers a wide selection of seeds and plants. They have heirloom, organic, fruit, herbs and vegetables for your garden. They have OMRI-approved pest and disease controls and fertilizers. This is one of the larger seed suppliers in the world, and they are employee owned.

Miller Nurseries -J.E. Miller, Dept 4102, 5060 West Lake Road, Canadaigua, NY, 14424- They have dozens of strawberries, raspberries, fruit, and shade trees. Over 60 varieties of apples, many old-fashioned “heirloom” apples. Winter hardy blueberries. 39 varieties of grapes, including wine making varieties. They have a wide variety of unique fruits such as Pawpaw, Persimmon, Kiwi, Honeyberry, Asian Pears, Cranberries and more.

Bountiful GardensBountiful Gardens sells untreated open-pollinated seed of heirloom quality for vegetables, herbs, flowers, grains, green manures, compost and carbon crops. Offering Bio-intensive and Grow Biointensive sustainable organic seed. Specialties: Rare and unusual varieties. Medicinal herbs. Super-nutrition varieties. You may be interested to know that Bountiful Gardens is a non-profit organization and a project of Ecology Action which does garden research and publishes many books, information sheets, and research papers, some in other languages. Ecology Action operates a research mini-farm in Willits, CA and promotes the GROW BIOINTENSIVE method of food production which teaches people in 130 countries around the world to grow food and build soil with less work, water, and energy by natural methods. Find out more at www.growbiointensive.org

Fedco Fedco Seeds, is an excellent source for cold-hardy seeds and plants especially adapted to the demanding Northeast climate. Each year they observe hundreds of varieties, selecting only the best for inclusion in their catalogs. Through their product lines and cultural hints, they encourage sustainable growing methods. They offer a large selection of certified organic cultivars and regional heirloom varieties. We buy products from all over the world. Fedco is a cooperative, one of the few seed companies so organized in the United States. Because they do not have an individual owner or beneficiary, profit is not their primary goal. Consumers own 60% of the cooperative and worker members 40%. Consumer and worker members share proportionately in the cooperative’s profits through their annual patronage dividends.

A Few Good Seeds Vegetable seeds,Fruit plants or seeds. Specialties: Heirloom Vegetables. All of their plants and seeds are grown without any chemical inputs. Their goal is to test and adapt vegetables for our regional climate and growing conditions.

Territorial Seed Company Currently they find themselves in good company “capital-O Organics”, excited about taking leadership in advising the evolution of organic agriculture from a movement into a mainstream market. There are 20 full-time and 25 seasonal employees locally, strategic alliances with universities and European plant breeders, and a zillion worms making compost and plant teas. They are experts in Organic and Biodynamic seeds and plants.

Willhite Seed They have over 400 varieties of seeds including watermelon, cataloupe, cucumber, bean, corn, okra, peas, squash etc. They have a wide selection of of unusual Indian seed.

It can be quite a daunting experience when you try to make a positive change. In our modern world with the information thrown at the speed of light in your direction 24 hours a day 7 days a week, how do you filter out the important information and make wise decisions about the choices in your life? To help you find a greener path, and probably a happier one as well, here are my top ten web resources for living green:

10) Paystolivegreen.com – This great little blog is about saving money by going green.  They discuss topics including the environment, alternative sources of energy, going green, organic and sustainable products, finance, the environment, nutrition and technology. I have only recently come across this blog, but it is a well spring of ideas and information and anyone wanting to be more ecologically sound should check it out.

9) Dailyecotips.com – A blog with a new daily eco tip listed on the site every day. Find out how to save money, save energy, recycle, reuse and live a greener life! How much more can I say. The blogs author has a done a wonderful job of coming up with a new eco tip every day that is both practical and smart.

Backyardaquaponics.com – Without this website I would have no idea about aquaponics, nor would most of the rest of the world. If you don’t know about aquaponics I suggest you head over there right away. They have opened my eyes to a better way of growing both fish and plants for food. Any self respecting survivalist should have an aquaponics system . In fact NASA is using ideas like this in their long term space exploration plans. Of particular interest is the forums and specifically Member Systems. This is a large group of people who have been building and testing their own designs in sometimes very remote parts of the world, where they actually rely on the productively of these systems to eat.

7) Organicgardeningzone.com - This blog has the best Info You Can Find About Tips And Ideas On Organic Gardening, Gardening Advice, Supplies And Equipment Reviews. They have been a dependable resource with a great deal of knowledge and experience to help the new Organic gardener get up and running successfully.

6) Articlegarden.com – This website is a collection of articles from a wide sampling of blogs on sustainability. Their own self description tells it best: “is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for human and natural environments for both now and the indefinite future. It relates to the connection of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. It is intended to be a means of balancing civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential today, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in a very long term. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local family to the entire planet. We must all strive to live a sustainable lifestyle. From biodeisel to recycling this is a sustainable living resource meant to help us all learn to do this.”

5) Mindzle.com – Yes, I know, shameless self promotion. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this site, which has been one of my top resources for living a more sustainable life. It has motivated me to make better decisions and is a repository of knowledge I have compiled from literally thousands of sources.

4)The Green Guide – National Geographic magazines Green Guide is a deep resource, whether you want tips to green your life, or to research which product you should buy. It tends to be heavily leaning towards the latter.  When my wife and I decided to buy a new freezer it was the first place we looked. Some of what they are selling is little more than green-washing, but a savvy individual can usually find useful information regardless.

3) Organicgardening.com- This is the website for the magazine of the same name. If you are looking for anything related to organic gardening you will find it here. We will be using thier Organic Gardening Composter plans to build our own version.

2) Mother Earth News – The Original Guide to Living Wisely. This website for the oldest magazine related to green living and homesteading with 40 years of articles and how-to’s in one place is an imeesruarable asset. It was tough deciding these top two places, and Mother Earth News could easily have taken the top spot. It is hard to argue with 40 years of environmental and rural knowledge available in one place. From this singular resource you can learn anything related to organic gardening, home power generation, alternative fuels, electric cars… well pretty much anything green.

1)Treehugger.com – Arguably the top online news and information portal on sustainability in business, home, politics and products. There is an ocean of articles by many of the top experts in every related field.  There are interviews, how-to’s as well as the news you need to know. They easily made my top two, but it is the constant updates daily that moved them into the top spot. They have been a big motivator for me and my family.