Would you like to . . .

insure the quality of coastal living?
have the coolest yard on the street?
drink the best coffee?
get less junk mail?
save money while you're doing it?

Great! Read on.

Some of the coolest things out there are also great for conservation. The coffee that's winning numerous cupping awards is also good for birds, people, and the land!

But some trendy things are not so cool. Don't be taken in. The latest popular fish in the restaurant might be as old as your grandmother and heavily overfished -- all because its name was changed from the unpleasant sounding "Patagonian toothfish" to the more appetizing "Chilean Sea Bass" or from "slimehead" to "Orange roughy."

Start Here
Begin simply by downloading our WILD CHOICES brochure. (3 mb PDF) You'll find many easy things you can do today around the house and work that save you money and are good for everyone.

You can also download some inspirational conservation wallpapers for your computer to remind you of your choice to make a difference!

Click this link for water saving ideas!

Sign Up for These Free E-newsletters

National Wildlife Federation: Follow this link to their TAKE ACTION page. You can sign up for Action Alerts and free newsletters to learn how NWF is protecting our resources.

Wildlife Conservation Society: Click on this link to GET INVOLVED with international conservation. Sign up for free e-mail updates on breaking issues.

Save Trees. Decrease Your Junk Mail.
The average person receives more than 60 catalogs per year, 40% of which never gets opened. Nationally, the environmental impacts of logging, pulping, transporting, using, and disposing of this 4 million tons of annual catalog paper are staggering. When you receive unwanted mail order catalogs at home or work, call the company's 800-toll-free phone number and ask to be removed from their distribution list. For general national mailings, you can also write to the address below:

Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008

The Mail Preference Service is a no-charge service that removes names from many national mailing lists. Individuals who would like to use this service are requested to provide their names and addresses including zip code, and any spelling variations they have noticed on mailing labels. Within a few months, there should be a noticeable decrease in the amount of national advertising mail delivered.

Drink the Best Tasting Coffee
Your morning mug of coffee offers a powerful choice for birds and people! As coffee plantations have switched from "shade-grown" to "sun coffee," they have cut down the forest and removed habitat for birds, many of which summer here in the United States.

Simply put, shade-grown coffee is coffee that comes from farms that provide good, forest-like habitat for birds. Because of the shaded, forest-likesetting created by these canopy trees, the rich tasting coffee produced this way is called "shade-grown." The alternative way of growing coffee quickly entails cutting down the canopy trees and growing coffee plants under full sun. These "sun coffee" farms provide little or no bird habitat and pollute the environment because they require large amounts of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Read more about the connection between coffee and conservation.

You can enjoy a cup of this coffee at the zoo's SUBWAY. It's shade-grown, organic, and also fair trade certified -- meaning that the people who picked the coffee were paid a fair price for their work. You can order coffee online. So pour of cup of great tasting coffee and help restore our populations of migratory birds.

Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat™
The Backyard Wildlife Habitat program was begun by National Wildlife Federation in 1973 and currently has tens of thousands of certified sites all over America. Click here to learn more and see how you can create your own habitat! You can also learn more at the zoo's certified habitat.

Free Clicking for Conservation: Bookmark these in your browser today!

BIG CATS
Visit the Race for the Big Cats daily. A simple click makes a donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society. It's paid for by the advertising on the site, so it's free for you and you'll learn some really cool things about cats. You can also let your friends know about this free site and track how much you're doing for conservation!

RAINFORESTS
Click on the Rainforests and New Habitats site to help The Nature Conservancy protect the habitat of your choice: marine wetlands, american prairie, and rainforest.

Helping People Helps Animals
A challenge in many conservation issues is how to balance the human needs with the requirements of wildlife diversity. The best conservation programs work hard to do achieve this balance. By reducing the hardship on people, you can help them reduce the impact they have on wildlife and habitat.

Free Click on the Hunger Site
The Hunger Site focuses the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need - the eradication of world hunger. Founded in June 1999, The Hunger Site was the first "click-to-donate" site on the web.

Click here to learn more and donate free food.

Buy Supplies for Families Around the World
The daily resources we can take for granted are often not so easily come by in parts of the globe. With just a few dollars, you can make a significant impact on the health of a family or village. Consider the purchase of a goat, medical supplies, or even a simple mosquito net to help protect children from malaria. These can also be sent as a gift in someone's name for a birthday or holiday present for a conservation-minded person who may not need another item to dust around the house. A variety of items can be purchased through World Vision Gifts of Hope.

Choosing Seafood Wisely
Learn how to be an informed consumer of seafood. A simple dining choice can help preserve or threaten ocean life and your own health.

Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program and seafood card for the Southeast is now available. This extensive resource will help you be able to find which varieties of your favorite seafood are the best and which ones should be avoided altogether.

Download the appropriate card for your region now
or stop by the zoo to pick up your free Southeast Seafood Guide card!

Seafood Choices Alliance
The Seafood Choices Alliance seeks to bring ocean conservation to the table by providing the seafood sector - fishermen, chefs and other purveyors - with the information they need to make sound choices about seafood and provide the best options to their customers.

Fish and Your Health
Most states have recommendations about eating fish, especially for children and nursing mothers. Toxins including mercury, dioxins, and even DDT still remaining in the environment can build up in fish and then build up in our bodies. Find out about Florida's recommendations.

Make Your Purchases Count toward Conservation
If you buy stuff from Amazon.com, you can help the zoo in our conservation mission! Just type in what you're looking for in the box below and click "Go!" You get the same great service and pricing and a percentage of your purchase goes to helping the zoo fulfill its mission by increasing our library of conservation and zoological texts.

Search Now:

Paper without Trees: The Clearcut Alternative

Consider using paper that doesn't require any trees to be cut down. It comes from the kenaf plant, a member of the hibiscus family that grows well in many parts of the U.S. Kenaf grows quickly, rising to heights of 12-14 feet in as little as 4 to 5 months. U.S. Department of Agriculture studies show that kenaf yields of 6 to 10 tons of dry fiber per acre per year are generally 3 to 5 times greater than the yield for Southern pine trees, which can take from 7 to 40 years to reach harvestable size.

Vision Paper P.O. Box 20399, Albuquerque New Mexico 87154 (505) 294-0293

EPA's Green Vehicle Guide
Buy the best car for your needs and the environment.

More Great Resources

The sites below have extensive information on what you can do to live in harmony with the environment.

What You Can Do by Conservation International

Living Links by the New England Aquarium

Contact the government about an issue

Members of the House of Representatives

Members of the Senate