BOOKS TO EXCITE THE BRAIN AND HEART  

Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect by David W. Orr, 1994, Island Press

 Dept. Head of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College examines the roles that education and politics plays in our greater understandings of the environments around us.  Easy to read and should be part of every one's library and classroom.

Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment by Sandra Steingraber.Sandra Steingraber, biologist, poet, and survivor of cancer in her twenties, brings all three perspectives to bear on the most important health and human rights issue of our time: the growing body of evidence linking cancer to environmental contamination. In a gripping personal narrative, she travels from hospital waiting rooms to hazardous waste sites and from farmhouse kitchens to incinerator hearings, bringing to life stories of communities in her hometown and around the country as they confront decades of industrial and agricultural recklessness.

Design With Nature, 25th Anniversary Edition by Ian L. McHarg, 1992, John Wiley & Sons

Noah's Garden, by Sara Stein, 1993, Houghton Mifflin Co.

Jen Jensen, Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens, by Robert E. Greese, 1992, John Hopkins University Press.

WEB SITES / Associations, Information

COMMUNITY GARDEN ASSOC:  Everything about community garden in America

CHICAGOLAND GROWS: With fine ornamental character and proven dependability, Chicagoland Grows selections offer the landscape professional and the home gardener alike an appealing array of quality plants. Established in 1986, Chicagoland Grows is a unique partnership among the Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum and the Ornamental Growers Association of Northern Illinois (OGA). Collectively, the partners work with other industry professionals throughout North America to select, evaluate, produce and market new and recommended plant cultivars with proven performance under Northern growing conditions.

CHICAGO WILDERNESS: Full of information of Chicago's wilderness, biodiversity, lists of native plants for the home landscape - and more.

MIDWEST ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATION  (MELA)    Founded in 2002 to promote environmentally responsible landscaping and horticultural practices to professionals and the public. Our mission is to serve as an educational and scientific resource for the horticultural industry. We pursue these goals through education, advocacy and networking.

MELA strives to bring into regular use the most ecologically sound practices for landscape care and management, through leadership, ethical practice, learning and community.

WILD ONES - NATURAL LANDSCAPES, LTD: A non-profit organization with a mission to educate and share information with members and community at the "plant-roots" level and to promote biodiversity and environmentally sound practices. Their diverse membership is interested in landscaping using native species in developing plant communities.

LANDSCAPE PLANTS OF THE UPPER MIDWEST: An interactive guide specific to the upper Midwest United States providing information on more than 600 species and varieties common to this region. It features more than 1,800 color photos and the ability to search using any combination of 42 characteristics including size, light requirements, landscape application, etc.

GREEN LANDSCAPING: GREEN ACRES:This Environmental Protection Agency site has a wealth of material about green landscaping, with a special emphasis on native plants of different regions.

HORTIPLEX: The HortiPlex database contains plant images and data as well as links to information sources, images and vendors at other sites.

LITTLE VILLAGE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ORG: Works with our families, coworkers, and neighbors to improve the environment and lives in  Little Village and  Chicago through democracy in action. Works for a real voice in building democracy, including if, how, when and where any development of our communities takes place, as the basis for environmental, economic and social justice.

FORSIGHT DESIGN INITIATIVE: www.forsightinitiative.org  Dedicated to building the sustainable design community through a variety of programs.

GreenNet
GreenNet is a coalition of non-profit organizations and public agencies committed to sharing information and resources; to serving as a clearinghouse for information about greening in Chicago; and to developing joint efforts to improve the quality, amount, use, and wide geographic distribution of sustainable, green open space in the City of Chicago. If you want to read more about the coalition, click here.

Ecological Landscaping Association
The Ecological Landscaping Association (ELA), through education and networking, advocates environmentally responsible landscaping and horticultural practices to professionals and the public. This national group was the inspiration for the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association

Openlands Project
Openlands is one of the nation's oldest and most successful urban conservation organizations. In its forty-year life it has helped to secure more than 45,000 acres of public parks, forest preserves, land and water greenway corridors and urban gardens in the Chicago area.

Chicago Wilderness
The Chicago Wilderness coalition is an unprecedented alliance of more than 160 public and private organizations working together to protect, restore, study and manage the precious natural ecosystems of the Chicago region for the benefit of the public.

Chicago Recycling Coalition
The Chicago Recycling Coalition is a not-for-profit organization that promotes source-separated recycling and composting for Chicago's residents, businesses and schools. It serves the community in an educational and advisory capacity through its newsletter, website and special events.

Organic Food Network
The Organic Food Network is a social, educational and activism organization emphasizing support of people and systems that produce organic and sustainable food. The website contains an organic-based discussion forum, organic-related events, links, and even a Guide to Eating Organic In and Around Chicago

American Community Gardening Association
The American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) is a national nonprofit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities.

RADIO  

DEMOCRACY NOW  www.democracynow.org  The best coverage of local and global news that I know of.  Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez offer in-depth reporting, surprising interviews, offering information and analysis not found anywhere else.

FILMS

Blue Vinyl http://www.bluevinyl.org
A toxic comedy look at vinyl, the world's second largest selling plastic. With humor, hope and a piece of vinyl siding firmly in hand, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and co-director Daniel B. Gold travel from Helfand’s hometown to America’s vinyl manufacturing capital and beyond in search of answers about the nature of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). 80 minutes.

*Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia http://www.ban.org
A documentary based on an investigative report revealing that huge quantities of hazardous electronic wastes (E-wastes) are being exported to China, Pakistan and India where they are processed in operations that are extremely harmful to human health and the environment. 23 minutes.

*Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage
Distributed by: http://www.akpress.org
To investigate the roots of our waste addicted culture, Heather Rogers excavates the history of garbage handling from the 1800s to the post-WWII golden era of consumption, up through the contradictions of modern day recycling. 19 minutes.