Just a few good resources, tools, and organizations to help us build a more sustainable world:
Some of my Favorite Local Organizations:
• SEEDS Community Resolution Center (http://www.seedscrc.org/)
• Northern California Land Trust (http://www.nclt.org)
• Ecology Center (http://www.ecologycenter.org/)
• The Cooperative Grocery (“The COG”) (http://www.thecog.org)
• Waterside Workshops (http://www.watersideworkshops.org/)
• East Bay Cohousing (http://www.ebcoho.org/)
• Insight Center for Community Economic Development (http://www.insightcced.org/)
• Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives (http://www.arizmendi.coop)
• Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NoBAWC) (http://www.nobawc.org)
• Spiral Gardens (http://www.spiralgardens.org/)
• People’s Grocery (http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/)
• City Slickers Farms (http://www.cityslickerfarms.org/)
• Village Harvest (http://www.villageharvest.org/)
• Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative (http://www.ecologycenter.org/bcgc/)
• Neighborhood Vegetables (http://neighborhoodveggies.ning.com/)
Resources on Cohousing and Intentional Communities:
• Cohousing Association – www.cohousing.org (A national directory of cohousing, with detailed information and statistics about each community, and lots of great articles and links).
• Intentional Communities – www.ic.org (A directory of ecovillages, cohousing, and other intentional communities throughout the U.S. and the world).
• Cohousing Partners – www.cohousingpartners.com (Cohousing development and consulting).
• North American Students of Cooperation – www.nasco.coop (A good resource on student housing cooperatives).
• Federation of Egalitarian Communities – www.thefec.org (Network of North American egalitarian communities ranging in size from, small agricultural homesteads to village-like communities to urban group houses).
• Global Ecovillage Network – www.ecovillage.org (Includes a directory of ecovillages all over the world).
Resources on Food and Urban Agriculture:
• Local Harvest – www.localharvest.org (Directory of food cooperatives, CSAs, community farms, and much more.)
• Food Routes - www.foodroutes.org (Resource on buying local food)
• Coop Directory Service – www.coopdirectory.org (Directory of grocery co-ops and buying clubs, plus other helpful info about starting a buying club).
• The Power of Community – www.powerofcommunity.org (A wonderful documentary about urban gardening and cooperation in Cuba).
• American Community Gardening Association – www.communitygarden.org (National directory of community gardens and resources on starting community gardens)
• Guerilla Gardening – www.guerillagardening.org
• Revive the Victory Garden – www.revivevictorygarden.org
Resources on Cooperatives:
• A Legal Sourcebook For California Cooperatives: Start-up & Administration, by Van P. Baldwin (Complete book available online at www.cooperatives.ucdavis.edu).
• In Good Company: A Guide to Cooperative Employee Ownership, published by Northcountry Cooperative Foundation, available online at www.ncdf.org/documents/worker_coop_toolbox.pdf
• Grassroots Economic Organizing: www.geonewsletter.org (Organization promoting an economy based on democratic participation, worker and community ownership, social and economic justice, and ecological sustainability).
• National Cooperative Business Association – www.ncba.coop (Develops and advances the interests of cooperative businesses)
• U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives - www.usworker.coop (Advance worker owned, managed, and governed workplaces through cooperative education, advocacy and development).
• International Cooperative Alliance – www.ica.coop (Uniting, representing, and serving cooperatives worldwide).
• International Cooperative Alliance Group – www.ica-group.org (Providing employee ownership, business development, and job retention services).
• Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives – www.arizmendi.coop (Contains a helpful list of resources on cooperatives.)
• Green Worker Cooperatives – www.greenworker.coop (Bronx-based organization serving as an incubator for green worker co-ops)
• University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives – www.uwcc.wisc.edu (Contains many helpful resources on cooperatives).
Carsharing Resources:
• Bring Car Sharing to Your Community, by City CarShare (Entire handbook available at www.citycarshare.org/download/CCS_BCCtYC_Long.pdf).
• Carsharing.net – www.carsharing.net (Contains a list of carsharing programs throughout North America and a library of information on carsharing).
• Carsharing.US Blog – www.carsharing.us
Resources on Consensus Decision-making:
• On Conflict and Consensus: A Handbook on Formal Consensus Decisionmaking, by C.T. Butler and Amy Rothstein (This whole guidebook is available online at www.ic.org/pnp/ocac).
• Seeds for Change – www.seedsforchange.org.uk (Resources on consensus decision-making).
Communication Workshops:
• Powerful Non-Defensive Communication with Sharon Ellison – www.pndc.com
• Nonviolent Communication with Marshall B. Rosenberg – www.cnvc.org
Other:
• The GoodGuide – www.goodguide.com (Provides information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home).
• Oasis Design – www.oasisdesign.net (Great resource on grey water systems.)
• Business Alliance for Local Living Economies – www.livingeconomies.org