Interested in making your life a little greener? We've identified a number of resources—in our collection and on the Web—to help you get started. As you'll see in the "Local Organizations and Related Resources" section, there are also plenty of local volunteer, government, and commercial agencies dedicated to helping you recycle, save energy, harvest your own produce, and promote a conscientious stewardship of Mother Earth.
Planting a community garden at the Avondale BranchGreen Resources in the Library's Collection
Organic Gardening
- The Little Green Book of Gardening : 250 Tips for an Eco Lifestyle by Diane Mills
- The Organic Garden : Green Gardening for a Healthy Planet by Allan Shepherd
- The New American Backyard : Easy, Organic Techniques and Solutions for a Landscape You’ll Love
Organic and Sustainable Living
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning by Mary Findley
- Edens Lost & Found : How Ordinary Citizens Are Restoring Our Great American Cities by Harry Wiland
- True Green Home : 100 Inspirational Ideas for Creating a Green Environment at Home by Kim McKay
DVDs
- Building Green
- Car of the Future : Engineering for the Environment
- An Inconvenient Truth : A Global Warning
Magazines
For more suggestions, check out our Green Living booklist or ask your local librarian!
Local Organizations & Related Resources
There are a growing number of local organizations that support green and sustainable living. Here are a few!
General
- Channel 5: The Green Pages
- Channel 9: Living Green News
- Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage
- Green events at Park+Vine
- Imago : For the Earth
- Sustainable Cincinnati
Building
- Building Value
- Hamilton County, Ohio Planning Partnership Committee on Green Building
- U.S. Green Building Council, Cincinnati Regional Chapter
Composting
Conservation / Natural Resources
- Cincinnati Nature Center
- Fernald Preserve Visitors Center
- Hamilton County Park District
- Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District
- The Hillside Trust
- Sierra Club, Cincinnati Chapter
Environment
- Cincinnati Earth Institute
- Cincinnati Parks Living Our Green Life and the 2009 Green Initiatives
- City of Cincinnati Office of Environmental Quality
- The City of Cincinnati Neighborhood Operations Division offers Greenspace Maintenance and a Neighborhood Enhancement Program
- Climate Protection Action Plan : The Green Cincinnati Plan
- Computer Recycling / Reuse Drop-Off Center at Cincinnati Computer Cooperative
- Do Your Share For Cleaner Air
- Environmental Community Organization
- Green Energy Ohio offers a Going Green podcast every two weeks. It's a show about Ohioans who are working toward living sustainable, low-impact lives.
- Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services and the Green Team Youth Council
Food
- Central Ohio River Valley Local Foods Initiative
- EarthSave Cincinnati
- Find local pick-your-own farms at PickYourOwn.org
- LocalHarvest.org
- Ohio Valley Cheese Guild
Gardening / Farming
- Cincinnati Farmers' Markets
- Cincinnati Locavore
- Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati
- Granny's Garden School
Transportation
- Bike/PAC : Cincinnati Bicycle Pedestian Advisory Committee
- City of Cincinnati Bicycle Transportation Program
- Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) Rideshare Program
- Queen City Bike
- Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) Go Metro
- Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky TANK
Local Educational Green Programs
- Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Electrical Engineering Technologies Dept., Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology-Renewable Energy program
- Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Electrical Engineering Technologies Dept., Energy Efficiency program
- Greater Cincinnati Environmental Educators
- Green Energy Ohio's Training Programs offer Renewable Energy Training and Technical Training certification
- Joy Outdoor Education Center
- Leave No Child Inside of Greater Cincinnati
- Sierra Club's Inner City Outings
- UC, College of Enginnering, Sustainable Urban Engineering program
You Can Make A Difference!
- Bike in the Sierra Club's annual August Morning Glory Ride to benefit the Miami Group Sierra Club.
- Calculate your household greenhouse emissions and learn ways to reduce your impact on the environment at the Ohio EPA Climate Change - Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator.
- Find a walkable place to live by using the Walk Score to see conditions for pedestrian travel.
- Find real time air quality reports, including pollen and mold summaries for Cincinnati at the Ohio EPA AIROHIO.
- Get a Great American Cleanup Community Kit and start your own community group as part of the Keep Cincinnati Beautiful program.
- Participate in the annual June Ohio RiverSweep to help clean Ohio's riverbank.
- Start a yardsharing group and grow your own food with people in your neighborhood.
- Use the Carbon Fund Calculator to measure your carbon footprint.
- Volunteer at the Cincinnati Parks or the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati.