The Cottonwood Institute
is committed to inspiring participants to increase their awareness of
local environmental issues, environmental sustainability, and how to
reduce their environmental footprint. In order to help raise an
awareness about how easy it is to tread lightly on the planet, we have
compiled the following list of green facts and resources you can incorporate into
your daily lives.
GREEN FACTS:
- If every U.S. household replaced one roll of regular paper towels with
100 percent recycled ones, we’d save 544,000 trees. Source: Green Life - Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light
bulb (energy efficient bulb) will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide per
year. Source: Inconvenient Truth - You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste. Source: Inconvenient Truth
- Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often. You’ll save
one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive! Source: Inconvenient Truth
ENVIRONMENTAL MOVIES:
- 11th Hour
- An Inconvenient Truth
- The Next Industrial Revolution
- The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
- The Real Dirt on Farmer John
- Who Killed the Electric Car?
ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT CALCULATORS:
- My Footprint
- Earth Lab
ENERGY:
- American Council for and Energy Efficient Economy
- Center for Resource Conservation
- Clean and Green
- EnergyStar Program
- Green Heart Institute
- Home Energy Saver
- Inconvenient Truth
- Renewable Choice Energy
- Solar Living Institute
- US Department of Energy program on Energy Efficiency
GREEN BUILDING:
- Center for Resource Conservation
- Environmental Construction Outfitters
- Greenprint Denver
- Jacques Environmental Services, LLC
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
- Living Space
- Syndesis
HOME/OFFICE PRODUCTS:
- Better World Handbook Shopping Guide
- Consumer Reports Greener Choices
- Eco Products
- EnergyStar Program
- Environmental Home Center
- EPA’s Alternatives to Hazardous Household Cleaners
- Fabri-Kal Greenware Cups
- Gaiam
- The Green Guide
- Green Heart Guide
- Healthy House Institute
- Mother Earth News
INVESTING:
- Chittenden Bank
- ShoreBank Pacific
- Calvert Financial Group
- Domini Social Investments
- Citizens Funds
- Green Century Funds
- Neuberger Berman Mutual Funds
- New Alternatives Fund
- Parnassus Investments
- PAX World Fund
- Portfolio 21
- Powershares
- Sierra Club Mutual Funds
- Winslow Green Growth Fund
LANDSCAPING:
- Colorado Native Plant Society
- Colorado Plant Select Program
- Composting Fact Sheet
- Fertilizing the Organic Garden Fact Sheet
- Grasscycling
- Lawn Care and Turf Resources
- Planttalk Colorado
- Xeriscape Colorado
ORGANICS:
- Boulder Farmers Market
- Denver Farmers Market
- Organic Consumers Association
RECYCLING:
- Boulder County Recycling
- Center for Resource Conservation
- Denver Recycles
- Eco-Cycle
- National Recycling Coalition, Inc.
- National Waste Prevention Coalition
- Grassroots Recycling Network
RESTAURANTS:
- Consortium for Energy Efficiency Commercial Kitchens Initiative
- EPA EnergyStar Restaurants
- Food Service Technology Center
- Green Restaurant Association
TRAVEL:
- Conservation International Ecotravel Center
- Green Hotels Association
- International Ecotourism Society
- Sustainable Travel International
WATER:
- American Water Works Association
- Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network
- Boulder County Drought Information
- Center for Resource Conservation
- City of Boulder Water Conservation
- Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
- Denver Water
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Household Hazardous Waste Hotline: 303.441.4800
- League of Women Voters Colorado Water Protection Project
- Partners for a Clean Environment
- Spill Hotline: 303.441.4444
- Wash Project
- Water Info
- Water Saving Irrigation and Drought Management
- Water Wise Tips for Colorado Landscapes
