Teaching Tools and Kids' Resources
Starbucks: Planet Green Game
Learn how to "go green" at the local level as you skateboard, bicycle or drive around a virtual neighborhood looking for clues and gaining points for making the right ecological decisions. You can also enter a virtual Starbucks — sorry, no virtual coffee...
Ben & Jerry's: Lick Global Warming
A fun game with a serious message at the end -- ride around in a gas guzzler, an eco-friendly van, a hybrid or a speedster, picking up passengers and hopefully finding the gas station on your way to a Guster concert. The serious part comes at the end, when you're prompted to contact your elected officials to take action.
National Geographic: Environment
Resources for teachers and quizzes for students covering topics ranging from global warming to air pollution to family farming. Interactive tools illustrate complex concepts, and tip sheets and how-to guides make taking action easy.
The Great Green Web Game
A virtual board game created by the Union of Concerned Scientists, with "Did You Know" factoids and a Q&A approach to learning facts about environmental pollution and carbon footprints.
School Carbon and Ecological Footprint Calculator
A graphics-heavy, easy-to-navigate guide to what an ecological footprint is all about and how the younger set can take steps in their own lives to reduce their carbon output. Follow the ketchup bottle (in British-speak, tomato sauce) from Italy to your table.
The Green Squad
An interactive game from the Natural Resources Defense Council, featuring a cast of tweens helping solve some real-world puzzles about the environment and sustainability from the vantage point of their school. Lesson plans and a progress chart are included.
Climate Change Kids Site
Created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this site helps explain how human activity is changing the global environment. Site includes simple, familiar games with a focus on the environment.
The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
Helping young students "invent a sustainable future" with curriculum and guided seminars for teachers. The group creates "innovative courses and professional development programs that focus students' thinking, research and creativity" on sustainability issues.
How-To Guides for Living Green
Sustain Lane
Reviews and "greenwash" critiques of natural and organic foods, products and businesses. Useful tips for living "green" at home, including top-five lists and easy-to-find entries sorted by category -- the site makes it much easier to live a sustainable life...
Green Options
Extensive directory of blogs, articles, how-to guides and forums for those "hunting for practical, personal knowledge that allows them to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle without breaking their budget or seriously sacrificing comfort and convenience."
Greener Buildings
A comprehensive source for all aspects of building energy-efficient "green" structures. Directory also includes hundreds of online tools for both individual homeowners and building contractors on best practices for construction or remodeling.
Appropedia
A clearinghouse of thousands of articles, organized in a wiki format, highlighting practical solutions for sustainability, poverty reduction and international development. Site's mission is to organize project examples, best practices and how-tos.
Greenopia
A growing list of city guides on practical ways to live green. Site features handy tip sheets, green business directories and blogs by regular contributors covering everything from social movements to green gift items.
Architecture for Humanity
Practical applications and research on low-cost, sustainable, small-footprint housing solutions for both developed nations and nations where housing is in critically short supply. Focus on energy efficiency, local materials and simple construction techniques.
Green Progress
Focused on technological approaches to "green" living, including online resources for building efficient homes and news about alternative energy research, transportation and global climate change.
Sustainable Design Forum
A self-described "big picture" site with news, resources, discussion board and online tools to help the U.S. construction industry take the lead in an emerging "green" world economy.
Eco-Cycle: Working to Build Zero-Waste Communities
Looking for practical ways to reduce your waste stream or start a local effort? This site offers very practical tips and factsheets on everything from re-using what used to be considered household trash to composting.
Local Harvest
A very useful map-based guide to organic produce and U.S. farmer's markets. Also a comprehensive and rapidly growing list of stores that adhere to "slow food" principles and stock mostly local groceries. Monthly newsletter, forums and much more.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
Learn about the overharvesting of the world's oceans, which species are ideal to eat, which are borderline and which -- like the Patagonian toothfish, aka Chilean sea bass -- are popular in restaurants but should be avoided.
Sustainable Food Laboratory
A project led by the Sustainability Institute, aimed at educating consumers about the virtues of locally grown food, with downloadable tip sheets on sustainable eating and shopping practices, nutrition tips and much more.
