Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Environmental Blogs

October 15 was Blog Action Day - and blogger highlighted these environmental blogs.

  • Cleantech Blog - Commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.
  • The Conscious Earth - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.
  • Earth Meanders - Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues.
  • Environmental Action Blog - Current environmental issues and green energy news.
  • The Future is Green - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.
  • The Green Skeptic - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.
  • Haute*Nature - Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability.
  • The Lazy Environmentalist - Sustainable living made easy.
  • Lights Out America - A grassroots community group organizing nationwide energy savings events.
  • The Nature Writers of Texas - The best nature writing from the newspaper, magazine, blog and book authors of the Lone Star State.
  • Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club - Considering the legacy of Rachel Carson's literary and scientific contributions with a different book each month.
  • Sustainablog - News, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
  • These Come From Trees - An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper.
Read/WriteWeb named these as the top 35 environmental blogs:
  • TreeHugger - TreeHugger is the mother of all environmental blogs, ranking #17 on Technorati's top blogs list (which makes it at least one of the most referenced enviroblogs). It covers general environmental news, events and products.
  • EcoGeek - Geek chic environmental is a good way to describe EcoGeek, which writes about gadgets that are earth friendly.
  • Environmental Law Prof Blog - From the always-good Law Professor Blog Network, this one deals with pressing concerns surrounding the issue of environmental law.
  • New Scientist Environment Blog - Excellent environmental commentary and analysis from New Scientist magazine.
  • AutoblogGreen - A spin-off from Weblogs Inc.'s popular Autoblog, the green version deals with cars and the environment -- think hybrids, gas consumption, alternative fuels, etc.
  • Eco-worrier - Musings on the environment from a columnist at the Times of London.
  • Grist Mill - Daily environmental news delivered in blog form from Grist magazine (which is also about the environment).
  • Green Car Congress - Another environmentally focused automobile blog, focusing on technology, news, and politics relating to the green mobility industry.
  • Inhabitat - Generally about living a greener lifestyle, this blog often deals with subjects around green building and sustainable living.
  • Ecomoto - A two year old blog/magazine examining environmental trends.
  • The Lazy Environmentalist - The blog for a nationally syndicated (US) talk radio show about easy green living.
  • Alternative Consumer - Environmentally friendly products: you want 'em and Alternative Consumer has you covered.
  • Teensy Green - Got kids? Then give Teensy Green a read. A blog for the environmentally aware parent.
  • Haute*Nature - In their own words: "Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle... blending style with sustainability."
  • Hippy Shopper - From the Shiny Media blog network, Hippy Shopper is about all the eco-friendly stuff you covet.
  • Sustainable Style - You can have your cake and eat it too, or in the case of Sustainable Style look good and do well for the environment.
  • Green Options - A great general enviroblog and community based out of Berkley, California.
  • No Impact Man - The chronicle of a man living in New York City as he attempts to go completely zero impact (i.e., ride a bicycle everywhere, recycle everything, eat locally produced food, and so on).

  • Great Green Baby - Another site for the green parent, Great Green Baby reviews eco-friendly baby products.
  • EcoFriend - EcoFriend is a blog about all those sexy, environmentally aware products you want but can't afford.
  • ecoFabulous - Reviews of great green stuff for the house, home, and body.
  • Ecorazzi - Celebrity gossip meets environmentalism. Did you hear that Leonardo DiCaprio is building a 'green hotel' on his 104-acre private island off the coast of Belize with the owners of the Four Seasons Resort chain? No? Then read Ecorazzi.
  • EcoStreet - A well-written and actively updated general evironmental news and commentary blog.
  • Green As Thistle - Green As Thistle chronicles the progress of Vanessa, a Canadian journalist, as she tries to "spend each day, for an entire calendar year, doing one thing that betters the environment." She's on day 229 and still kicking.
  • The Green Guy - The Green Guy writes about "ethical living" and about how to go green without making drastic, life-altering changes to your routine. I just wish he'd update more (by the way, the Adam Vaughn, who writes The Green Guy, also founded another blog on our list, Hippy Shopper).
  • Mindful Momma - There are a lot of blogs out there about green parenting -- it's an entire niche unto itself -- and Mindful Momma is one of the best.
  • Got2BeGreen - A blog focused on all sorts a cool green technology (a recent post deals with how to power your laptop with the sun, for example).
  • Triple Pundit - An intersection of the evironment and politics delivered in an interesting voice with useful commentary.

  • Celsias - A great general blog about the environment, politics, sustainability, and green living.
  • Enviroblog - Eviroblog talks about public health in the context of environmental policy.
  • Get With Green - If you're remodeling your home or building a new one, subscribe to Get With Green to learn about all the ways you can make your living space environmentally friendly.
  • Green Thinkers - Green Thinkers is, in its own words, "an informal forum for ideas and thoughts on how to live a more green life."
  • Green Wombat - From Business 2.0, Green Wombat was a blog about business, technology, and the environment. With the closing of the magazine this month, however, its future is likely grim. Read the archives online while you still can.
  • Lighter Footstep - Lighter Footsteps is all about sustainable living and leaving less of an imprint by making greener living choices.
  • Life Goggles - Another great general green living blog, with a slight focus on TV and movies as they relate to the environment.

"Bonus site: If you crave environment news from multiple sources, check out Hugg, which is like digg, but for eco-centric stories."

The author of the Green Skeptic works for ASHOKA. From my skim through both lists, the majority are essentially about how to shop with less guilt - with a few scattered voices about community activism, science, and literature. Amazingly spare philanthropic voice or presence in these blogs, so far as I can tell. Please correct me if I am wrong.

4 comments:

The Green Skeptic said...

Thanks for the mention, Lucy. While I've spent 15+ years working in the philanthropic space, I have not really given it a focus on The Green Skeptic.

Why? In part because of my frustration (stemming from my previous experience with The Nature Conservancy) with the slow progress and impact philanthropy has had in the face of massive environmental issues.

The amount of philanthropic capital going into the environment isn't commensurate to the challenges. And I started to wonder if it ever would be. The slice given to the environment has remained stagnant at 3-4 percent even in the wake of green becoming the new black.

I started the blog to explore alternatives and challenge assumptions about how we protect our environment. One of the most promising is social entrepreneurism, which led to my joining Ashoka, another is clean tech investing. These are two of my focus areas on the blog.

That said, your excellent blog and published writings have been getting me up to speed on the potential for philanthropic capital markets as a tool for effecting change in the conservation arena.

It's an area worth exploring more and I hope we can continue a dialogue around the subject.

Thanks again for the mention!

Lucy Bernholz said...

I started to comment here on your comment - but linked it 'upstairs' as a full post instead.

Anonymous said...

At the risk of appearing immodest, we suggest that you add "EnviroPolitics Blog" to your list.

George said...

This is a great blog. Thanks for you posts!