So I'm totally sympathetic to the eco-holiday spirit that, say, drives people to give CFL bulbs as presents. That said, I don't actually think CFLs make such hot holiday gifts, in the same sense that I don't think tube socks make very good gifts. I mean they're useful, and they last a while, but they're not -- you know -- exciting.
Not that all gifts have to be exciting -- or that we have to always give each other material gifts at all. I do, however, sometimes struggle against the feeling that environmentalists can seem Grinch-like: Dirt cheap, with a predilection for the grungy or dowdy. Prone to impromptu doom-and-gloom lecture-giving at parties. Against holiday fun.
It's hard, of course, to know where to draw the line. Sure, lots of people are starting to question whether children really need all those shiny new toys -- especially as so many seem to come coated with lead these days. And I can't wait to see "What Would Jesus Buy?," a film that pokes fun at our consumer culture and promises a "Shopocalypse."
It gets murkier, though, when you get to stuff like holiday decorations. One person might be all psyched for the annual tree-decorating fun, only to be deflated by a "Do you really NEED a tree?" by a well-meaning but off-putting environmentalist.
And once that starts, the enviro-grinching of the holidays can begin to take over. After all, can we say we really "need" most things we expect around the holidays? Do you really NEED lights? That's a question that came from one of my readers. I mean, those things sap energy from the grid! Do you really NEED gifts, even if they're "eco-friendly" gifts? Aren't you just contributing to our rampant consumer culture with every gift you give or receive? In fact, do you really NEED to burn all those fossil fuels to fly to see your family? Do you really NEED holidays at all? Should you really be celebrating anything when the earth's warming over and polar bears are dying and hurricanes are killing people?
Take eco-preaching to its extreme and all the joy suddenly gets sucked out of life. What's the point in living, really, if there's nothing to celebrate? How do you draw the line?
Aside from the few who really are quite grinch-like, most environmentalists seem to tread a murky line of their own invention. They may hold back on Buy Nothing Day but go crazy during the remaining shopping days. They may shop like everyone else, but take their own bags. They may opt for more eco-friendly decorations, like a locally-grown holiday tree with LED lights. They may forgo a tree but decorate with poinsettias. They may carefully select gifts that are earth-friendly and fairly-made. They may only give out "stuff-free" gifts. Or, of course, they may give out CFL bulbs.
How are you greening your holiday season? How is it different from last year? Will there be a CFL bulb in your stocking?
Can't make it to the farmers market because of work? Then bring the farmers market to you. The new Santa Monica Market Basket Program does just that, assembling a wide variety of fruits and veggies into a basket and delivering it to your workplace for you to pick up during a break or at the end of the day.
Sure, we have organic produce delivery companies in L.A., but why not get both organic AND local, enjoying farm fresh produce AND helping out your neighbors who've grown them?
That's where the Santa Monica Market Basket Program comes in. The first deliveries started earlier this month, and so far, takes about 70 baskets to Santa Monica City Hall employees each Wednesday. And according to Katie Ricketts, Market Basket Coordinator, the program's actively seeking new businesses to take advantage of this basket program.
To get signed up, all you need is about 50 people (Katie says she'd try to work with smaller groups too) at your workplace interested in getting weekly farm-fresh produce. Then, Katie will work with your workplace to hash out some basic logistics, and in a week or two, you and your co-workers will be able to pick up yummies from the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market without ever leaving the office.
Participants can pick from 3 tiers of baskets. The $20 classic bag will give you about 10 farm fresh staples -- all the basic items needed for a person for a week, based on the USDA requirement of 31.5 cups of fruits and veggies -- as well as newsletter with recipes, market news, farmer bios, and other tidbits. You can get double that by opting for the $38 double person bag, which Katie says is really enough to feed a small family for a week. Then there's the $30 specialty basket, which has all the items in the classic bag plus some extra goodies -- perhaps eggs, honey, or special fruits with a higher price point.
Interested in signing up? Contact Katie Ricketts at katie@sfma.net or 310.740.7544. And if you're stressing about the "best" way to eat, fret not -- Here's my simplified guide to eating like an environmentalist.
>> Meanwhile, fear of toxic chemicals grows and people call for more disclosure. Salon's Machinist notes Nintendo's use of PVCs and BFRs, "which cause health and environmental damage and which numerous tech firms have vowed to phase out," and notes the company offers neither a takeback nor recycling program.
Get your locally-made holiday wreath at the farmers' market! I found Santa Monica-based company Designing Endeavors' colorful wreaths at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Arizona yesterday.
A small undecorated wreath costs $15. I seriously considered getting one -- especially once I found out the greenery is locally grown in California, according to the woman at the booth -- but I'd already bought too much stuff and couldn't fit a huge wreath (even the smalls are pretty big) on my bike.
Maybe next week. I'm considering a poinsettia plant too -- Those were also all over the market. Many booths were offering gift basket type goodies. I might get the bulk of my holiday shopping there --
In addition to the Wednesday Santa Monica market, you can find
Designing Endeavors at the Pasadena Farmers' Market on Saturdays and
the Pacific Palisades Farmers' Market on Sundays. Or you can call to
put in an order: 310.395.7944.
Weekends at Emerald City start on Thursday! Enjoy it, greenly. Like to plan ahead? Check out the Emerald City calendar to find out about all the green events around town.
Thursday, Nov. 29 Parkland meeting: LA Citywide Community Needs Assessment (free) - Ramona Hall Community Center, 4580 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. 6:30 p.m. Put in your two cents on the future protection and expansion of Los Angeles' 15,000 acres of existing parkland. This LA Department of Recreation and Parks meeting will include a presentation and an interactive work session. Refreshments will be provided.
Net Impact hosts Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the US Green Building Council (free; RSVP requested) - LaKretz Hall Auditorium, UCLA, Los Angeles. 7 p.m. Rick of the US Green Building Council, whose LEED building certification program is transforming the green real estate marketplace, will be interviewed by Green Real Estate Authority Charles Lockwood in UCLA's first LEED Certified building, LaKretz Hall.
Friday, Nov. 30 6th Annual USGBC-LA/LACCD Sustainability Conference ($5 students, $30 regular) - Biltmore Bowl, Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles, 506 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. This educational conference will continue the dialogue about the importance of finding solutions to challenges affecting green building and sustainability in today's world. Speakers include Mike Massey, Executive Director of the Piping Industry Progress and Education Fund, who will offer his perspective on the important role that organized labor plays in promoting green building strategies.
Saturday, Dec. 1 Parkland meeting: LA Citywide Community Needs Assessment (free) - Lincoln Park Recreation Center, 353501 Valley Blvd., Los Angeles. 10 a.m. Put in your two cents on the future protection and expansion of Los Angeles' 15,000 acres of existing parkland. This LA Department of Recreation and Parks meeting will include a presentation and an interactive work session. Refreshments will be provided.
How to Have an Eco-Friendly Holiday Season ($15) - All Shades of Green, 3038 Rowena Ave., Los Angeles. 10:30 a.m. A workshop in Silverlake with Sustainability Coach Deborah Tull. Pre-registration required by calling 323-665-7454.
Holiday Toys and Mittens Ride (free; toy donations encouraged) - REI Arcadia parking lot, 214 N. Santa Anita Ave., Arcadia. 10:30 a.m. Bicycle through charming Arcadia and Monrovia neighborhoods to gather toys and warm articles of clothing from local businesses that currently are collecting winter items for Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, San Gabriel Valley's child welfare organization. There'll be holiday music, cheer, and free yummy baked goods from Scratch Cookies and Bakery, and post-ride pizza and lasagna from Zelo Cornmeal Crust Pizza.
3rd Annual Fair Trade and Conscious Gifts Holiday Bazaar (free) - Geneva Room, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Shop from a large selection of affordable, sweatshop-free arts and crafts made by artisans internationally and locally, including wallets and purses from Afghanistan, locally made jewelry and tote-bags, and fair trade coffee and honey. Confirmed vendors include Garment Worker Center, Pacifica Radio Archives, Afghan Women's Mission, Frank Dorrell, and local artists Azadeh Ghafari and Sonali Kolhatkar. Extras: Complimentary refreshments while you shop.
ReVisions Live Billboard Art Painting (free) - Eco-LogicalART, 4829 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Artists will start painting 20 original art pieces on huge recycled billboards. By Jan 12, 2008, the billboards will go on display across Los Angeles. Come watch it happen-- Early.
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007 International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition ($550 - $950) - Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim. Mingle and hear from business, policy, industry, and academic leaders from around the world who are interested in exploring and understanding the technical, policy and market challenges of electric transportation technologies. The event continues until Dec. 5, 2007.
ReVisions Live Billboard Art Painting (free) - Eco-LogicalART, 4829 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Artists will start painting 20 original art pieces on huge recycled billboards. By Jan 12, 2008, the billboards will go on display across Los Angeles. Come watch it happen-- Early.
Some baby stuff's so cute it makes me wish I had ... a baby-sized doll to dress up and stuff. Here's how to find the cutest green giftables for the little people in your life:
Stay local and drop by The Little Seed, a newish eco-boutique for kids at 219 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles. The shop's organic clothes, non-toxic toys, and eco-friendly bedding recently got a longish profile in the LA Weekly. It sounds like the place to go for your one-stop eco-baby shopping.
Beyond The Little Seed, many L.A. stores carry Oeuf, an all eco-friendly line of super-cute clothes for kids. My fave's this Oeuf Hug-me sweater (right, $88) -- an alpaca wool sweater with mitten-shaped pockets -- designed by a French-American husband-and-wife team based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and sustainably and fairly made in Bolivia.
Or support recycled, handmade products, easier than ever with the Etsy Trashion Street Team, a group of 110 Etsy artists "who specialize in turning trash into treasure." And on Dec. 2, participating shops will celebrate "Save the World Sunday" by offering 20% off or free shipping.
One of these stores -- Sweet Pepita in Baltimore, Md. -- offers some very stylin' baby clothes. The cutest, IMHO: "Boyish Charm" (left, $40), a size 6-12 months shirt that's hand-sewn from 100% organic cotton and recycled fabric; and Pixie Hat ($14), hand-sewn from 100% organic cotton.
Or go the DIY route and start knitting (or sewing)! Back when I was knitting more I made a buncha baby booties; to the right's the "flower power" pair, which went to my old friend Maureen's baby. Opt for organic or recycled yarn -- I recommend a visit to Goodwill for an old sweater to take apart.
If you're shopping for toys, the Green Guide's put together a wallet-sized toy guide (PDF) that tells you what to look for and what to avoid. A few cute suggestions:
Double Duckies ($22), a pull toy made with sustainably harvested wood, vegetable dyes and non-toxic coating.
Knit Octopus ($78), a soft and happy-looking toy made with natural wool yarn and veggie-based dyes by a collective of knitters working in fair trade conditions in rural Kenya.
>> Killer jellyfish. A swarm of jellyfish covering 10 sq. miles wiped out Northern Ireland's only salmon farm. Cause of the unexpected jellyfish attack? "Unusual environmental factors including higher-than-normal water temperatures" had something to do with it. (via grist)
>> Deadly levee repair. Near Rio Vista, Calif., "Thousands of dead fish float belly up atop the water, victims of a federal levee repair project gone wrong."
Got your holiday tree yet? I hope not, because then this post's coming too late for you. Some tips for an eco-friendly holiday tree:
First, get a real tree, as Umbra of Grist recommends. Those artificial ones are mostly vinyl Chinese imports.
Then, try to find a local and /or organic tree. Now, the organic option, I found, isn't easy to locate. The closest organic holiday tree farm I found is in Los Gatos, which is a bit far; if you know of other organic farms, please share the info.
So local, even if not organic, might be the most practical way to go. Many of the pre-cut trees sold in lots come from out of state, but you can visit one of many nearby choose & cut lots to get your tree. Whole Foods is another option if a mini tree will work for you; those trees aren't organic, but are grown in California.
There are benefits of getting a mini tree too: Most come live, and after the holidays, you can plant the tree and let it live on. Here are instructions for planting a live, post-holiday tree.
If you want a tree that keeps on giving, get a non-traditional fruit tree for your holiday decorations. My friend Summer got a lemon tree last year; this year, she has lots of lemons! Local poinsettias are a pretty option too -- and available at the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Arizona this holiday season.
Like the idea of a holiday tree, but don't want one dropping needles in your house? TreePeople's Gift of Life Tree Dedication Program can help you out. A $25 donation lets you dedicate one tree to a recipient of your choice, who'll get a nice card about your green and generous gift.
But I'm actually holding off on getting a tree for now, partly because I'm a general holiday procrastinator, and partly because I'm a hopeful optimist -- about this tree raffle happening next week. That's right, on Monday, Dec. 3, from 5 - 8 p.m., eco-home store Livingreen in Culver City is having a holiday open house -- with a raffle for a green holiday tree.
The tree's an eco-procrastinator's dream: Pre-decorated with ornaments made by local architects, interior designers and design students, and trimmed with LED energy-saving lights. Raffle tickets cost $2 each; proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.
The open house will also have cookies and cider and holiday music -- as well as green nighttime shopping. Livingreen stores in Montecito and Santa Barbara are having similar events, in case some readers live out there.
Question: I am curious if you might know if it's a greener decision to keep the old Christmas lights that I already have until they die, or dispose of them (or donate them) and purchase new LED lights. Is the power saving difference enough of an advantage to justify the waste? I have thought about this and I'm not sure what the better choice is ecologically. Thanks, Adriana
As Umbra of Grist puts it, "would you rather have a full landfill, or have the Arctic devoid of ice? Climate solutions take precedence over garbage-production concerns, particularly when the garbage is relatively harmless."
Conventional lights are rather difficult to recycle -- but creative ways for reusing them abound! You might in fact consider decorating the old lights and turning them into holiday decorations. That way, you get to keep the old lights -- unlit but still pretty -- on the tree, refrain from adding to the landfill, and get new decorations for your tree or house out of the deal.
>> Ban cars from the DWP Holiday Light Festival. Walking the length of the festival during the car-ban period is "a 100% more pleasurable experience than driving it, or even walking the route while cars are driving through." Last year, one DWP reason for not walking was that people might trip while walking.
>> Create a downtown fare zone. The idea: "Trips to or from any station inside the fare zone do not require the rider to purchase a transfer. Trips entirely inside the Fare Zone would still require a valid fare."
>> Make Pico and Olympic move faster. The one-way proposal looks like it's toast, but Villaraigosa's got a new plan: immediately eliminate parking on both streets during rush hour, then, re-time traffic lights so that those traveling west on Olympic and east on Pico get longer green lights.
>> Build the subway to the sea already. Elected leaders meet at an automotive museum to talk about funding the subway. Suggestions: a parcel tax on L.A. County residents, or a public-private partnership that would allow a private firm to build and run the subway, with government oversight.
Hear Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich talk energy and global warming. The Nov. 17 presidential forum on climate is now available online. Watch the full video below, or read the full transcript (PDF).
To kick off the forum, L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa gave a short welcome in which he points to the Bush administration's continued suppression of global warming-related science. "It's time we had someone in the White House who actually believes in science," Villaraigosa says.
Each candidate got a half-hour: 10 minutes to make a speech, then 20 minutes to answer questions from a panel of environmentalists.
Grist writer Dave Roberts -- one of the panelists -- shares his impressions here, including this about Kucinich:
The big question about all this, of course, is how a President Kucinich could get such a radical agenda past Congress. His only answer was that he would talk over their heads, directly to the people, and get them so riled that they would, I guess, drag Congress along. I'm not sure where he sees the evidence for this enormous untapped vein of radical progressivism among the American populace, but he seems convinced.
The L.A. Times covered the event here. Feel free to share your impressions on the candidates in the comments. For the record, all candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties were invited to the event.
>> Former ACLU media director becomes Silver Lake's bag lady. "Ann Bradley, 54, stands outside the entrance to the Silver Lake Farmers Market, holding a sign that reads: Please Bring Your Own Bag.... Her sign seems to provoke an almost immediate internal dialogue from those who pass."
>> An all-CFL Xmas. "Donna Hoffman, an ardent environmentalist who lives in Austin, Tex., came up with an unlikely gift for each member of her family: an energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb."
In an eco-film hitting theaters now, Al Gore looks 20 years younger -- because he is, in footage from 1988.
"Everything's Cool," a new doc from the producers of "Blue Vinyl" (which I reviewed here) features Gore, enviro-activist Bill McKibben, and many scientists who started talking 'bout global warming in the '80s -- and were ignored or censored -- to illustrate the "most dangerous chasm ever to emerge between scientific understanding and political action."
While everyone but a few bizarro holdouts agrees that global warming's a reality now, the scientific findings about global warming were long silenced, especially under the Bush administration. In "Everything's Cool," we hear about the political censorship of the reality of global warming from candid interviews with Ross Gelbspan, author of "The Heat is On," and Rick Piltz, former senior associate in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program who resigned in March 2005, citing political interference in the program's climate change reports.
Unfortunately for the release of this film, global warming and the political scuffle behind it isn't exactly news anymore. And for a film self-dubbed a "toxic comedy," "Everything's Cool" wasn't very funny.
Still, seeing the hypocrisy of the government exposed on film is somewhat gratifying. And the film does illustrate how much time we've unfortunately lost in the fight against global warming -- and how fast we need to act now.
"Everything's Cool" is now playing at the Laemmle Grande 4-Plex in downtown LA. (Watch the trailer here) The DVD comes out on Dec. 11 -- packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled material.
>> How to deal with the driest year on record: Reuse recycled water, instead of dumping it into the L.A. River. "Although recycled water can be used for irrigation and to replenish underground aquifers, there are no pipes to transport it to far-off parks and golf courses. The city uses the recycled water for only 1% of its irrigation needs." (earlier: Water, conservation and tattletales)
>> How to wash a window the super-eco way. You'll need a bucket of water, an old rag, newspapers and some vinegar.
Back in the day -- as in, like, last year -- green gifts were still hard to find around town and would-be eco-shoppers had no choice but to shop online. Now, green's gone mainstream and local green shopping fairs are happening so often I can barely keep track of all of them.
So -- if you like to touch, feel, see and maybe even try on your holiday purchases before forking over your hard-earned money, check out these fair trade and eco-conscious shopping events happening in and around L.A.:
Geneva Room, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.
Sat., Dec. 1, 11 am – 3 pm.
A large selection of affordable, sweatshop-free arts and crafts made by artisans internationally and locally, including wallets and purses from Afghanistan, locally made jewelry and tote-bags, and fair trade coffee and honey. Confirmed vendors include Garment Worker Center, Pacifica Radio Archives, Afghan Women's Mission, Frank Dorrell, and local artists Azadeh Ghafari and Sonali Kolhatkar. Extras: Complimentary refreshments while you shop.
Garment Worker Center, 1250 S. Los Angeles St., #213, Los Angeles
Thurs., Dec. 6, 6 pm - 10 pm
Fair trade shopping from a wide selection of beautiful artisan goods, including stationery from Ellie Pooh and belt buckles made out of recycled wood scraps by bentwood. All goods are handcrafted in equitable workplaces that support underserved communities worldwide. Extras: Door prizes, a raffle, refreshments and a reception.
American Hi Definition, 7635 Airport Business Park Way, Van Nuys
Sat., Dec. 8, 10 am - 5 pm
Eco-friendly gifts like hemp doggie collars and organic cotton toddler toys, plus an opportunity to "purchase” holiday gifts by donating to environmental groups’ in loved ones’ names. Extras: Enjoy the food, live music and green seminars at this free eco-fest. You can also take in a screening of "Who Killed the Electric Car?", test-drive advanced clean vehicles, and get a close-up look at one of the San Fernando Valley’s largest solar installations. Kids will have their own activities too.
In front of Eco-LogicalART, 4829 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles
Sat., Dec. 15, 10 am - 6 pm
Green-conscious shopping from eco-conscious vendors; more info TBA. Extras: “live-painting” kid workshops, tree giveaways and other “eco” demonstrations.
Eco Gift Expo ($10 online, $15 at the door; free for seniors and children under 12)
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St., Santa Monica
Sat., Dec. 15, 9 am - 8 pm and Sun., Dec. 16, 9 am - 5 pm
150 companies selling a wide range of high-quality eco-friendly gifts. Exhibitors range from big companies like Whole Foods to smaller eco-conscious boutiques like Hip & Zen and Santa Monica's own Natural High Lifestyles. Extras: An organic food court as well as entertainment for the entire family. Plus, the expo will donate 10% of its gross event proceeds to Global Green USA and Whole Planet Foundation.
Question: The LADWP provides Blue Bins in which recyclable discards may be placed. However, the bin (or at least my bin) does not include a list of acceptable items. For example, may wood scraps be placed in the blue bin? And while most people intuitively know that white letter paper may be placed in the blue bin, what about colored paper?
Accordingly, I'd appreciate a link to DWP website which lists those items that may be placed in a DWP blue recycle bin. Much obliged. -- Len
Answer: Hello, fellow recycler! Your blue bins actually come from the L.A. Bureau of Sanitation, not the LADWP. In any case, here's the comprehensive list of recyclables you can put in your blue bin. And to answer your specific concerns, no, on the wood scraps, yes, on colored paper -- assuming it's clean.
And more to your point about your uninformative blue bin: You can actually download a Blue Bin Label (PDF) to put on your bin for easy reference. A door tag (PDF) with the same info's available too.
Made a local dish for Thanksgiving? Now's the chance to share, aka show off, your locavore-friendly recipe. A local group in Westchester called Environmental Change-Makers is putting together a local foods cookbook, and you're invited to contribute!
To participate, all you have to do is:
Create a dish from local foods -- with all or almost all ingredients grown or produced within about 100 miles of L.A.
Taste-test the recipe.
Write up the recipe, including fun details like where you found unusual ingredients, why you included certain non-local ingredients, or what season your recipe will work best in.
Send your recipe to Environmental Change-Makers. Be sure to include your name and your neighborhood or city to get credited for your contribution.
Environmental Change-Makers will then put the best recipes into a cookbook, which will be available free as a PDF online or in hard copy at Environmental Change-Makers meetings. The recipes will be shared under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license.
Before switching hosts, look for one that 1) has a solid reputation or a reliable recommendation -- just as with conventional hosts, some green hosts are better than others (I highly recommend AISO.net, but had horrible experiences with Sustainable Websites) -- and 2) is actually powered by renewable energy. Some hosts simply buy offsets and call themselves green -- and switching to one of those isn't significantly different from just staying with your current host and buying your own offsets.
Buying offsets has become an increasingly controversial and murky issue; here's a primer on the good, bad, and confusing nature of offsets.
2. Get CO2Stats. This small, free widget measures -- and offsets -- the carbon emissions created by the total electricity usage of your readers' computers while they're on your site.
Two PhD students developed this app, and they're paying out-of-pocket to offset the carbon emissions of CO2Stats widget users through Sustainable Travel International. Again, the controversies surrounding offsets apply, but at the very least, CO2Stats highlights the fact that Internet surfing does come at a cost to the environment.
All you have to do is grab the free code and put it on your sidebar. My one complaint is that the widget isn't very self-explanatory; looking at it, it's difficult to tell what exactly makes the user's site "green" or what is being offset. But the guys say they're looking at adding "a small MouseOver popup of explanatory text that elaborates on our calculation methods to the widget."
Weekends at Emerald City start on Thursday! Enjoy it, greenly. Like to plan ahead? Check out the Emerald City calendar to find out about all the green events around town.
Friday, Nov. 23 Buy Nothing Day (free) - Everywhere. All day. A couple of events are happening in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Plus a Buy Nothing Day Fest with DJs and other free fun festivities is happening on Venice Beach: the sand north of Venice Park and south of the Santa Monica Pier, from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 24 LA Eco-Village Tour ($10) - LA Eco-Village, 117 Bimini Pl., Los Angeles. 10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Get the history and context of the village, a walk-through of the sustainable community, and learn about the problems and progress in the healthy development of an intentional community.
“Handmade For The Holidays” Art, Fashion & Crafts Fair ($2) - Fairfax High School, 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Over 175 indie artists, designers and crafters from L.A. and across the country will be selling an array of interesting, beautiful, creative and thoughtful American handmade goods. There will be free gift and treat bags and free gift wrapping using 100% recycled and natural materials, as well as hourly giveaways, holiday music and food from GRUB in Hollywood.
Got an old, clunky fridge? Then you have an eco-conundrum: Keep that old one guzzling electricity, or send it to the landfill by buying a new energy-efficient fridge?
In general, reduce and reuse are the eco-mantras to go by. But when it comes to old, inefficient machines that suck up electricity, it's better to recycle and replace. As Umbra of Grist points out, efficient Energy Star refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers will save you both money and energy. Refrigerators in particular should be replaced after about 15 years.
In fact, those old refrigerators are wasting so much energy that the L.A. Department of Water and Power is willing to swap some of them out with a FREE fridge. That's right -- a FREE new fridge -- for low-income households.
If you make too much to qualify, you can still get a $100 combined rebate -- plus free CFL bulbs -- for buying a new Energy Star fridge and recycling your old one.
You can get rebates for other new appliances too. If you're replacing your air conditioner, washing machine, windows, central heat pumps, or pool pumps and motors, check out the L.A. DWP consumer rebate program page first to make sure you buy energy-efficient ones that qualify for rebates.
What to do with those old fridges? Don't send them to the landfill! L.A. DWP will pick them up for recycling.
Yep, the annual un-consumerist celebration happens once again, on that day once known as Black Friday. Buy Nothing Day simply asks you to ... buy nothing that day -- A 24-hour moratorium on consumer spending on the day that, for many, is defined by shopping.
No, this isn't like the "don't buy gas today" e-mail forwards that promise something akin to an economic collapse and a new world order if you do as told. No, this doesn't mean the end of holiday gifts (though there is a Buy Nothing Christmas movement too).
It's simply an invitation not to follow the shopping herd for a day, a chance to reflect on consumer culture, and perhaps an opportunity to do, um, fun stuff.
For ex, you can become a zombie for a day at one of the Zombie Infestation and Breakouts. Apparently, Buy Nothing Day and zombies have a bit of a history. From what I gather, people dress like zombies or zombie victims and "attack" and "convert" shoppers into zombies, nonviolently. The breakout schedule:
If, like me, you'd rather not be a zombie, join the silent march in Santa Monica that promises to "be similar of the zombie walk, except NOT dressing as a zombie (I don't think most people will understand the zombie thing, and we will only look crazy...)." Participants are invited to carry anti-consumerist signs. Meet at 3 p.m. near the dinosaur by the Barnes & Noble at Third Street Promenade and Wilshire to walk down the promenade in silence. Need more info? E-mail PozzoEmpire@gmail.com.
Aside from the march, my current plan's to catch up on my NaNoWriMo novel -- I'm roughly 14,000 words behind, but if I fuel my fiction with the powers of anti-consumerism....
If you must do something holiday shopping-related, spend the day planning out your gifts and decorations and festivities, leaving the shopping until the next day. A plan also usually has the benefit of letting you cut out the stuff you don't really need to buy.
While you do that, give American Public Media's series Consumed a listen. The series asks "Is our consumer society sustainable?" and covers a lot of ground: "We follow consumerism from its origins to its dominance in the world's economy and, arguably, its culture. And we examine how, and if, it might be adapted to reduce its destructive consequences while keeping store shelves stocked."
Parts 1 and 2 help you green your current computer. But computers have this habit of going defunct just as you're getting used to them -
So I started putting a post together to help you pick a new green machine only to find that Jasmin Malik Chua's already written a comprehensive guide -- "How to Buy a Green PC" -- for Computer Shopper.
"How to Buy a Green PC" covers everything from the energy efficiency of LCD monitors over CRTs to Energy Star-certified models to end-of-life recycling options. Read it before hitting the stores.
Feeling obsessive? Stress a bit more over your green machine purchase by reading Northwest Products Stewardship Council's guide, which asks you to consider other smaller factors -- i.e. the packaging materials your computer's shipped in -- before getting a new computer.
If you're a forward-looking, techy green computer person, check out Jeremy Faludi of Worldchanging's wonkier 3-parter on green computers, covering what's to come in green data centers, components and whole machines.
The sky is falling -- or more accurately, raining elephants! Current today picked this short "ecospot" -- a short video message "to inspire people to get involved in finding solutions to the climate crisis by taking action or motivating change" -- as the winner for its contest:
"The Sky is Falling" is made by Dave Schlafman, who used recycled brown paper bags for the background of the animation -- then reused those bags by framing them as gifts to friends!
Other finalists' videos are also on Current, if you'd like to procrastinate at work a bit while thinking about the environment.
All thecrazy eventsthis month threw me for a loop, so Energy week's been extended to 2 weeks. Today -- tips for making your computer habit a little more eco-friendly:
1. Change your power settings to give your computer breaks. Need to see the savings onscreen to believe it? Local Cooling, a free downloadable app, will lay it out for Windows XP users; TweakVista, not-so-free program for Vista users, has a feature that shows the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted each month by your PC -- as well as the monthly electrical bill that results. Caution: I haven't tried either of these programs myself, since the numbers on my electric bill are visualization enough for me.
2. When you're not using it, turn it off. Back in the days when Pine was a popular e-mail system and blogs didn't exist, you may've heard that you shouldn't turn your computer off because it's only built to turn on and off a relatively small number of times. Needless to say, times have changed. According to PC magazine, computers today can handle 40,000 on/off cycles, "considerably more times than the average user will turn the computer on and off during its five- to seven-year life span."
So if you don't plan to use a computer for a few hours, turn it off -- you'll save energy, and your computer will appreciate the break. And please turn that thing off overnight.
3. Use it less and enjoy the SoCal weather. Don't end up like these somewhat sad Korean kids who're now in a government-funded "Internet Rescue camp" to cure them of their computer addiction. Read all the way to the bottom of this post? Thank you -- I appreciate your diligence. Now take a little break and go for a walk.
The other green computer tips involve buying new stuff; that'll come in Part 3.
>> Drought Busters come back, not to actually enforce the water-saving laws on the books, but to gently encourage people to conserve water.
>> Bring back the electric car, argues an op-ed in the L.A. Times on Monday. "The persistent bias in favor of hydrogen among state regulators defies logic -- and yet it could once again distract from fair treatment of more-realistic electric cars."
>> Lead-infused toys get a setback. After the many recent toy recalls, Cali sues toymakers to force them to either inspect the toys or put a warning sign on them.
>> The Six Sins of Greenwashing. One is the "Sin of Vagueness: e.g. Products claiming to be 100% natural when many naturally-occurring substances are hazardous, like arsenic and formaldehyde."
So I had this grandiose idea for a Thanksgiving post starting with the 100-Mile Thanksgiving challenge, moving on to locally raised turkeys, then covering organic cooking, then going into vegetarian options, with a buncha interesting links worked in.
However, today I realized Thanksgiving is in just two days! Chances that big turkey day celebrators have put off making plans until today're pretty slim. But here's the whole post anyway, partly for the procrastinators after my own heart, but mainly as a reminder to me to start earlier next year.
If you're gonna plan ahead (unlike me), why not think big? A 100-Mile Thanksgiving's like the old-new way of giving thanks to the farming neighbors around you. The challenge: Make your entire Thanksgiving feast from ingredients found within 100 miles. Chances are, you'll have to make some modifications -- salt's a common toughie for most locavores, for ex. But check out the 100-Mile Diet site for inspiring recipes and stories.
If you're a bird eater (vegans, please skip the next two paras if you're the angry type), get a heritage or locally-raised turkey. Good Cali sources (probably too late for this year, but very early for next year!), according to Slow Food LA, are:
Sharon Ann Palmer of Healthy Family Farms. Turkeys are processed fresh, vacuum-packed, and delivered to farmers markets in Beverly Hills, Ventura and Ojai. Call (805) 421-3301 to put your order in; the price is $3.50 per lb this year.
Jim Reichardt of Sonoma County Poultry. A limited number of turkeys are shipped from the farm to individuals. Contact Jim at scpducks@aol.com or (800) 953-8257.
The local farmers might be sold out of turkeys at this point, so if you still haven't bought yours, take Jen Bravo of ViroPop's advice and buy a smaller, organic turkey. "Unless you're feeding the neighborhood, an 8-10 pound bird will probably suit you just fine, and you'll have room to fill up on all the delicious sides," Jen says.
As with the turkeys, try to get the rest of your Thanksgiving feast from local and organic sources too. To make that quest easier, Monica Schenk at Low Impact Living has put together an entire menu of Thanksgiving recipes with short ingredient lists.
And if you'd like to put off actually prepping for Thanksgiving a bit longer, lose a bunch of time reading this overly-detailed yet strangely-absorbing post on Grist that painstakingly lays out the costs of Thanksgiving meal ingredients, comparing conventional vs. organic, Whole Foods vs. conventional supermarket. It comes complete with an acronym chart, i.e. WFO for organic at Whole Foods, SMC for conventional at the supermarket.
Something about the way I procrastinate on holiday-related posts makes me think I don't like holidays in general. Really, must they inevitably come around every single year, like flu-season? Actually I'm a bit under the weather, and so perhaps a wee bit cranky and not hungry. Stay healthy this season.
>> Pico meets enthusiastic walking Angelenos. 70+ people joined, and 40+ completed, the 16-mile walk down the length of Pico on Saturday. "Victory jerk chicken enchiladas (not to mention booze purchased on the way at the Santa Monica Trader Joe's) was consumed at Cha Cha Chicken, near the finish line." I missed it -- I've only walked the section of Pico within the city of Santa Monica....
>> Polluters meet $2,000 de-smogging incentive. South Coast Air Quality Management District uses sensors to find gross polluters, then sends letters to the owners offering them $500 to help with repairs, or $1,000 to scrap the vehicle. Low-income motorists can get $2,000. So far, about 10% of people sent letters are responding.
Venice is full of tourists on 100-lb Segways, but last week I biked down there to try out a different sort of electric transportation: The Motorboard.
Linda of Roth Motor Co. met me with the electric Motorboard 2000XR, which I rode (left), trying not to take anyone down. I caught on after a few minutes, aside from the braking part -- I always use foot brakes on my bike, and remembering to squeeze the hand brake part's just hard for me. Luckily, I went slow enough that I could just jump off.
The main benefit of the Motorboard 2000XR over my bike: The Motorboard doesn't need to be locked up. It runs on a light lithium-ion battery and weighs just 16.3 lbs, making it really portable. Post-ride, Linda folded it up and neatly tucked it under a table while she ordered coffee at a sidewalk restaurant. I sat down vaguely worried about bike theft.
If you have a short commute, or need to run small errands around town, the Motorboard could be a nice, car-free option. It can get up to 15 mph, going 5 to 7 miles on a two-hour charge (extended-range models can go 20 miles on a single charge). Cost, $799.
The people trying out the Motorboard at AltCarExpo seemed to have fun (left). But the laws are a bit confusing, since every city seems to have its own guidelines for motorized two-wheelers. Are electric scooters allowed to go 15 mph on a sidewalk in Santa Monica? What about a bike lane? I'm not sure, although Linda says she's never gotten into trouble for riding her Motorboard all over the place.
Still, I'm sticking to my bike for now, since it actually gets me a little exercise. I'm wondering though, are there any big electric scooter and Motorboard advocates out there? Do you use them mainly as a mode of transportation, or ride them just for sport and fun?
So I missed THE talk I wanted to hear at Opportunity Green. Futurist Jamais Cascio gave his "Green Tomorrows" keynote at a ridiculously early 9 a.m. or so. He even gave me a shout-out (he used one of my pics in his presentation) -- and no, I wasn't there to wave in response.
Damn those early morning conference starts! Note to self: Staying out late the night before a conference that kicks off at 8 a.m. is never a good idea even if it really, really seems like it at the time... Once I arrived around 11 a.m., I had a dozen or so people come up to ask where I was when I was mentioned.
The rest of the keynotes and most of the panels were, unfortunately, rather meh. The convo between John Picard, sustainability consultant, and Sam LaBudde, Goldman prize-winner, sort of wandered and meandered. The convo with Kevin Wall, founder and CEO of Live Earth, was a bit too self-congratulatory.
I liked the "Women In Sustainability Shaping the Future" panel, as I mentioned in a previous post. But after that came the "Green 2.0" panel, which was so bad that I -- and some others -- ended up leaving for the concurrent panel. Noah Kagan of OKDork.com actually started quizzing the audience like junior high students, telling them to shout out what companies they thought of as green, followed by shouts about what companies they thought of as not green.
Um, we came to learn from experts here, not participate in some weird impromptu call-and-answer session about consumer perception. I hear that later in the panel, Noah actually called green just a fad. Well of course it is, if you think about it just as a money-making tagline.
At the end of the night, I thought I might puke if I heard "vote with your dollar" one more time. By that, I'm not saying you shouldn't vote with your dollar. Yes, by all means, always think about putting your money where your mouth is. But the audience was made of enviro-diehards who'd already heard that, a lot. And I really was hoping to hear something new.
In many ways, Opportunity Green was biz as usual. The number of female speakers and panelists? Eight. Compare that to the 28 male speakers and panelists invited to participate. The number of female keynotes? Zero of five. Non-white panelists or speakers? None, as far as I could tell, although there were a couple breakout sessions so there may've been a couple in the panels I didn't attend.
But I did get some good stuff out of Opportunity Green, just because many cool people were there. Post-conference, Jamais wrote: "The lesson I took from the Opportunity Green event is that activist passion doesn't necessarily translate well into business passion." I couldn't agree more. My friend Jeremy Jacquot, writer for Treehugger, twittered: "opp green was good but ... for my part, i thought it was a wee bit too predictable."
I should add that I liked the organic Casa Barranca wine at the after-party.
De-car-ing: The way there -- Metro 720 to Westwood, plus a bit of a walk into the UCLA campus. The way back -- a ride from my friend Barent. Thanks dude :)
So I'm totally sympathetic to the eco-holiday spirit that, say, drives people to give CFL bulbs as presents. That said, I don't actually think CFLs make such hot holiday gifts, in the same sense that I don't think tube socks make very good gifts. I mean they're useful, and they last a while, but they're not -- you know -- exciting.
Question: The LADWP provides Blue Bins in which recyclable discards may be placed. However, the bin (or at least my bin) does not include a list of acceptable items. For example, may wood scraps be placed in the blue bin? And while most people intuitively know that white letter paper may be placed in the blue bin, what about colored paper? 
Made a local dish for Thanksgiving? Now's the chance to share, aka show off, your locavore-friendly recipe. A local group in Westchester called 
