Happy Earth Day @ Your Library!

Check out these great green reads at your Charleston County Public Library!

Children

*J O' Connor - Fancy Nancy: Every Day Is Earth Day by Jane O'Connor

J 333.9542 Forier - Endangered Animals by Elise Forier (We Both Read Beginning Reader Series)

J 363.7 Mckay - True Green: 100 Things You Can Do To Save the Planet by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin

J 363.7392 Sechrist - Air Pollution by Darren Sechrist (Saving Our World Series)

J 363.73874 Rockwell - Why Are All the Ice Caps Melting? The Dangers of Global Warming by Anne Rockwell

Teens

Y Greenwald - My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald

Y Hiaasen - Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Y 333.72 Sivertsen - Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life by Linda Sivertsen

Y 597.92 Hickman - Turtle Rescue by Pamela Hickman (Firefly Animal Rescues Series)

Adults

261.88 Gottlieb - A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planet's Future by Roger Gottlieb

333.7 Goleman - Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything by Daniel Goleman

363.7 Humes - Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet by Edward Humes

635.0484 Lovejoy - Ann Lovejoy's Organic Garden Design School: A Guide to Creating Your Own Beautiful, Easy-Care Garden by Ann Lovejoy

Coming Soon - Do One Green Thing: Save the Earth Through Simple Everyday Choices by Mindy Pennybacker

Help Close the Loop: Upcycling = (Recycle + Reuse + Reduce) x DIY

646.4 Rannels - Sew Subversive

To "upcycle" means to reuse recycled materials in such a way that they retain or increase in value according the Sustainablity Dictionary. Using recycled materials for crafting or to create useful items for the home is a popular way for indivduals to practice upcycling.


Check out these upcycling links for cool ideas for projects, crafts, and more that can help you make this holiday season and all year round a little greener.

Gardening

our.windowfarms.org - A nonprofit organization supporting growing edible plants indoors in urban areas using recycled water bottles. - Here's My Farm

sustainablog - Six Creative Upcycling Projects


yougrowgirl - Make Your Own Pop Bottle Drip Irrigation System

Decorative Art/Gifts/Clothe

Upcycle Art

Crafting a Green World - Girl Reconstructed: Upcycling Old Clothes

Hippy Shopper - The Art of Upcycling: Junky Jewelry For Spring

EcoSalon - Green Your Junk: 16 Creative Ways to Upcycle Before You Recycle

More upcycling inspiration from the CCPL catalog!

J Chapman - Making Art With Fabric by Gillian Chapman

J Ross - Earth-friendly Crafts: Clever Ways to Reuse Everyday Items by Kathy Ross

J Monaghan - Organic Crafts: 75 Earth-friendly Art Activities by Kimberly Monaghan

NEW!!! (On Order) Make Your Own Purses and Bags by Anna-Marie D'Cruz

646.4 Rannels - Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY For the Fabulous Fashionista by Melissa Rannels

Sunday, September 27th, 2009: South Carolina Green Fair in Marion Square

Check out the CCPL table at the 2009 South Carolina Green Fair this Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at Marion Square! Visit the Green Fair website for all the details at http://www.charlestongreenfair.com/.

Close to Home: Charleston International Airport Recycling Program Takes Off!

Charleston Internation Airport became a Lowcountry environmental business leader in July 2009 when they kicked off a recycling program. Click here to read the Post and Courier article about this exciting initiative!


WCIV News Story

For more travel info for planning that special getaway or to find out more ways to have a great staycation check out CCPL's collection of travel books. Click the links below to see a selection of these resources.
Ecotourism

Travel and Guidebooks

Frommer's Travel Guides

Lonely Planet

South Carolina Travel

Charleston Travel


*Picture from http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0709/640724.html. Accessed 8/10/09

Go Local

Charleston County Public Library's Websites of the Week offers some great links for info on local and organic food. CLICK HERE to check it out!

There is also a movement here in Charleston to encourage locals to buy goods and services from locally owned businesses called the Lowcountry Local First (CLICK for Charleston City Paper Article) (CLICK for Post and Courier Article). Lowcountry Local First is starting a grassroots movement called the 10 Percent Shift to get consumers in the Charleston area to buy at least 10 percent of their purchases from local businesses. Doing business locally has positive environmental impact because it reduces transportation costs and helps the local economy by creating more jobs here in the Lowcountry.*

CLICK here to visit Lowcountry Local First's website at http://www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org/.

*For help with job seeking, career building tips, money management tools, and information about local economic resources like social service agencies, CLICK HERE to check out CCPL's new Recession Resources page.

Close to Home: Charleston Battery Soccer = Environmentally Conscious Fun!

The Charleston Battery soccer team's efforts to make their organization and facilities at Blackbaud Stadium more environmentally friendly made their website the "Website of the Week" for June 17th, 2009, on South Carolina Educational Radio's Business Review.
Click the link below to read about the changes the team made in this interview with Tony Bakker, the Battery's CEO and majority owner, on the Go Green Charleston website or click here to read about solar power usage in Blackbaud stadium from the Post and Courier.

http://www.gogreencharleston.org/2008/01/22/tony-bakker-from-the-charleston-battery/

Checkout their website at www.charlestonbattery.com! The Charleston Battery is one of the many generous sponsors of Charleston County Public Library's 2009 Summer Reading Program. CLICK HERE for more info on ALL-AGES Summer Reading fun and prizes at CCPL!

Learn more at CCPL! CLICK HERE for books on the subject, "environmentalism", from the CCPL catalog! CLICK HERE for books on the subject, "soccer", from the CCPL catalog!

April 18th, 2009 - Check Out CCPL at the Charleston County Recycling's Earth Day Celebration at Park Circle

Charleston County Recycling is hosting another Earth Day celebration at Park Circle in North Charleston on Saturday, April 18th, from 11 AM to 3 PM. Stop by the Charleston County Public Library for crafty fun or just to say, "Hi!".

Carrotmob Charleston on April 11th: Social Networking Consumers with a Green Twist

Green Drinks Charleston, a local social organization that brings like-minded, environmentally-oriented folks together, is bringing Carrotmob to Charleston. Carrotmob, which has chapters across the US and internationally, tries to identify green businesses and then reward the one selected as the most environmentally conscious by encouraging its membership to go to that business on a chosen day and shop or dine.

Carrotmob is planning an event locally on April 11th. Visit the Carrotmob Charleston site at http://carrotmobcharleston.blogspot.com

Is "Smart" the New "Green"?

Read and recycle: get a book at a Friends of the Library "That BIG Book Sale"!

"Smart" is a word that is frequently used to describe devices that are energy saving and/or environmentally friendly, like the Smart Car or the "smartgrid". Like the food labeling term, "light" in the early 1990's, the term, "smart" may be used somewhat loosely to suit the purposes of advertisers so, as always, remember that old chestnut, "Let the buyer beware."

Public libraries are "smart" because they save library patrons lots of money by providing free access to a wonderful array of informational and entertainment resources. Public libraries are "green" because they help communities "reduce" consumption and instead "recycle" and "reuse" library materials.

The Friends of the Library also practice the three "Rs" by collecting unwanted books from generous donators and then reselling them to the public at awesome booksales at the CCPL Regional libraries and at two BIG booksales (www.thatBIGbooksale.com) each year.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY!

Sustainable Eating: Something Old, Something New

One of the issues that crops up frequently in environmentally-conscious media is the subject of sustainable eating. This means factoring in environmental impact when making dietary choices along with the usual determinents of price, quality, convenience, etc. The seminal 1970's classic on this subject is Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe'. Current environmental issues have revived the topics of sustainable eating and socially conscious consumption.

Check out these websites to explore sustainablity options or get ideas for making this part of your "green routine"!

***Cooking Up A Story -

This is a cooking blog that is accompanied by a cooking show, which is broadcast on Youtube and Hulu. Cooking Up a Story was featured on NPR.

The Blog - http://cookingupastory.com/

***Cooking With Clara

Go "old school" Slow Food and watch Cooking With Clara: Depression Era Cooking on Youtube! Ms. Clara, a 91 year-old cook's, show was featured on NPR.

***The Sierra Club's True Cost of Food - http://www.truecostoffood.org/truecostoffood/

***Selections from the Librarians Internet Index - http://lii.org/pub/subtopic/6050

Confessions of an Eco Sinner by Fred Pearce

CCPL Selections on Sustainable Living

179.1 Lappe' - Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe' and Anna Lappe'

Subject - Sustainable Living

The SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT - CLICK HERE FOR CCPL SELECTIONS ON the Slow Food Movement.

Leave No Trace at Charleston County Parks!

Charleston County Parks and Recreation is a member of Leave No Trace: Center For Outdoor Ethics, a non-profit organization which, according to its website, is "an educational, nonprofit organization dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and active stewardship of the outdoors by all people, worldwide."
Click here to visit the Charleston County Parks and Recreation website!

Save a tree and use the online version of the CCPRC events quarterly instead of using a print copy. Click here to read the CCPRC quarterly!

Check out these great kids books from the CCPL catalog about exploring the great outdoors!

Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids Guide, From the Backyard to the Big Woods by Lynn Brunelle

This is Daniel Cook On a Hike (based on the TV series, This Is Daniel Cook)

Outdoor Authors

Jim Arnosky

Jean Craighead George

Gary Paulsen

Roger Tory Peterson

New Outdoor Sports Series for Kids!

*Ultimate Thrill Sports

*Adventures Outdoors

*Outdoor Adventures

***New Year, New, Greener You

Big Green Purse by Diane McEachern

The New Year is a good time to start practicing the 3 "R's"; recycle, reduce, and reuse.

Already in the "green" swing? Check out these random tips and resources to up your game!

For even more ideas, check out this blogger's 52 Green Resolutions for 2009!

**GREEN YOUR COMMUTE: Thinking Outside of Your Ride

Carpooling. Is carpooling an option for you? Check out Carolina Commuter, a website devoted to greening South Carolina workers' commutes by promoting carpooling. Carolina Commuter, which was featured on the SC Educational Radio program, SC Business Review (12/17/08), offers an online social-networking venue for Charleston area workers to connect with potential carpool buddies. The site is free for individuals to use and is also available to individual businesses and organizations wanting to promote carpooling within their company workforces for a fee.

Biking to work. Can you live without a car? One local woman is not afraid to try. Check out http://livingcar-free.blogspot.com/ to follow the car-free adventures of "Nikki", a Charleston resident, who uses her bike to get around town.

Bus-riding. CARTA (Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority) offers great savings and options for Charleston area bus riders. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON CARTA!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE OF CHARLESTON MOVES, A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION PROMOTING WALKING, RUNNING, BIKING, AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN THE LOWCOUNTRY!

The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers

**WORKPLACE/SCHOOL

B(ring) Y(our) O(wn) _____ : fill in the blanks with anything that replaces a typically disposable item that you would use at work like eating utensils, dishes, coffee cups, water bottles, or drinking glasses, cloth napkins, etc.

BYO lunch in reusable containers and avoid driving off-site ot eat out.

Turn off equipment, lights, computers, etc, whenever possible.

Reduce waste and printing cost by maximizing the use of electronic communications and paperwork.

Reduce waste and pollutants by using nontoxic cleaners around the office like vinegar, non-clorine cleansers, etc.

Recycle office waste - paper, printer cartridges, etc.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GREEN WORKPLACE TIPS FROM PLANET GREEN.

**EATING OUT

Reduce paper, plastic, and styrofoam waste by eating on-site at restaurants that use reusable dishes and utensils.

Don't be shy about bringing your own stuff to reduce waste.

BYO eating utensils and decline plastic cutlery.

BYO drink or bottle water and avoid ordering drinks in styrofoam or plastic cups. If you purchase a drink, order a smaller size in a paper cup if available.

BYO bag to put your carry-out food in.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GREEN DINING TIPS FROM THE GREEN PARENT!

The Green Home by Philip Schmidt

**HEARTH AND HOME

Put on a cozy sweater and turn down the thermostat.

Reduce waste and energy by making your own "convenience meals" by dividing casseroles into reusable containers and microwaving individual servings at mealtime. This saves packaging waste and microwaves are more energy efficient (and quicker) for reheating food than stoves.

Recycle. CLICK HERE FOR RECYCLING INFO FROM CHARLESTON COUNTY WASTE AND RECYCLING!

Compost vegetable waste. READ ABOUT ADVENTURES IN COMPOSTING FROM GO GREEN CHARLESTON!

MUSC USES WORMS! CLICK FOR MORE INFO ON MUSC'S RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING AND MUSC'S "VERMICOMPOSTING" TIPS.

Create your own mulch by raking leaves around the bushes and trees in your yard rather than bagging them up or burning them.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE TIPS ON GREENING YOUR YARD FROM EARTH911.


**GREEN LEISURE

Get out and visit a Charleston County Parks and Recreation or other Lowcountry area park for outdoor fun and exercise! CLICK HERE FOR CHARLESTON COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION!

Let Charleston County Public Library be your home entertainment provider! Libraries are naturally a green, shared resource. Why buy when you can borrow from CCPL? Click here to see posts on ways to make using the library part of your greener lifestyle!

Happy New Year!

KS/STA

Holiday Cheer @ Your Library!

Greening up your holiday can also save you a bundle! Recycling and reusing what you have doesn't have to cost a thing. Reducing things like wrapping paper and other waste is another great way to keep your budget on track and is one of the hottest suggestions on environmental holiday tip lists.

Check out some of these great books and websites to find a number of ways you can make this year's celebration special, budget-friendly, and environmentally conscious!

Books from the CCPL Collection

A Greener Christmas by Sheherazade Goldsmith

Sew It For Christmas by Barbara Weiland

Christmas Doughcrafts by Elisabeth Bang

Organic Crafts by Kimberly Monaghan

Earth Friendly Holidays: How to Make Fabulous Gifts and Decorations From Reusable Objects by George Pfiffner

Earth-Friendly Crafts for Kids: 50 Awesome Things to Make With Recycled Stuff by Heather Smith

Holiday Tips from Environmental Websites

SC Department of Health and Environmental Control

The Sierra Club

The Environmental Defense Fund

Treehugger

The Environmental Protection Agency

Sunday, September 28th: Charleston Green Fair

Join Charleston County Public Library at the Charleston Green Fair on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 for some environmentally-friendly fun! The Charleston Green Fair will be held at Marion Square in downtown Charleston (corner of Calhoun and King Streets) from 1 PM to 6 PM. There will be live music, exhibits, and children's area with lots of fun activities for the kids!

The CCPL booth will be located in the children's area of the festival and will feature storytime read-alouds, displays of environmental books for kids and adults from the library's collection, library card sign-up (September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month), and more! Stop by and say hello and see just how green our library is!

Mayor Riley endorses the Charleston Green Fair!

KS/STA

More Green Goodness From CCPL!

***Brown Bag It!

Charleston County Public Library now offers patrons Earth-friendly paper bags to use to transport their library materials from the library to home and back!

***Two Ways to Save Gas: Placing Holds and Returning Items to the Branch Nearest You

Be sure to use one of the most energy-saving services the library offers: our book shipment services. Place a hold for any library item at any library branch and have that item sent from any branch to the branch closest to you! When you return library materials, return them to the closest branch and let the CCPL book truck take them back to their home branch. CLICK HERE FOR CCPL LOCATION INFO.

KS/STA

Locavores: Think Globally and Eat Locally

A "Locavore" is a person who makes a lifestyle commitment to eating high-quality local food whenever possible. "Locavore" is also the name of a San Francisco-based website that founded this movement, which is very similar to the older Slow Food movement.

Click here for locavore links!

Click here for Slow Food links!

KS/STA

Paperless News

Newspapers are going electronic. This requires reformatting and rethinking the medium in order to compete in the online environment. Increasing use of social networking/web 2.0 technologies, staff downsizing, and evaluating ways of generating online revenue streams in the face of fierce competition are among the strategies used by newspaper publishers as they struggle to survive.

Social networking/web 2.0 technologies used include podcasting, blog-like formats, and social-networking in the form of commenting. Suscribers become users and newspapers become interactive in this brave new world of journalism.

The internet provides users with incredibly easy access to up-to-the-minute national and world news because of the proliferation of news media content providers like Google, Yahoo, and CNN. Becoming a provider of more detailed local news appears to be one of the most promising niches for newspapers to fill.

Click here for Charleston newspapers online.

Click for SC Newspapers online.

• Click here for links to newspapers online.

Magazines are also going digital. Some magazines, like Salon and Slate, exist only on the internet. Ezines (online magazines) range from slick counterparts to print publications to solo blog journals.

• Click here for ezine (online magazine and newspapers) links.
  
  

Reading news and magazines online is environmentally-friendly and economically sound because it saves money and creates less waste. Still want to read print copies? Visit the Periodicals section of any branch of the Charleston County Public Library and enjoy free access to some of the most popular magazines and most respected newspapers in print. Using library materials instead of purchasing individual items is always a greener choice!

CCPL's electronic resources also offer access to periodicals from around the world including Grolier's World Newspapers, Newsbank, Sirs Knowledge Source, and General Onefile periodical databases.

• Click here for periodicals from CCPL's Electronic Resources.


• (Click here for access instructions.)

KS/STA

DIY: An Idea Whose Time Has Come...Again

The "do it yourself" or DIY concept fits in nicely with environmentalism. Making things rather than buying them or making something new out of things already on hand is a great way to reduce waste and packaging and to reuse and recycle.

DIY is not a new concept but a return to an older, practical lifestyle that existed before post-WWII hyper-consumerism spawned the current excess of malls, megastores, and specialty shops. In those days the average American was familiar with floursack dresses, jury rigging, and jokes about Rube Goldberg contraptions, humorous caricatures of DIY run amok.

DIY resurfaced in the late 1960's and early 1970's as part of the same "back to the land", self-sufficiency movement that also spawned Earth Day and recycling. The Whole Earth Catalog, a directory of environmentally-friendly DIY resources and activist info, which was last published in 1972, is considered a forerunner of the internet.

Today's DIY trend is considered by some afficiandos as artistry because of the handcrafting involved and also, perhaps, because it is more often a personal lifestyle choice than a necessity for many trend followers. DIY may also be considered useable/wearable/edible "art" because of the unique characteristics of each individual piece or product as compared to the soulless consistency of store-bought, manufactured goods.

Click for DIY Weblinks

Some DIY Subject Headings (Click for Catalog Links)

DIY

Handicraft

Sewing

Knitting

Canning and Preserving

Fruit Preservation

Cheesemaking also Cheese Cookery

Herb Gardening

Beer Brewing

Soap and Handicraft

Herbal Cosmetics

Household Supplies (make your own cleaning products) and House Cleaning - Environmental Aspects

Rube Goldberg Pencil Sharpener

Rube Goldberg gets his think-tank working and evolves the simplified pencil-sharpener.
Open window (A) and fly kite (B). String (C) lifts small door (D) allowing moths (E) to escape and eat red flannel shirt (F). As weight of shirt becomes less, shoe (G) steps on switch (H) which heats electric iron (I) and burns hole in pants (J). Smoke (K) enters hole in tree (L), smoking out opossum (M) which jumps into basket (N), pulling rope (O) and lifting cage (P), allowing woodpecker (Q) to chew wood from pencil (R), exposing lead. Emergency knife (S) is always handy in case opossum or the woodpecker gets sick and can't work.

From http://www.rubegoldberg.com/. Accessed 5/30/08.

KS/STA

Random News Flashes

**Slow Foods get a boost from the SC Department of Agriculture. Check out their website promoting Certified South Carolina (grown) produce. (click here) This site includes lists of seasonal fruits and vegetables, useful links, recipes, and more.

**List of Local Farmer's Markets - April 8, 2008 from the Post and Courier (http://www.charleston.net)

**On Saturday, May 3rd, 2008, The Parent's Journal on SC Educational Radio Network reviewed the book, Camp Out! The Ultimate Kids Guide by Lynn Brunelle, author and Emmy-winning television writer for Bill Nye, the Science Guy. This book has lots of great ideas for natural and/or science-oriented fun like having kids put old socks on over their shoes and walk around in the woods and then wetting the socks and sprouting the seeds on the socks. Click here for a review of this book from a book review blog.

We are putting in a request for purchase for this one at our library! Remember, that if you are a patron of Charleston County Public Library, you can ask the library to purchase books, movies, music, etc, too.

KS/STA

Greener, Better: Health Info @ Your Library

Thinking about taking "green" to a personal level and making changes in diet and exercise? Want to know more about how to do it and maximize the health benefits? The Charleston County Public Library provides library users with access to top-of-the-line health information through the CCPL Electronic Resource Databases. These databases are also available at home, paper-free, via the internet and provide different selections of information to meet the varying needs of library users. This is the real deal, so don't rely on questionable sources like Google and Wikipedia, let CCPL provide you with access to the best information available!

(Click here for database access information.)
(CLICK HERE to go to the Health and Medicine Databases)

Here are descriptions of a few of the databases:

Hands on Health provides health information specifically for South Carolinians.

The Health and Wellness Center provides health reference information for the general user about diseases and conditions, alternative medicine, and other health topics, and includes a dictionary and a directory of high quality health websites.

The Health Reference Center Academic database allows you to take charge of your health by accessing information from the same academic research sources used by medical providers like Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), The Lancet, and others.

KS/STA