GREEN GUIDE - Markham Publishing

How to use this GuideStructureThe Green Guide is organised according to 12themes covering the whole range of a modernlifestyle. These follow a logical progression beginningwith the basic individual requirements of food,clothing, shelter, energy and health and then moveinto the collective activities of family, travel, leisure,business and politics. Finally it looks at the media,education and employment.Each of the 12 chapters corresponds to these twelvethemes and each chapter is broken down into sectionswhich are further divided into sub-sectionswhere appropriate. Not all sections have sub-sections.Each chapter contains a section or sections(depending upon the organisational complexity ofthe chapter) specifically on advice and organisations.Generally these contain listings of non-commercialorganisations relating to the chapter themeand are useful if you want advice or information inmore detail.At the beginning of each chapter the sections andtheir sub-sections are given a full listing with pagenumbers. It’s a good idea to read each chapter’s contentspage to familiarise yourself with what’s coveredin that chapter.The Green Guide is not intended to be read fromstart to finish. It is organised in such a way as toallow the reader to find out about a specific topicand deal with it. That said, the reader can benefitfrom reading the listings of a section as a whole –perhaps learning to skim the repetitive nature ofsome of the information (inevitable when severalorganisations doing similar things are groupedtogether) and instead focusing on what is differentabout each service or product. There is a wealth ofinformation contained in this Guide that is both fascinatingand inspiring.Each chapter contains articles, Cases Studies andImpact Boxes. This editorial content is not exhaustiveand does not cover the whole range of issuesand topics included in the Green Guide. It is intendedto be an introduction and a jumping off point forthose wanting to find out more.The Case Studies are the editor’s choice of some ofthe more innovative and interesting organisationsand their activities. It is hoped that readers will beinspired by them and learn that there can be differentand effective ways of doing business or of tacklingproblems.You can find many more Case Studies on the GreenGuide web site (at www.greenguideonline.com), aswell as an extensive editorial and news archive.What you can do to make a differenceThe Impact Boxes contain easy-to-follow, accessibletips on how to make a difference to your life now.Some of these take a little more effort, but many arecommon sense. The suggestions are not designed tomake you feel guilty if you don’t complete all or anyof them. Impact boxes are suggestive, not prescriptiveand we recognise that for many people some ofthe ideas are not practicable. Aim to do as little or asmuch as you are comfortable with.The listingsThe directory includes products, services andorganisations that help promote and encourage asustainable lifestyle. Also included are ethical, naturaland fair trade businesses. The listings areintended to be inclusive and are free of charge andto that end we have tried to include as many organisationsas possible, no matter their commercial outlooknor their size.If there is a bias, it is towards supporting smaller,innovative businesses or organisations that do notbenefit from a PR or marketing department.However, inclusion of an organisation does notimply an endorsement nor a preference.Usually each listing will contain the contact details– address, telephone number, e-mail and webaddress where available – and a short descriptionabout the service or organisation. Normally eachentry has a maximum of a 75 word description but12