Feed by M.T. Anderson is a novel that shows a future world dominated by corporations and advertising, where a next-generation Internet/television hybrid is directly hardwired into the brain and life is driven by fashion and shopping. (Candlewick Press, 2002.)

Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel is a collection of photos of statistically average families from all around the world displaying all of their household possessions in front of their houses. The photos and brief biographical sketches in the book provide readers with a unique look at consumer lifestyles across the planet. (Sierra Club Books, 1994.)

Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up the Earth by Diane MacEachern gives tips on simple ways that people can do to live more lightly on Earth. (Dell Books, 1995.)

Seven Wonders: Everyday Things for a Healthier Planet by John C. Ryan offers seven ways to lighten your impact on the planet by changing some of your everyday behaviors. (Sierra Club Books, 1999.)

Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning follows a day in the life of an average person living in the United States and shares the secret lives of your food, your clothes, and the things you play with. (Northwest Environment Watch, 1997.)

Watch It:

The Cost of Cool is a video that looks at everyday items, from T-shirts to sneakers, and tracks the impact of their manufacture on the world's resources. (Population Communications International, 2001.)

Youth Media provides environmental short films made by kids in public schools partnered in the "Recycle or Bust" program.

Generation Earth is a video that documents many inspiring student environmental and action programs in America's high schools. (Solana Recyclers, Inc.)

Jam Packed gives teens' perspectives on the issues of overpopulation and consumption and some of the solutions being offered around the globe. (Population Communications International, 1997.)

Merchants of Cool, a PBS Frontline episode, looks at the creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer group in America, and asks whether they reflect what teens want or have begun to create an image for teens in order to make more money. (Frontline, 2001.)

Surf It:

Affluenza is a public television production with a companion Web site that shares a variety of resources and information for the diagnosis and treatment of the consumer "bug."

Conscious Consumer from the Center for a New American Dream shows people where many common products such as coffee, chocolate, and clothes come from and helps people find environmentally and socially responsible options.

National Green Pages from Co-op America is a directory of thousands of socially and environmentally responsible companies offering over 25,000 different products and services.

PBS Don't Buy It! helps kids evaluate and understand hidden messages in advertising so they can decide for themselves what they really want.

WWF's Virtual House offers a fun way to find out about the links between the environment and everyday household items. See if you can find the connections and discover all the hidden secrets of the house.

ActionBioScience.org is an education resource of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, aiming to promote literacy. The site provides peer-reviewed articles by scientists, science educators, and science students in issues related to the seven bioscience challenges: environment, biodiversity, genomics, biotechnology, evolution, new frontiers in science, and bioscience education. In addition, the web site provides educators with original lessons and other resources to enhance bioscience teaching.

Do It:

Earth Force helps bring young people together to identify and implement lasting solutions to environmental issues in their communities.

I Buy Different Community Action Guide includes planning tips, a list of 30 ideas for ways to make a difference in the community, and step-by-step suggestions for three different community action projects: organizing a festival, producing a shopping guide, and sponsoring a contest.

YES! Youth for Environmental Sanity is a non-profit organization that educates, inspires and empowers young people to join forces for social justice and environmental sanity. Members of YES! have persuaded schools and businesses to purchase recycled products, offer organic and vegetarian options in cafeterias, retrofit their lighting, and offer anti-prejudice trainings.