Check these out:
LINKS

CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN DREAM. This is perhaps the most important web-visit you could make to begin making changes in consumption habits.

NEW ROAD MAP FOUNDATION. This site is built around the ideas in Your Money or your Life (above) and offers a comprehensive program for dealing with money and consumerism.

MORE THAN MONEY helps people use their wealth and talents to create a more joyful, just and sustainable world.

WORKING FOR CHANGE. This site, sponsored by Working Assets, covers a broad range of commentary, activism, shopping and other progressive concerns.

Launched in 1999, the DOW JONES SUSTAINABILITY INDEXES track the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.

The SOCIAL INVESTMENT FORUM site offers comprehensive information, contacts & resources on socially responsible investing.

HYBRID CENTER. A project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, this site is a kind of consumers' guide to hybrid vehicles. It's especially good for seperating out some of the hype around certain hybrids.

MORE LINKS . . .

BOOKS

Socially Responsible Investing: Making a Difference and Making Money, by Amy Domini. This movement pioneer (the Domini 400 Social Index) outlines the method for making a positive difference in the world through investments.

MORE BOOKS . . .

JOURNALS
Make Change with Money

We know full well the power of money, for good or for ill uses. For example, we may feel that in Washington we have auctions not elections. We’ve seen how boycotting certain products has protected species and forests from annihilation. Companies that violate environmental and human rights don’t deserve our support. We can purchase from businesses that respect people and the environment so these businesses can thrive and grow. We wield enormous power as consumers in what we spend, or don’t spend. We also must recognize the enormous forces at work in our market economy, which places higher value on financial gain over human welfare, to create dissatisfaction in our lives and generate demand for those products that supposedly will satisfy us. Another frightening aspect of this is that developing economies like India and China are trying to emulate the material standards of industrialized countries. We simply do not have the resources on this one planet to provide that.

We exist in a system and culture that promotes consuming as a path to self- and social improvement. We are considered Consumers first and foremost, rather than human beings, citizens, family and community members, individuals. We don’t have to go along with this system.

We have a similar power if we are fortunate to be able to invest money in the stock market. When we make these choices, why not invest in those companies whose products do least harm, and perhaps even add to the natural environment? The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is one group that annually assesses more than 1,000 of the world’s largest companies and rates them for environmental and social, as well as financial performance to help investors make these kinds of decisions. As PAX World Mutual Fund says, “Before we buy their shares, we want them to share our values.”

There are a number of organizations that can inform us on the way we buy, invest or donate money to serve a better world.