Home design and maintenance can promote and model more sustainable lifestyles. Healthful, non-polluting approaches at home and throughout the community can contribute to sustainability and support the local ecosystem. This section contains resources to more sustainable practices and purchases.
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Eco-Home Network, 4344 Russell Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027, Tel: 213.662.5207, Fax: 213.662.4744, Email: ecohome@gte.net, Website: http://ecohome.org. Eco-Home is a community resource center of information and guidance in the subject of ecological urban living for individuals, businesses and government agencies.
Eco-Village Information Service, Website: http://www.gaia.org . This website provides information on sustainable human settlements and eco-village concepts and sites.
Environmental Home Center, 1724 4th Avenue S., Seattle, WA 98134, Tel: 206.682.7332; 800.281.9785, Fax: 206.682.8275, Website: http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com. The website of this Seattle-based showroom and warehouse contains an extensive resource guide to environmentally-friendly construction, renovation, and decorating supplies, such as paints and finishes, flooring, and timber products, which promote healthier homes.
EPA Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP), 401 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20460, Tel: 703.305.5017, Website: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides. OPP' s mission is to protect public health and the environment from the risks posed by pesticides and to promote safer means of pest control.
Global Action Plan for the Earth (GAP), 84 Yerry Hill Road, PO Box 428, Woodstock, NY 12498, Tel: 914. 679.4830, Fax: 914.679.4834, Email: info@globalactionplan.org, Website: http://www.globalactionplan.org. GAP works with cities and towns across the U.S. to promote sustainable living on a community-wide scale.
The Harmony Project, P.O. Box 2165, Charleston, SC 29413, Tel: 843.577.2103, Fax: same, Email: mgoodwin@greenvillage.org, Website: http://www.greenvillage.org. The Harmony Project is a non-profit partnership which advocates sustainability and is a catalyst for sustainable development and sustainable building design.
Healthy Building Network, c/o Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2425 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, Tel: 202.232.4108, Fax: 202.332.0463, Email: info@healthybuilding.net, Website: http://www.healthybuilding.net. The Network advocates the use of safer, ecologically superior building materials as a means to a healthier indoor environment and global environmental preservation.
Healthy Housing, Canada Housing and Mortgage Company, 700 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario KIA OP7, Tel: 613.748.2000, Fax: 613. 748.2098, Email: chic@cmha-schl.gc.ca, Website: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/cgi-cmhc/enfrmsite.pl?target=/HealthyHousing/. This site provides information on housing that is healthy to live in, takes less energy to build and operate, uses fewer non-renewable resources and makes efficient use of readily renewable resources, is healthy for the environment, is affordable for builders, owners, and occupants, and does not use municipal services. There is also information on their demonstration model and how to make a home safer room by room.
Institute for Cultural Affairs Greensboro (ICA), 5911 Western Trail, Greensboro, NC 27410, Email: icagboro@igc.apc.org, Website: http://www.icaworld.org/usaeastern/greensboro/simple.html. This organization focuses on how people can move toward sustainability at the family and household level.
Marsh Commons, Arcata, CA, Email: startrak@northcoast.com, Website: http://www.northcoast.com/~startrak. This is a co-housing project being built with almost exclusively recycled materials next to a very innovative marsh/waste water treatment facility.
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, Green Source 2020, 630 Florence Avenue, P.O. Box 890, Owatonna, MN 55060, Tel: 507.444.7475, Fax: 507.455.9688This program provides information to communities regarding environmentally friendly lawn care.
National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP), 701 E Street, SE, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20003, Tel: 202.543.5450, Fax: 202.543.4791, Email: ncamp@ncamp.org, Website: http://www.ncamp.org. NCAMP, a national coalition of community-based organizations and people, operates a national information clearinghouse on pesticide hazards and alternatives to their use and advocates for changes in policies and practices to stop and prevent pesticide poisoning and contamination
Pesticide Action Network Pesticide Database, Version 2.0, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), 49 Powell Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102, Tel: 415.981.1771, Website: http://www.pesticideinfo.org. This online collection of pesticide data provides detailed information for about 5,400 pesticide active ingredients, breakdown products, and related chemicals. It also contains information on more than 100,000 formulated pesticide products from the U.S. Environmmental Protection Agency.
Virginia Housing & the Environment Network, P.O. Box 6539, Arlington, VA 22206, Tel: 703.486.2966, Fax: 703.486.2966This is a statewide network of people interested in building healthy, environmentally friendly housing and sustainable communities.
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Berthold-Bond, Annie. Clean & Green: the Complete Guide to Nontoxic and Environmentally Safe Housekeeping. (Woodstock, NY: Ceres Press, 1990).
Bower, John. The Healthy House: How to Buy One, How to Build One, How to Cure a Sick One, 4th Edition. (Bloomington, IN: Healthy House, 2001). This encyclopedic guide to healthy house construction contains information on everything from house siting to chemicals in carpeting and deck lumber. It has contact information on over 600 organizations and suppliers and over 1,300 references for further information.
Briggs, Shirley A. and the Rachel Carson Council. Basic Guide to Pesticides: Their Characteristics and Hazards. (Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1992).
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Healthy Housing and Sustainability. This section of the CMHC website provides a range of information on improving the quality and health of housing. This resource can be found online at: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/imquaf/hehosu/index.cfm.
Ellerman, Dana, producer. Going Green. (Rhea Productions, 1991). This video provides a step-by-step guide to reducing the "unfriendly" impact of your household on the environment. and helps people translate their environmental concerns into daily actions. To obtain this resource contact Bullfrog Films, P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; Tel: 800.543.3764; Email: info@bullfrogfilms.com; Website: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com.
Gershon, David and Andrea Barrist Stern. Ecoteam: A Program Empowering Americans to Create Earth-Friendly Lifestyles. (Woodstock, NY: Global Action Plan for the Earth, 1996).
The Learning Team. The Green Home: A new "green" way of building and operating your home. This CD-ROM teaches students in grades 7-12 to be more environmentally aware by showing them a new "green" way of building and operating homes. It has three primary sections: a walkthrough, a "library" with information on over a hundred environmental topics, and an "activities" section with interactive screens for manipulating various aspects of the house. To obtain this resource contact The Learning Team, 84 Business Park Drive, Suite 307, Armonk, NY 10504; Tel: 1.800.793.TEAM; Fax: 914.273.2227.
Olkowski, William et al. Common-Sense Pest Control: Least Toxic Solutions for your Home, Garden, Pets and Community. (Newtown, CT: The Taunton Press, 1991).
Owens, Kagan, and Jay Feldman. "The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws: Review of State Pesticide Laws Regarding Schools," Pesticides and You, Vol. 16, No. 3 . (Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP), 1998). This report addresses issues that specifically pertain to states' laws on pesticide use in schools. To obtain this resource contact Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP, 701 E Street, SE, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20003; Tel: 202.543.5450. This resource can be found online at: http://www.beyondpesticides.org.
Rocky Mountain Institute. Home Energy Briefs. (Snowmass, CO: Rocky Mountain Institute). These 4-page summaries on residential energy-saving methods, equipment and materials are available for organizations to distribute as public outreach to members or customers. To obtain this resource contact: RMI at: Tel: 970.927.3851, Fax: 970.927.3420, Email: orders@rmi.org. This resource can be found online at: http://www.rmi.org/catalog/gds.htm.
Susanka, Sarah. The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live. (Newtown, CT: Taunton Press, 1998). This book makes the case for choosing smaller, simpler homes.
Wagner, Travis. In Our Backyard. (New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994). This source of environmental facts addresses questions on everything from drinking water quality to the cost of toxic controls and cleanups and consumer decisionmaking.
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Sustainable Communities Network (SCN) Revised November 8, 2002