Tips & Warnings

• Read 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth by the Earthworks Group.
• You can recycle many things, not just newspapers and bottles. Rather than throwing away old lumber, bicycles, furniture and clothes, give them to someone who will put them to use.
• Read the vast array of books by authors dedicated to educating readers on global resources. Rachel Carson's famous Silent Spring is frequently credited with starting the environmental protection movement in the United States. Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert describes the story of water use (and abuse) in the American West. It's a chilling description of how business and government manipulate the environment to serve economic development.
• Water-related disease is the number one cause of death and responsible for 80 percent of illness worldwide. Investigate online sources such as the Worldwatch Institute or NationalGeographic.com for information on the global water crisis.
• Thorsten Veblen, a 20thcentury American economist, coined the term conspicuous consumption, the intentional buying of unnecessary goods to satisfy vanity and show status.