RESOURCES

Wishcraft by Barbara Sher
This is one of my all-time favorite books about how to create a life of purpose.  It is loaded with practical tips and great exercises to help you figure out what you want in life and how to achieve it.  You can also download the book off her website. 

The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist
Lynn Twist spent 30 years in leadership and fundraiser roles working for organizations like The Hunger Project.  Her book is a reflection of these experiences.  It looks at how money affects the very richest and very poorest and contemplates the question 'What is enough’ for each of us.  Out of Lynn’s book and others comes the ‘sufficiency’ movement. The sufficiency movement is a stand around:  I am enough and I have enough to create what I need in the world.  (This also acknowledges that there really are people in the world who don't have enough.)  Primarily, it looks at this within the light of our personal lives, but also considers the environmental and social justice aspects.  More info at http://www.globalsufficiency.org/.

What Color is your Parachute by Richard Bolles
What would a coaching resource section be without this classic book?  Both the book (which is updated yearly) and the website have a ton of practical information and exercises to help you figure out what kind of career is right for you and how to do an effective job search.  In 2009 Bolles also wrote The Job Hunter's Survival Guide: How to find a rewarding job when "There are no Jobs".  This thin little guide is also a great, reassuring book for these times when job hunting is tough.  

Living Green

Getting rid of junk Mail
http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm (Some good instructions)
http://www.41pounds.org/ (For $41 dollars, some of it donated, you can have them take care of it.) 

New American Dream
This is an interesting organization that seeks to help Americans consume in ways that promote environmental protection and social justice. They have lots of great resources including things like:  how to simplify for Christmas (or similar holidays), how to get rid of junk mail and how to make your purchasing more intentional. 

Minnesota Resources

The Alliance for Sustainability
The Alliance for Sustainability’s mission is to educate and connect all sorts of people - such as government, communities, individuals, businesses, and congregations - around sustainability.  This is a great place to learn and get involved. It hosts free sustainability round tables and a yearly conference, offers seminars on The Natural Step and advertises many of the local green events on their website. The Alliance was founded by local sustainability guru Terry Gips. 

Do it Green, Minnesota
They have a magazine, offer classes and have an extensive web presence. 

Green Drinks
An international networking group with a local Twin Cities branch.  They meet every 2nd Wednesday of the month and offer networking and a speaker. 

Traditional Foods Minnesota
There are lots of options for going green in your food choices.  Definitely less processed, locally grown and sustainably raised foods will be a huge favor to both the planet and the health of your family.  Traditional Foods Minnesota is a great place to get sustainably raised, locally grown products.  The emphasis there is on meats, dairy and fermented foods.  What I love about it is the opportunity to actually get to know the farmers who raise your food.  The story behind cheap food is not a pretty one. Supporting farmers who are creating great products, being kind to the planet, and raising their animals with what should be just common sense decency is how I like to vote with my dollars.  

Understanding the Environmental Crisis

The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard
Leonard has created the popular 20-minute internet video called ‘The Story of Stuff’ and has written a book by the same name. Leonard spent 20 years  traveling all over the world, working for organizations like Greenpeace, and digging through our stuff to see what it took to create it and where it ended up after it was thrown ‘away’.  

The Bridge at the End of the World by James Gustave
This is one of many good books out there that talks about what is going wrong on the planet.  I like this one because it brings together the whole picture of the environmental crisis, the problems of the conventional economic model, and whether money and stuff makes our lives better and happier. 

Hot, flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
This is a classic book on the environmental crisis.  One of the things that I like about it is that it discusses in depth some aspects of climate change that I haven't seen elsewhere.  For example:  how our energy choices are affecting the politics of the Middle East and what he calls 'energy-poverty' around the world.

4 Years Go Campaign and Pachamama Alliance
The Global Sufficiency Network, the Pachamama Alliance and the Four Years Go campaign are all interrelated initiatives.  The Pachamama Alliance was born out of a relationship between the Achuar, an indigenous people of Ecuador, and author and activist Lynn Twist and others.  It is an effort to create a sustainable planet by using both the strengths of western and indigenous culture and thought.  They launched the 'Awaken the Dreamer, Change the Dream' Symposium.  Four Years Go is another beautifully done campaign, which has just been launched by some of these same players, to bring awareness to  the environmental crisis.  They have a wonderful three-minute video.