links-ed resources

Links

Other Waste & Sustainable Living Educational Resources/Articles

Iowa
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
A variety of environmental information may be found at the Iowa DNR website. Check out the Waste Management and Education pages for issues directly related to waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

Iowa Recycling Association
Find facts about recycling, conference news, board member and staff contact information, and details about upcoming conferences, workshops and tours. An archive of IRA newsletters may also be found.

Iowa Society of Solid Waste Operators
ISOSWO is a statewide organization with members who are directly involved in solid waste management issues. At their website, access newsletters and reports, learn about current issues and environmental regulations. Conference information, as well as a listing of board members, is also available.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center
The IWRC assists small businesses with information concerning environmental regulations, waste reduction and pollution prevention. Their website includes small business tools, information about the various IWRC programs and products, Iowa and national environmental news and IWRC publications.

Landfills & Recycling Centers
This link will take you to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' Waste Management Division's website's Comprehensive Planning page. At the bottom of this page are clickable links. To view a map of Solid Waste Planning Areas throughout Iowa, click on "Planning Area Map." To obtain contact information for your local planning area, click on "Planning Area Contacts." Field trip opportunities are readily available at most landfills and recycling centers.

National
Center for a New American Dream
This website includes information on living consciously, buying wisely and making a difference. Junk mail, publications, books, institutional purchasing and even a back to school campaign are a few of the topics covered.

Environmental Protection Agency Municipal Solid Waste
This web site contains information on municipal solid waste (MSW), including facts, information about reducing, reusing and recycling, and state data about MSW. Click here to view a 1999 document that provides MSW facts and figures, including charts of types of wastes generated and recovered. More than 40 subjects related to MSW management are also included. In 2005, the EPA published a curriculum guide titled, Quest for Less: Activities and Resources for Teaching K-8. Fifty-three lessons are available and address natural resources, products, waste, source reduction, recycling, composting, and landfills and combustion. Click here for a list of other publications, including EE Materials: Guidelines for Excellence.

Good Stuff? A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy
Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from, if antibacterial soap is good for your family, or how to recycle an old computer? If you've had these or other questions about environmental and social impacts of the products you buy, this website contains tips, facts, and links to start making more informed purchases.

Grist magazine
Environmental news and commentary. The "Ask Umbra" column periodically deals with waste reduction, recycling and consumption issues, and articles and columns are available through the website archives. Check out these two great articles for a sampling of what you'll find: http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2003/11/25/consumption/ and http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2005/08/22/umbra-eitheror/.

Guide to Less Toxic Products
Everyday, most North Americans use beauty and cleaning products which contain hazardous ingredients. The objective of this site from the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia is to: 1) Provide information about potential health risks of commonly used products; 2) Help identify less toxic alternatives for personal care, household cleaning, baby care, and household pest control; and 3) Provide information to help viewers evaluate products not in their guide in order to choose the safest ones.

Hazardous Waste Management Program of King County
This site, from Seattle, Washington, offers information on disposal of hazardous materials, alternatives, the "good bug guide," and answers to common questions.

I Buy Different
This website designed for youth to help them understand their purchasing power and what they can do to reduce environmental impact. The site was developed as a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund and the Center for a New American Dream. Click here for curriculum information. Click here for curriculum information.

National Recycling Coalition
At this site, find the Environmental Benefits Calculator, which generates estimates of resources saved with recycling of various products.

National Waste Prevention Forum
The archive includes all messages posted to the Waste Prevention Forum from January, 1999 to the present. Learn about issues waste professionals are addressing-everything from diapers to cell phones to conspicuous consumption. The Forum covers waste prevention-reduction and reuse-but not recycling. For more information, or to sign up to receive the Forum e-mails, contact Tom Watson at Tom.Watson@METROKC.gov .

Redefining Progress
Redefining Progress works to shift the economy and public policy toward sustainability. On this site, find the Ecological Footprint, where individual's impact on the environment can be measured. Also on this site is the Genuine Progress Indicator, which is an alternative to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for measuring the health of the nation.

Simple Living America
At this site, you may take a test to measure your simplicity, learn about a PBS series titled, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska, and learn about simplicity study circles.

Simple Living Network
At this website, find information about simplicity study groups, eco-living tools, simple-living tools, and books. News and events, a Simple Living newsletter, and links to many other related sites are found. This site also offers a huge range of books and other resources about simple living and related topics.

Sustainable Living Project
This website provides articles, videos, and information to help individuals make consumer decisions, and includes information about the Sustainable Living Triangle, which asks individuals to identify their economic, environmental and cultural values and then live by those values.

Wikipeda
This free encyclopedia defines sustainable living "as a lifestyle that could, hypothetically, be sustained unmodified for many generations without exhausting any natural resources . The term can be applied to individuals or societies . Its adherents most often hold true.

The World Bank Group
This is an excellent resource for high school and college students. It provides data on many countries...from particulate matter in the air (air pollution) to population to income. It is also worthwhile for teachers and younger students, especially as a companion to Peter Menzel's Material World.

Worldwatch Institute
Worldwatch conducts independent research to facilitate an environmentally sustainable and socially just society. This link goes directly to facts and trends on consumption.

Yearning for Balance
Yearning for Balance, a report commissioned by the Merck Family Fund and published in 1995, provides Americans' perspectives on consumption.

Website mission: Provide formal and nonformal educators with resources, lessons plans, and a forum for information exchange to facilitate education about waste in K-12 classrooms. Webmaster: Susan Salterberg, Center for Energy and Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0293; salterberg@uni.edu Last Updated: January 5, 2005; Copyright 2005 University of Northern Iowa. All Rights Reserved. http://www.uni.edu/ceee/wastereduction

Thanks to the Iowa Waste Reduction Center at the University of Northern Iowa and especially to their director, John Konefes, and to their webmaster, Jason Ebensberger, for assistance with this website. This website was prepared with the support of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Contract Number 04-G550-24. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of IDNR. Funding support was also provided by the Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP CEP): Invest in Iowa , our outdoors, our heritage, our people. REAP is supported by the state of Iowa, providing funding to public and private partners for natural and cultural resource projects, including water quality, wildlife habitat, soil conservation, parks, trails, historic preservation and more.