For better or for worse, everyone and everything seems to be going green these days (or at least claiming they are). It's impossible to keep up with all the new environmentally oriented Websites coming online each day, week and month, but here are a few that are especially helpful or informative:
100 Mile Diet: The Website companion to a delightful, engaging and thoroughly wonderful book by a Canadian couple ("Plenty" in the U.S., "The 100-Mile Diet" in the U.S.), this resource offers links to local food directories and other Websites, along with local eating news, a downloadable brochure on local eating, posts from others exploring their local eating options amd tips for getting started on your own 100-mile diet.
Agritourism World: Who woulda thunk it? Today, you can actually explore something called "agritourism." Essentially, as this Website puts it, agritourism involves visiting "any land-based farm or business that is open to the public." So whether you're looking for a working-farm tour, a corn maze, a chance to do some wine-tasting, a country bed-and-breakfast or a u-pick farm, this site is a great place to start. You can search by keyword or location, read the latest on agritourism and get tips for enjoying a fun, safe visit to a working farm.
Climate Counts: Not sure whether to believe a business' claims of going green or carbon neutral? Here's a site that can help. Climate Counts ranks companies on a 0- to 100-point scale based on how well or poorly each has measured its climate footprint, worked to reduce its impact on global warming, supported (or opposed) legislation to mitigate climate change and come clean with the public on all of its efforts. You can search businesses by industry sector, alphabetical order or overall ranking. (As of July 19, 2007, Canon ranked tops with a score of 77, while Amazon, Burger King, CBS, Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones and Bahama Breeze), Jones Apparel Group (Nine West, Anne Klein, Jones New York, Gloria Vanderbilt, Dockers Women and Easy Spirit) and Wendy's International tied for the bottom with scores of 0.
ecorazzi: Think of this site as "E!" for the eco-crowd. Ecorazzi says it offers "the latest in green gossip," and it's the place to go to find out how the beautiful, rich and famous live green ... or not so much. Recent news flashes include a bit on how Ted Danson is teaming with Variety to promote his Oceana (http://www.oceana.org) effort to protect the seas, a feature on how Ontario's Bayfest is experimenting with hydrogen power and an interview with Cobra Starship lead singer Gabe Saporta about life on the road and vegetarianism.
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