The Canton Public Library is looking for 20 families to become leaders in a local environmental stewardship effort by participating in Action for Earth, a partnership project between the library, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum and Project S.N.A.P. (Share, Nurture, Act Preserve).

The families selected will participate in two workshops held at the Canton Public Library and led by the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, one Project S.N.A.P. session creating art with a message for a community mural, and one community-wide environmental event. Families should be Canton residents, have children in K-8 classes and be willing to commit their time and energy to the Action for Earth project.

For details or to apply for the program, call the Canton Public Library at 734-397-0999 or read more on the CPL blog.

To see entire press release, download the attachment.

The Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food by Amy Cotler

Local eating has been in the news a lot the past few years, but how easy is it really? Easier than you'd think, and this book is chock full of ideas. It also outlines the many benefits, both personal and for the community and the world at large, of a locavore lifestyle. Looking for local food here in Canton? The Canton Farmers Market has fresh goods May through October and Calder Dairy delivers and is available along with other local goods at stores like Holiday Market. Are there other local options that you've discovered in Canton? Please share in the comments.

Inspired by the book No Impact Man by Colin Beaven, the No Impact Project brings you the No Impact Experiment — a one-week carbon cleanse. Register on their website and each day of the week you will be given an environmental challenge that will build on the previous day’s challenge. At the end of the week you will be asked to fill in an eco-lifestyle survey. The experiment is a chance for you to see what no-impact living is like, and hopefully help to improve your quality of life. Not a bad way to start off the new year.

New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg discovers that drinking water can be legal and still be unhealthy in his series Toxic Waters. In researching the series, he studied thousands of water pollution records, which he obtained via the Freedom of Information Act and discovered that an estimated one out of ten Americans is exposed to unsafe drinking water. Look at What's in Your Water? to find out what the contaminant level is in your drinking water system. Also be sure to check out CPL’s water quality resources to find out more on this important topic.
[Photo courtesy of AP Images]

Just a friendly reminder, that Canton Waste Recycling (CWR) will offer curb-side pick-up of natural Christmas trees from January 4-14, 2010. CWR asks that you place your tree at the curb by 6:30AM on your regular trash day with all stands and ornaments removed. After January 14, trees will no longer be accepted at the curb. For more information on Christmas tree pick-ups, call CWR at (734) 397-5801.

Wondering what gifts to buy for this gift-giving season? Well, why not make your own gifts like some celebrants of Kwanzaa do. You could make ornaments, dolls, treasure boxes or candle out of old jewelry, marbles, yarn, string or other small pieces you already have around. Here are some craft books to help you along.

All new crafts for Kwanzaa by Kathy Ross; illustrated by Sharon Lane Holm

Chinese New Year crafts by Karen E. Bledsoe

Because I Love Her: 34 Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond edited by Andrea N. Richesin

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Tim Egan

Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper

Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles P. Fierce

For those that want to take the results of the Kill-a-Watt (available to check out from CPL) to the next level there is the new Tweet-a-Watt kit (available for purchase from Adafruit Industries) that lets users post the daily energy consumption of their refrigerator or TV set to a Twitter account. The idea won the 2009 Greener Gadgets Competition. The kit allows users to transmit power usage information to a computer receiver. The receiver can log, graph and even tweet that information. People can then "compete for the lowest numbers and also see how they’re doing compared to their friends and followers."

Ever wondered how things like hybrid cars or solar panels actually work? How do they help to save ethe environment? What is ethanol? What is a solar cell? Find out the answer to these questions with a series of books called Science in the Real World. To learn about hybrid vehicles, check out How Do Hybrid Cars Work? For solar panels, check out How Do Solar Panels Work?

Did you see this morning's Today Show feature about using energy meters to suss out the energy vampires lurking in your home?

If those energy meters seem like a pricey investment, consider checking out one of the library's Kill-a-Watt meters free of charge.

We all know that "Going Green" saves our planet Earth. But there's an added benefit, "Going Green" can also help you build personal wealth. In The Green Millionaire: A Practical Guide to Achieving Real Wealth While Helping to Save the Planet, author Nigel J. Williams explains how small changes like programming your thermostat or switching to rechargeable batteries can lead to savings. Then learn how to turn those green savings into wealth.

There has been a lot of speculation about why honeybees have been disappearing, and now scientists have a new theory: it's because of us. Luckily there are many things you can do to help foster good environments for honeybees, such as planting a diverse garden with plants that are attractive to bees. And if you're looking for honey or info on how to raise your own bees, you can't get more local than Bobilin Honey from right here in Canton.

The new book "World Heritage Sites", is a treasure trove of information. Readers will be impressed with this all encompassing testament to world culture. It describes 878 sites from 141 countries which the United Nations has designated as culturally or enviromentally important to the world. "World Heritage List", has proved to be a valuable tool in the battle to preserve much of the world's cultural and natural heritage. Its strict criteria results in only the world's most spectacular and extraordinary sites making it onto the list. The list has been publicly available online at http://whc.unesco.org but never in a book format like this.

OK, I admit it. I am obsessed with the topic of locally produced, organic foods. If you are too - and there are many reasons to be - you may want to check out "Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local Ingredients" by Jesse Ziff Cool. Perhaps what I like most about this cookbook is that it is organized according to the seasons and transitions between them with chapters like "Early Winter" and "Deep Winter." Plus, the ingredients are relatively simple and includes things that I actually eat (except perhaps the Raspberry Millet Pancakes). With 150 enticing recipes, "Simply Organic" may encourage you to embrace organic foods "as a lifestyle rather than a fad."

Beginning November 1st Target will give a 5¢ discount for every reusable bag customers use to pack their purchases. Over the next three weeks CVS will also roll out a similar program in its stores. Participating CVS customers will receive $1 cash bonus on their CVS card every four times they buy something but don't request plastic bags. Smaller retailers such as Trader Joe's, Hiller's and Whole Foods have been offering financial incentives to re-use bags for some time. With large retailers like Target and CVS following suit the two programs could keep billions of plastic bags out of the environment and nudge other big retailers to take similar steps.

[Photo courtesy of AP Images]

Take a stroll around the Children's Library and you'll find plenty of inspiration for your Halloween costume. To save money, wear everything you already have in your favorite color and be Purplicious, Pinkalicious or Goldilicious. Pull out a toy instrument for your little one and they could be a Jazz Baby. Celebrate recycling by making a robot or a race car out of a box like our bunny friend in Not A Box. Or, team up with some friends, grab a bunch of old boxes and make your own Freight Train.

The Ford plant in Wixom, Michigan will be converted into a renewable energy manufacturing facility. According to earth2tech.com, the 320-acre plant is getting its clean energy makeover through a partnership between Ford Motors and Govenor Jennifer Granholm, and greentech companies Xtreme Power, Clairvoyant Energy and Oerlikon Solar. The solar plant should be up and running by 2011. To find out more about "greentech", check out the green technology resources available from CPL. [Photo courtesy of AP Images].

From heated discussions on coal and population growth to tips on skin care, cargo-ready bikes, green jobs and ecovilages, E, The Environmental Magazine has got it all. The current issue features an article on actress Daryl Hannah and her work in West Virgina and the work of ecologists to save California's giant green turtles (550 Ibs.!). The library carries last year's issues up the current or you can access their online edition.

The wind turbine pictured here is one of 32 harnessing clean electricity on Harvest Wind Farm in Elkton, MI. (I took this photo during a summer trip to the Thumb Area.) Michigan Wind 1, with 46 turbines, is another wind farm located just north of Elkton in Ubly, MI. Major energy companies like DTE and Consumers Energy are tapping into these and other wind farms in Michigan to supply electric power to their customers. Combined, both wind farms generate about 122 megawatts of electricity — enough to power roughly 35,000 homes.

Wind, solar and geothermal are among the most promising methods to generate clean, renewable energy. You can learn more about a clean energy future by reading Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman, best-selling author and Pulitzer-prize winning columnist from The New York Times.

Looking for more stories about kids working to protect our environment? You might find them in unexpected places. If you are a Fantasy Fiction fan try The Companions Quartet series by Julia Golding. If you like Realistic Fiction, try Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley and Operation Redwood by Susannah T. French. If you like adventure, you might find Raining Sardines by Enrique Flores-Galbis exciting and full of suspense. You see, there are lots of possibilities when it comes to "green" reads. Enjoy!