Alternate Living

Today, the newspaper had a story about living green. I'm personally trying to make an effort to be more thoughtful in my spending choices. I'm not there yet, but I'm trying.

Someday, I'd like to ride my bicycle to work, shop exclusively at our co-op or farmer's market, and live in a house heated by the sun and powered by the wind. This is a long goal, but I'm discovering more ways to make my money work for the whole world.

So, here follows a list of sites to consider when you are making some spending choices:

Buy Blue
This site was actually started by Democrats who wanted to do something after the 2004 election. They will help you track which political parties corporations donate to. They also track environmental record, human rights, an community responsibility.

Better World Club
This is the alternate to AAA. I did not realize that AAA lobbied for expansion of roads and automobile driving. Since I'm a strong supporter of public transportation, I'm going to try to move to Better World Club. They have the same benefits as AAA, but offer discounts on hybrids and bicyles, plus environmental clean up.

Working Assets
This is a variety of services, including long-distance, credit cards, and wireless communications. They donate a lot to activism. Check them out.

Peace Coffee
There are several fair-trade coffee brands, and I must confess, I'm not much of a coffee drinker. This is the one that I'm thinking most about right now. They do shade-grown coffee, and they try to deliver coffee on bicycle. Not bad, huh?

St. Martin's Table
This is more of a local one. St. Martin's Table is the backbone of the Community of St. Martin in Minneapolis. The Community is an ecumenical gathering of progressive Christians who are working to make the world a better place. Their lunches consist of a choice of two or three soups, two salads, and two or three open faced sandwiches. The servers are all volunteers, and the tips go to a hunger-related cause. It's great food, made very simply. AND...they have a fabulous bookstore.

OK - so my list isn't all that long. I'll probably move these links to the sidebar. If you have recommendations, I'd love to hear them.