>> 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
 >> The fight over the Expo line, continued. Steve Hymon writes about his chat with Rick Thorpe, chief executive of the Expo Line Construction Authority, who provides a counterpoint to Damien Goodmon's concerns that some at-grade crossings are unsafe. "If the project must build over- or under-crossings, [Thorpe] said the line would likely be delayed at least two years, presuming money could be found to build those structures."
>> The fight over the L.A.-to-S.F. bullet train. Union Pacific railroad says it doesn't want to share its rail lines with the proposed 200-mph bullet train rail line -- about which voters will vote in November. "Critics question why the California High Speed Rail Authority didn't negotiate a deal long ago with Union Pacific."
>> Schwarzenegger proclaimed California is in a drought and "issued an executive order intended to speed transfers of water to areas experiencing the most severe shortages, help local water districts boost conservation efforts, identify risks to the state's water supply and assist farmers." Earlier: LADWP's "Drought Busters" plan.
>> How to plant a green roof. Re-Nest has an illustrated explanation, thanks to a Park Slope resident who showed New Yorkers the process.
>> Organic wines, explained and reviewed by Roz Cummins of Grist -- who ends her article with a yummy recipe for Syllabub, a rich, wine-flavored dessert.
>> Seven endangered California condors got lead poisoning in the last month, which has U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials in "crisis mode." A state ban on hunting with lead bullets in condor habitat goes into effect July 1.
Image courtesy of metro.net
 Enviro-fans of Dwell magazine: You'll be glad to know that the focus for the 3rd Annual Dwell on Design will be sustainability in the L.A. area. The conference and exhibition will showcase and discuss modern design, architecture while examining ways to encourage sustainable living in an increasingly dense city.
And you can check out the exhibition -- with more than 200 exhibitors -- for free! Just use the codes below.
When: Conference on June 5 and 6; Exhibition on June 7 and 8 (exhibition preview for conference attendees on June 6).
Where: Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.
Cost: Exhibition tickets cost $25 online (free with code BDODEC) or $50 at the door; conference registration costs $349 ($50 off with code GRP22SP). Register here.
The exhibition include lots of green panels that examine everything from what L.A.'s new green building codes will mean to new resource and energy efficiency innovations to sustainable interiors. Lots of panel members are also LEED-accredited professionals!
If the conference and tour aren't enough, you can sign up to take a tour of green homes in L.A. And on June 6, you can watch 16 L.A. designers produce 2D sustainable and modular dwellings, rooms and furniture in a tournament-party at MOCA. $50 gets you into the evening event, featuring an open bar and a live DJ.
Green eco-boutiques are springing up all over the Valley. Already, there's greenROHINI in Sherman Oaks and Deborah Lindquist's boutique in North Hollywood. Now, Valley Village is getting its own eco-boutique: Green and Greener.
Self-described as an "eco-living general store and design center," Green and Greener will carry everything from sustainable clothing to clay plaster to gardening supplies. In addition to the products, Green and Greener will showcase eco-living inspired art, as well as offer eco-consulting services. Alegre Ramos, who owns Green and Greener with her husband Sean, is an LEED-certified Accredited Professional as well as a businesswoman, and will continue her work in green interior and landscape design too. In fact, Alegre re-did the Green and Green building itself in eco-fashion; you can see the green transformation the building went through here.
Get there on opening day, June 10 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and you'll get 10% off your purchase -- in addition to a free gift with your purchase.
And while getting around the Valley without a car isn't always easy, Green and Greener shoppers will be rewarded for their de-car-ing efforts. Customers get a 10% discount on their purchase any day they get to the store without driving. Green and Greener's put together a handy public transportation map to help you out -- and bike racks are right out front!
Green and Greener. 4838 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village. (866) 337-5602
Photo by Joshua Targownik
Permaculture classes have been going on for years, but many of these are
intensive, multi-week courses for the already-converted. This month,
L.A. county's getting some beginner-level events for the
permaculture-curious.
When I think permaculture -- roughly defined as sustainable design principles that seeks to create human habitats that mimic natural systems -- the first thing that comes to mind is organic and biodynamic, get your hands dirty, old fashioned farming. But since permaculture's not only a portmanteau for permanent and agriculture but also for permanent and culture, its principles -- proponents say -- can be adapted to urban areas and systems too.
Even if you're not ready to dive in with both Birkenstocked feet, you can try dipping your toe into the permaculture pool.
A good beginner's event happens this Friday: "A Taste of Permaculture: Principles, Ethics and Zones," led by Tyrone Fay of Earthcare Design Solutions, a pro-permaculture organization. Stop by to get an overview of permaculture this Friday, May 16, 7 pm, at the L.A. Eco-Village, 117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles. The cost of the workshop's $100 (sliding scale) and reservations are required; contact (213) 738-1254 or crsp@igc.org.
Those who want to do some hands-on permaculture work can sign up for an all-day series of rotating workshops on Saturday, titled "Hands-on: Soils & Gardening, orcharding, seedball"
That happens Saturday, May 17 from 8:30 am - 5 pm, also at the L.A. Eco-Village. The workshop costs $100, and pre-registration's required.
For those on the west side, put the "Santa Monica Community Permaculture Gathering" in your calendar. Intended as the first of a series of monthly meetings, this gathering's hoped "to begin to build a community of local citizens interested in bringing about real sustainable change in the neighborhoods that we live in," according to Sean Jennings, the organizer.
"My hope is that this meeting will be permaculture in action," says Jennings. "That means we will be meeting our neighbors, discussing problems and possible solutions, and identifying action that we can take as a community and actually make it happen."
The gathering happens on May 20 at 7 pm at the Santa Monica Main Library, Community Meeting Room, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. For more info, email Jennings at swjennings@gmail.com.
Photo of people studying urban permaculture in Santa Cruz by matt bennett via Flickr
Eco-advice columnists are all over the web now. There's Grist's Umbra, Salon's Pablo, Slate's Green Lantern - and even me with my Q&As. But Sierra magazine's Mr. Green -- a.k.a. Bob Schildgen -- is the first of all of these to have his own book out.
Published earlier this year, "Hey Mr. Green" is a compilation of the advice Mr. Green's doled out since Feb. 2005, when his column launched. The Q&As, loosely organized into sections like "At Home" and "Food for Thought," are humorously informational -- not the least because Mr. Green takes on even the oddest and rudest of questions.
Seriously, Sierra magazine appears to attract some strangely angry readers (vegans?) -- many who are unnaturally attached to their air conditioning. (David: "You really ticked me off with your condescending attitude about air-conditioning." Mary: "I'm supposed to sit at home sweating it out? ... Don't make us don sackcloth while our corporate friends wear silk!") Who knew people could get so passionate about AC?
The random questions mean that the columns go anywhere from the big picture -- i.e. changing one's quality of life by spending time to cook healthy meals, instead of spending time "working to pay for processed, instant, plasticized food" -- to the almost inconsequential -- i.e. paper or plastic? Mixed in there is a passionate argument pro eating meat -- in condiment-style moderation, of course -- as well as recipes for yummy chili and salsa, and a number of money-and-energy saving tips.
Mr. Green even gets poetic sometimes -- especially when talking about lawns, which he seems to have a mild obsession with. "Lawns make the landscape look bleak, like a cemetery without tombstones," he says, then adds in another column:
Lawns are a type of death denial, in that they're replicas of cemeteries where the owner glides on the mower, godlike and immortal, over the pristine green, enjoying the illusion of immunity from burial and decay below.
I'll never look at a grassy lawn the same way again.
Of course, there were times in the book when I laughed at, not with, Mr. Green. One avid knitter wrote complaining that her daughter refuses to wear the handknit acrylic sweaters, the girl's argument being that acrylic's bad for the environment. Mr. Green dutifully points out that acrylic yarn may not be any worse than conventional cotton or wool (he neglects to mention there are organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, and eco-wool yarns) -- never considering that the reason this poor girl doesn't wanna wear her mama's handiwork probably has nothing to do with the environment at all....
Photo by Adam Drewes via Flickr
 If $3 a lb. for heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market is more than you can afford, why not make it your Earth Day resolution to grow your own veggies? In the latest New York Times Magazine, author of "An Omnivore's Dilemma" Michael Pollan waxes lyrical about growing your own edible garden:
It’s one of the most powerful things an individual can do — to reduce your carbon footprint, sure, but more important, to reduce your sense of dependence and dividedness: to change the cheap-energy mind.
Feel daunted by the prospect of creating your own edible estate? Then give the girls at Heart Beet Gardening a call. Run by three Marlborough School alumnae -- Megan Bomba, Sara Carnochan, and Kathleen Redmond -- Heart Beet Gardening is a little local company that'll help you set up your own private, organic edible landscape.
 According to Megan, the organic gardening biz is booming, especially with the popularity of the local food movement. "People are looking at where they're getting things from," Megan says. "A lot of people are realizing they want their kids to grow up with a home gardening experience, even if they didn't."
I met Megan and Sara (right) at a native-and-edible garden Heart Beet recently set up for Megan's parents (below). This 1,000-square-foot garden was planted just a few weeks ago with mostly native, drought-resistant plants that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Right now, the garden looks rather bare, but according to Megan and Sara, each plant will expand out about a foot, prettying up the landscape. Once the plants are set, very little water or grooming will be needed. After all, these are perennial plants that don't require replanting.
In addition, the garden has an edible component. Three fruit trees -- pomegranate, fig, persimmon -- are each surrounded by a number of herbs and edible plants, including artichokes, lemongrass, fennel, chives, blackberries and grapes. These edible areas will of course require more water and care, but will also produce local, organic food at a very low cost.
Cost to set this up: A little under $5,000, including the recycled concrete walkway. $5 a square foot doesn't sound too bad, considering the fact that the yard will save water while providing food for years to come.
Most of Heart Beet's work, however, isn't large yards but smaller vegetable gardens and edible landscapes. Want Heart Beet to help set up yours? Call them, and you could have your own garden in just a week. The cost for a 100-square-foot garden with a raised bed runs between $1,500 to $2,500 for set-up, depending on the condition of the soil, the type of irrigation system desired, and other factors particular to your garden.
Once you have the garden set up, Heart Beet can help you maintain it for $75 a month, which includes weekly visits to your garden. Of course, a vegetable garden really needs to be looked at more than once a week, and Heart Beet's overall goal is to get more people gardening themselves. Says Megan: "It's not rocket science."
Heart Beet Gardening. (310) 460-9365.
Earlier: Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn, Apartment gardens and auto sprinklers
Top photo courtesy of Heart Beet Gardening; other photos by Siel
>> The Bluest Big Blue Bus. Steven Leigh Morris overhears one memorable convo on the #3: "'What you go to jail for?' the driver asks. 'Attempted murder.' Three of the passengers who had been plugged into various listening devices now discreetly remove their headphones."
>> Big Blue Bus #10 triumphs over Metro 439. Will Campbell of la.metblogs races against Bustard of The Bus Bench, twittering and flickring along the way. The BBB made it from Santa Monica to Olive and 7th, downtown L.A., in just 40 minutes -- which again has me wondering why so many people on the westside decide to fight traffic and pay for parking by driving to downtown....
>> In case you missed it: Lots of fun Earth Day stuff's happening around town this weekend. Get dirty, have fun, and turn your kids into little environmentalists.
>> And if you take your camera to those events, share your photos on Your Scene, which has an Earth Day album all set up for you.
>> Conserve water by watering your lawns one day fewer a week, says the Metropolital Water District -- which plans to preach voluntary water conservation via a 13-week advertising campaign to drill that message in. (via LAist)
>> Which reminds me: Late last year, after seeing that voluntary water conservation efforts weren't working, Mayor Villaraigosa said something about instituting mandatory water restrictions. I guess he decided to stick with the voluntary thing....
>> How to really avoid watering your lawn: Go cactus shopping! Faboomama of la.metblogs visits the California Cactus Center and declares it heaven. "One of the first things I did as a homeowner was get some succulents. Not just because of my obsession, but also because of the water shortage thing. Oh and I’m lazy…I don’t like watering and can’t figure out the automatic timer. That works well with the succulents since they only need water about once a week, if that."
>> TIME magazine goes green,
literally, swapping out its red border for a green one. My odd question
about the cover story: Why does the URL read 2007? (via grist)
Make jam, not war -- by stopping by at the Museum of Contemporary Art this Saturday and joining the attack against the water-guzzling grassy front lawn!
To celebrate architect and artist Fritz Haeg's new book, "Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn" -- as well as the debut of Haeg's new serial project, Animal Estates, at the 2008 Whitney Biennial -- MOCA's throwing a book signing party -- complete with a Public Jam, aka a fruit jam-making session led by the Fallen Fruit collective.
When: Sat., March 29, 3 pm
Where: Art Catalogues, MOCA Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., G102, West Hollywood
What: Come ready to jam. Feel free to bring fruit to jam with.
First, the Fallen Fruit collective will collaborate with you in a communal jam-making session -- then the talk with Fritz Haeg and book contributors Lesley Stern and Michael Foti will begin. There'll be drinks and appetizers too.
Fritz Haeg's the founder of Edible Estates -- a series of projects aimed at turning stagnant front lawns into luscious edible gardens that are "responsive to culture, climate, context and people." According to MOCA's description:
These projects reconcile issues of global food production and urbanized land use with the modest gesture of a small domestic garden. Edible Estates is a practical food-producing initiative, a place-responsive landscape design proposal, a scientific horticultural experiment, a conceptual land-art project, a defiant political statement, a community out-reach program and an act of radical gardening.
For more de-lawning fun, check out Heather Flores' "Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard Into a Garden and Your Neighborhood Into a Community." Or join the Fallen Fruit collective people to forage for free urban fruit and make more jam.
Earlier: Apartment gardens and Q&A: A new green front yard
Last month, green building advocates got a boost when two L.A. city council committees voted to require that large developments meet eco-friendly standards. Now, L.A. County's considering its own Green Building Program, and holding seven public meetings (six remaining) this month to discuss draft Green Building Ordinances.
These ordinances cover new construction, expansions and remodels in L.A. County unincorporated areas. Among the requirements are high energy efficiency, drought-tolerant landscaping and low impact development standards.
If you're an L.A. county resident in an unincorporated area, read the draft ordinances here (PDF), then attend one of the meetings (PDF) to support green building and to get your comments in:
- 1st District - Gloria Molina: Tues., March 25, 6 pm - 8 pm, East Los Angeles County Library, 4837 3rd St., Los Angeles
- 2nd S District - Yvonne B. Burke: Thurs., March 27, 6 pm - 8 pm, A.C. Bilbrew County Library, 150 E. El Segundo, Los Angeles
- 4th District - Don Knabe: Mon., March 31, 6 pm - 8 pm, Adventure County Park, 10130 S. Gunn Ave., Whittier
- 5th District - Michael Antonovich (3 meetings): Wed., March 19, 6 pm - 8 pm, Altadena Senior Center, 560 E. Mariposa Rd., Altadena; Mon., March 24, 6 pm - 8 pm, Santa Clarita Sports Complex, 20880 Centre Point Pkwy., Santa Clarita; Sat., March 29, 3 pm - 5 pm, Larry Chimbole Community Center, 38350 Sierra Highway, Palmdale
Unfortunately, The 3rd District meeting already happened last week. However, you can attend any of the other meetings, or get your comments in by calling (213) 974-6432, emailing zoup@planning.lacounty.gov, or writing Department of Regional Planning, Ordinance Studies Section, 320 W. Temple St., 13th Fl. Los Angeles, CA 90012.
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