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Starting tomorrow, June 22, all my green L.A. lifestyle blogging will happen on my own website, green LA girl.
Though Emerald City will no longer be updated, LATimes.com will always have fresh, green, Pulitzer Prize-winning news reporting from L.A. and beyond on its Environment page . And a new blog called Greenspace, written by the LA Times' environmental reporters, will launch Thursday.
Thanks to Cassandra Davis, Damien Newton, Kathryn Pope, Katie Ricketts and Alex Thompson for contributing guest posts to Emerald City! You can continue following their and my eco-adventures on our respective blogs -- or meet us in person at a future Green Drinks.
>> The second Westside Permaculture Gathering will be an "Intro to Permaculture" primer, put together by community permaculturists, as well as a local potluck. All are invited to the free event: Monday, June 23, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Santa Monica Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Contact Sean Jennings at swjennings@gmail.com with questions.
>> At the "ReGreen: Green Home Improvement" event, everyone from homeowners to design professionals can find out about the ReGreen program -- "best practice guidelines and targeted educational resources for sustainable residential improvement projects" developed by the American Society of Interior Designers' Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council. The free event happens Tuesday, June 24., from 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Room of the Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. RSVP to gbrc@globalgreen.org are appreciated but not required.
>> Hear the authors of the Homegrown Evolution blog, Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen (interviewed here), at an L.A. Eco-Village event titled "The Urban Homestead: A Talk, Slide Show and Book-Signing." The event happens Thursday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m., at the L.A. Eco-Village, 117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles. Suggested donation's $5; RSVP to crsp@igc.org.
>> Join artist Jane Tsong and curator Donna Conwell for a conversation at the Farmlab Public Salon, " 'Everything is Alive' and Other Street Projects." "Everything is Still Alive" is an art project in which native California poppies were planted on patches of exposed earth in the L.A. area: "where the poppies survive, orange blossoms reveal the disparate patterns of land management." The free event takes place Friday, June 27 at noon at Farmlab, 1745 N. Spring Street #4, Los Angeles.
For more eco-themed events happening in the L.A. area, check out the Emerald City green calendar.
Photos courtesy Jane Tsong via Farmlab
>> Internet dating service DateforTrees will plant a tree for each month you pay for its services. A small green incentive to keep looking without ever settling? (via grist)
>> Save some money and find your dates in trains. There are more fellow commuters to meet and mingle with, now that commuter rail ridership's way up in the L.A. area. Earlier: Subway Crush: Like Craigslist's Missed Connections, except for subways.
>> The light-rail-accessible Aquarium of the Pacific is 10 years old and more popular than ever. "At a time when the world's seas are in deep blue trouble, the aquarium assists in local coastal cleanups and fish population surveys." Earlier: TransitPeople and a trip to the aquarium via Metro.
>> Bikes too are getting so popular we now have instructions for ugging them up -- so as to deter thieves. Get instructions for everything from faux rust to mismatched pedals. (via lifehacker)
>> With more people opting for less travel or more eco-travel, airlines are suffering -- but also getting greener, sort of. Wired's Dave Demerjian has the scoop from the Eco-Aviation Conference this week.
>> Would-be Al Gore imitators can pick up PowerPoint tips from Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design, the company behind the slide show featured in "An Inconvenient Truth."
Photo by Liz O. Baylen, L.A. Times
So-called biodegradable or compostable flatware come with their own problems, an L.A. Times article pointed out yesterday. Since most of these only biodegrade in industrial composting facilities that get things really hot -- and since few cities have such facilities, let alone city-wide collection programs for these newfangled disposables, most of the allegedly greener food containers and utensils go to landfills, just like non-recyclable goods.
But if you live in Santa Monica and have a green bin, you're in luck. The city of Santa Monica's green bins now accept compostable food containers and utensils, in addition to yard waste and food scraps. To make sure all the compostable containers break down properly, the collected waste's then taken up to an industrial composting facility in Sun Valley.
Although the city's already trucking all the green bin waste to Sun Valley, public outreach about the program hasn't yet begun -- which, according to Wes Thompson, solid waste supervisor for the city of Santa Monica, means the program hasn't officially launched. "Our fliers are at the graphic designers," Thompson says.
Santa Monica residents don't have to wait for the fliers to hit their mailboxes, however. Start putting their compostable containers and food scraps into your green bins now!
Of course, if you live in an apartment like I do, you don't yet have your own green container. "We're working on that," says Thompson, who says multifamily housing units in Santa Monica tend to be landscaped more -- and thus produce more yard waste -- than similar units in other cities. "If we're going to get to zero waste, [expanding the green bin program] will be the only way."
 Getting a city-wide green bin program in place for multifamily housing units, however, will likely take a couple years, says Thompson. In the meantime, Santa Monica will get a smaller program: Green bins where people can drop off their compostables will be placed in a couple spots around the city. Thompson doesn't have the spots picked out yet, but said the bins will definitely be in place by the end of the summer.
If you don't live in Santa Monica, this green bin program sadly does NOT apply to you. The city of L.A., for example, cannot handle compostable food containers in its green bins -- though vegan food scraps are allowed. You can try to push the city to go the Santa Monica route -- or just get into the habit of using your own, non-disposable utensils.
Top photo by Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times; bottom photo courtesy of reusablebags.com
Picked up some home jamming skills, thanks to the Fallen Fruit collective? Then sign up now for Slow Food L.A.'s "Jams, Jellies, Preserves & Chutneys, oh my!" event:
When: Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 2 p.m.
Where: Private home in Simi Valley; RSVP to judibikel@aol.com for address
Cost: Free -- with RSVP and swappables (read on).
Twenty-five jammers and canners will gather over coffee and tea, each bringing to the table at least four 1-pint containers of canned or frozen jam, jelly, preserves or chutney -- along with a small tasting sample and a copy of the recipe to swap with other members. Serious jammers can take eight pints to the party, to leave with eight pints.
Of course, your jam and its recipe must have some connection to slow food -- whether it's made of local, organic ingredients or created from a family recipe. For eco-preserve-making inspiration, check out Jill Davis Doughtie of Eye Level Pasadena's photo-illustrated preserve-making process, starting out with Pasadena farmers market strawberries and apricots.
Both Slow Food L.A. members and nonmembers are invited -- but again, don't forget to RSVP to judibikel@aol.com or you might be wandering around Simi Valley for a very long time.
Photo by Jill Davis Doughtie
 >> On high-priced fuel fights:
>> Avoid the fights and take a "bicycle journey of landmark rail and trolley lines throughout Downtown Los Angeles" with C.I.C.L.E. this Saturday, June 21, at 9:45 a.m. Meet at the fish aquarium inside of Union Station, 800 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles.
>> Thanks to NYC Mayor Bloomberg, cyclists in the Big Apple will get a temporary 6.9-mile car-free route from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd St. The "Summer Streets" program will "give New Yorkers unprecedented access to the streets for exercise and exploration from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays in August, the 9th, 16th and 23rd." Will Villaraigosa give Angelenos something similar?
Photo by Alan Penner via Flickr
 If you're inspired to bike after reading Kathryn Pope's post debunking the idea of cars as safety devices -- but are still kind of scared about biking the traffic-clogged streets of L.A. -- take an urban biking class with C.I.C.L.E. to ease yourself into the cycling culture.
C.I.C.L.E.'s "Bikes in the City" Education Program helps everyone -- from those who haven't yet learned to ride a bike to already-comfortable cyclists interested in safer riding techniques. Upcoming classes include:
- Learn to Ride (for adults), happening Saturday, June 28 at 9 a.m. (already full!)
- Can You Handle It?: Beginning Bike Handling Skills Workshop, happening Saturday, July 26, 9 a.m.
- Handle it Better!: Intermediate Bike Handling Skills Workshop, happening Saturday, Aug. 2, 9 a.m.
All classes cost $15 and will be held in Northeast L.A.; pre-register for specific details by contacting info@CICLE.org or (323) 478-0060.
Although individual cyclists can pick up and practice lots of bike safety skills, our cities, too, can do much to make make bicycling safer and more fun for urbanites. And this weekend, city mayors at the 76th U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami will be considering a few de-car-ing resolutions, including "ensuring bicycling is integrated into national transportation, climate, energy and health policy initiatives" and "support for public transportation in light of increasing fuel costs" (PDF of proposed resolutions here).
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Beverly Hills' Mayor Barry Brucker are among the attendees, along with other SoCal mayors. Check to see if your mayor's on the roster, then contact him/her and urge them to sign these resolutions.
Image courtesy of C.I.C.L.E.
Your eco-questions answered:
Question: Do you have any sources on recycling in Orange County? We live in an apartment [in Yorba Linda], where there isn't (apparently) recycling available. (Management says that the trash stream gets recycled separately, but I'm way skeptical.) I used to live in Seattle, and I can't get used to not recycling stuff. — Greg
Answer: Your management is actually telling the truth. The city of Yorba Linda contracts with Taormina Industries for trash and recycling services. While homeowners get 3 bins (one for yard waste, one for mixed recyclables, and one for everything else) in Yorba Linda, commercial and apartment trash all goes into one bin, which then gets sorted to fish out the recyclables.
As I mentioned before, this unsorted recycling process (a.k.a. dirty MRF-ing) tends to have lower recovery rates than pre-sorted recycling -- so pushing your local government for apartment recycling bins could still be a good idea.
In the meantime, use Earth911.org to quickly locate the recycling center nearest you.
Photos by concrete cornfields via Flickr
>> How to live a $4-a-gallon lifestyle in the coming $5-a-gallon world. "The answer to living the $4 a gallon life when gas hits $5 a gallon is to get--one way or another--the equivalent of five days of commuting for the price of only four. That's like paying only $4 per gallon when it's $5 at the pump," says Colin Beavin of No Impact Man, before giving you 6 ways to achieve this lifestyle.
>> How to avoid 1,9-dioxane in your dish soap. Make your own, which is what Karina of Tiny Choices tried. Learn from her mistakes: "I think I’m going to have to try again, but next time, I’ll use a different kind of soap, a larger pot, and maybe mix in more water right at the beginning to thin it out."
>> How to save energy by saving water. Jessica Jensen of Low Impact Living wants you to consider the energy-water link, and offers seven ideas for water and energy savings.
>> How to live with just 100 things. TIME reports on a decluttering trend, with this quote from an organizer consultant: "People are finding that their homes are full of stuff, but their lives are littered with unfulfilled promises." (via kottke)
>> How to heat up solar. Forbes tries to answer the questions: "What would it take for the U.S. to move to a 50% renewable energy economy by 2020? What would it take for India to become a 100% solar economy by 2050?"
Photo by Alan Penner via Flickr
For a mani-pedi with an eco touch, drop by Recess, a new L.A. salon with an eco-chic feel. Here you can soak your feet in a scented bath, dry them on bamboo towels, then add a massage with organic essential oils followed by a moisturizing treatment with paraben-free lotions.
The swanky and spacious 2000+ sq. ft. salon has a green mission, though the environmentally free details aren't readily noticeable. Recess' owner Nidhi Lal outfitted the salon with FSC-certified wood, low-VOC paints, LED lights and repurposed materials and is working on getting LEED certification.
Especially considering the swanky look of the place, Recess' services are quite inexpensive. A 30-minute manicure -- complete with a scented soak, warm towel treatment, and moisturizing -- costs $25, a similar 40-minute pedicure's $35. For $6 a pop ($8 for feet), you can add on extras like a salt and sugar scrub or an organic essential oil massage.
At the end of the treatment, you even get to take home the buffer, orangewood stick, nail file, and foot file used during your treatment. Recess prides itself in never re-using these items, and so gives them to you free.
The least eco part of of the salon, unfortunately, is the nail polish itself, even though the nail polish lines Recess uses -- SpaRitual and Zoya -- avoid the worst three ingredients found in some nail polishes: toulene, formaldehyde and DBP. That said, everyone from L'Oreal to Wet 'n' Wild have removed these three baddies, so Zoya and SpaRitual aren't exactly much more eco than conventional nail polishes today. Recess does still have that strong chemical smell you get at conventional nail salons; so to call the polish non-toxic may be a bit of a stretch, though it could be called less toxic.
Still, for those who can't give up their nail polish habits, Recess offers a greener option. The gorgeous interior even works well as a party spot, making Recess the perfect salon for mani-pedi parties.
Recess. 8408-B Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles. 323.782.9919
Earlier: Acquarella: A closer look at water-based nail polish
Photos by Siel
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