>> Solar power project faces opposition from environmentalists because power company San Diego Gas & Electric's pushing for a 150-mile high-voltage transmission line that'll run through the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. (via Grist)
>> The technology for five solar thermal power fields planned for the Mojave Desert is being tested in Israel. A company called BrightSource is behind the project, described as the world's "highest-performing, lowest-cost" sun-energy system.
>> Starting this winter, L.A. plans to seed clouds to boost rainfall. Critics call the measure desperate, pointing out that public funds may be better used for water conservation measures, as the results of seeding are unpredictable and could cause landslides.
>> Heal the Bay's L.A. River cleanup project attracted more than 2,500 volunteers, who fished out "plastic bags, foam cups, beer bottles, spray paint cans and smashed shopping carts" from the Glendale Narrows.
>> New eco-channel Planet Green gets a thumbs down from Troy Patterson at Slate.com: "Planet Green turns the entire Earth into a lifestyle accessory, often to uniquely awful effect." Troy does concede that "Some of the home-improvement shows are engaging and impressive, and a forthcoming show called Greensburg, about the reconstruction of a tornado-ravaged town in Kansas, has promise."
>> San Francisco's new Solar Energy Incentive Program is the largest municipal solar program in the U.S. Starting as soon as July 1, home and business owners will be able to get rebates up to $6,000 and $10,000, respectively. (via grist)
>> The ocean off San Clemente is getting an artificial reef made of about 125,000 tons of volcanic rock. The reef is intended to serve as the foundation for a kelp forest, which is hoped to serve as the basis for a complex marine ecosystem. The artificial reef is part of an effort to undo the damage from the nearby San Onofre nuclear plant.
>> Kleenex: Still Kleercutting. Greenpeace teams up with the Natural Resources Defense Council to step up the campaign against Kleenex-owner Kimberly-Clark, which still purchases pulp for its disposable products from destructive logging operations in North America’s Boreal Forest. The latest: A billboard displayed on the route traveled by Kimberly-Clark executives in Texas. Earlier: Kleercut campaign keeps spoofing Kleenex.
>> Wooden bicycles from around the world. "Made with whatever wood can be found, they use small wooden home-made wheels covered with discarded rubber rims. Forward movement depends on the rider pushing with their feet." (via kottke)
>> Africa's changing environment is in a slide show put together by the New Scientist: "The 'before and after' photos show glaciers receding and the effects of deforestation, but they also show how some of the damage is being reversed."
Photo courtesy of NRDC
Love Korean BBQ? Missed the Great L.A. River Cleanup? Here's your second chance -- a big clean up of the Glendale narrows section of the L.A. River's happening this Saturday morning. You're invited to join in the cleaning fun -- then nosh on Korean BBQ afterwards.
When: Saturday, June 14, 8:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Where: Griffith Park Recreation Center, 3401 Riverside Dr., Los Angeles
Cost: Free. Just show up with a hat, sunscreen and drinking water.
In addition to cleaning up the river, the event's intended to bring together an ethnically and culturally diverse group of volunteers "for a day of hands-on environmental stewardship and cross-cultural connection," according to Heal the Bay's press release. The Glendale Narrows is a community hub, Heal the Bay says: "Only if all communities work together will we be able to restore and revitalize California’s natural settings."
The NAACP, Pacific American Volunteer Assn., and Anahuak Soccer Assn. have all signed on! More than 2,000 people are expected to participate -- including L.A. City Council president Eric Garcetti and leaders from the involved organizations.
Everyone -- of any experience level -- is invited. Rub elbows with your neighbors and maybe pick up a few words in another language (clean-up instructions will be provided in English, Spanish, and Korean) during the BBQ.
Photo of Glendale Narrows by Siel
 Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared a drought, and L.A.'s about to get mandatory water use restrictions. On the upside, lots of eco-themed water-related events are happening around town to help you adjust by finding smart ways to curb your water habit.
Avoid higher water utility prices and get a bit more self sufficient by taking the "Introduction to Landscape Rainwater Harvesting" with Joe Linton this weekend. The workshop'll give you an overview of L.A. water issues, take you on a tour of the eco-village's own storm water harvesting landscape features, and get you directly involved in building a terraced swale to detain and infiltrate storm water.
The workshop will take place at L.A. Eco-Village, 117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles this Saturday, June 14, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Make a reservation by contacting (213) 738-1254 or crsp@igc.org, then show up with the $35 workshop fee and your own brown bag lunch.
For a less hands-on experience, attend Sustainable Business Council's panel discussion, titled "Water Wise: Get into the Flow." This event will connect water conservation to money -- not just saving money on your water bill, but on making money as an entrepreneur. The 5-person panel (plus moderator) is made up of business people working in the water conservation sector.
The panel takes place at Livingreen, 10000 Culver Blvd., Culver City, on Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m.-10 p.m. [Update: This event's been postponed. Check the SBC website for new details.] Cover's $20 -- a tax-deductible donation that includes food and drinks. RSVP online.
Photo by Third Eye via Flickr
 >> The battle over the Expo line continues, with the latest being a parade of anti-at-grade crossings people during Tuesday's community meeting about the light-rail line. Steve Hymon of the Bottleneck Blog also takes a closer look at the controversies.
>> "Bottlemania" author Elizabeth Royte shares her thoughts on America's bottled water culture. "An entire generation has grown up thinking that fountains equal filth, and the bottled water people are happy to exploit that. Some of the ads for water and even for water filters play on this, hyping this idea of public fountains being not quite pure." Earlier: A prize-winning, almost-free drink: L.A. tap water.
>> Bears: The reason for yet more lawsuits. Two enviro groups -- The Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment -- plan to sue under the Endangered Species Act to protect the bears, alleging that "Bush administration officials have been so keen to grant offshore leases, they have not given proper consideration to the potential harm to polar bears." (via Grist) Earlier: Polar bears to plastic bags.
>> Burning garbage to create energy still means a lot of pollutants get produced in the process, but Britain's going to put into action a gasification plant that does just that because the country's running out of landfill space. "A big reason for Britain's landfill addiction is that it's relatively inexpensive to bury rubbish," but E.U. fines will take effect in 2010, changing that cost-benefit balance.
>> Bamboo flooring: Green or not? Bamboo floors can be eco, but not if the bamboo's grown by clearing old-wood forests, fed chemical fertilizers, and treated with formaldehyde. On the bright side, there is a bamboo flooring company that has obtained FSC certification. "The bottom line is that the onus is on you to ask questions before you fork over thousands of dollars for new flooring," writes the Lantern at Slate.com.
Image courtesy of metro.net
 For a primer on current environmental concerns -- alongside lessons in sociocultural, architectural, and political history around the world -- pick up Alan Weisman's book, "The World Without Us."
I read this book after watching "Your house without you," a short animation that shows just how long a typical U.S. home would last if humans suddenly disappeared. That times 100 is what "The World Without Us" looks at, examining what seemingly-indestructible edifices will quickly disintegrate without our presence -- and what material legacies will remain of human life long after we disappear as a species.
What will remain: A lot of plastic. "The World Without Us," in fact, features an interview with Capt. Charles Moore, whose discovery of the "Pacific Garbage Patch" -- a huge area in the ocean covered with plastic debris -- prompted the current Junk raft trip, which departed Long Beach for Hawaii on June 1.
Frighteningly, every bit of plastic we've ever created -- save the small amount that's been incinerated -- still remains, according to the chapter titled "Polymers are forever." Even more frightening is the fact that plastics, instead of biodegrading, are simply breaking into smaller and smaller bits -- and getting ingested by smaller and smaller organisms. And because plastics act as sponges for toxic substances such as DDT and PCBs, the potential for bio-accumulation of these poisons as they work their way up the food chain really gets scary.
Not all of "The World Without Us" is so doom and gloom. In fact, because the book covers so much ground -- from the history of the Hagia Sophia to today's virtual water trade in Kenyan flowers -- "The World Without Us" sometimes reads as a compendium of bits of sociocultural histories you've always wanted to learn more about but never got around to exploring on your own. Do you know why wild African animals have survived alongside humans while so many U.S. species went extinct when European settlers arrived? Are you familiar with VHEMT -- The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement? Reading "The World Without You" will educate you about the things you never even knew you were curious about -- and perhaps make you a better Jeopardy player in the process.
Even as it points out some man-made ecological disasters, "The World Without You" doesn't get preachy or push a strong environmental agenda. More than anything, "The World Without You" gives us a glimpse of both the fragility and resilience of life on Earth -- a nature that humans have proved quite adept at destroying, but also a nature that will long outlast the human species. In the end, the book paints a history and future of the Earth that's not so human-centric, and correspondingly, encourages a more humble perspective of our role on this planet. What you end up doing with that perspective is entirely up to you.
>> Get a green gift for dad on Father's Day, with some help from Grist's eco-friendly gift guide.
>> Order local, organic groceries online. Michelle Slatalla writes about a growing number of online retailers connecting consumers to local farms. Spud.com delivers to the L.A. area -- but "local" here's defined by a 500-mile radius. (via Lifehacker)
>> The problems with a car culture mentality -- as described in a 1947 article in Time magazine: "this peculiar state of mind had not only sucked thousands of American oil wells dry, stripped the rubber groves of Malaya, produced the world's most inhuman industry and its most recalcitrant labor union, but had filled U.S. streets with so many automobiles that it was almost impossible to drive one." (via kottke)
>> Minivans: Not doing well. These soccer mom vehicle sales are sinking, along with the sales of trucks, SUVs, and other huge gas guzzlers.
>> L.A. looks into recycling its wastewater,
what with the state drought and all. The success of Orange County's
"toilet-to-tap" project could also help propel L.A.'s water recycling
project -- though it sounds like it'll be a while before we approve,
build, and start running an L.A. plant.
 I've covered some very unexpected recycling programs on this blog, ranging from "upcycling" juice pouches to "artcycling" produce stickers. Now here comes another recycling opportunity that'll be beloved by anyone who switched to a Brita filter to reduce plastic waste from all those one-use water bottles. The Take Back the Filter campaign wants your old Brita filters!
The filters won't actually be recycled into new filters or other new products. Instead, they will be used as a visual showcase of sorts in order to persuade Clorox, owner of the Brita Products Co. in the U.S., to provide a recycling option for consumers who use their products. After all, Europeans are able to recycle their filters. According to the Take Back the Filter campaign website, "the original European Brita GmbH company has created a take-back recycling program for its filter cartridges."
 So far, the campaign's attracted many supporters -- including the Bay area chapter of Sierra Club, which wrote a letter to Clorox (PDF) urging a filter recycling program. Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish, who initiated the campaign, even dressed up as a Brita filter to participate in the popular Bay to Breakers event in San Francisco.
There is actually a way for you to reuse at least part of your Brita filter, as this Instructables article -- "How to refill a 'disposable' Brita brand water pitcher filter with activated carbon" -- points out. The process isn't exactly easy, however. "All that you will need is an old cartridge, some activated carbon, a polyethylene plug, a sharp utility knife or Xacto knife," reads the beginning of the article, as if most households have activated carbon laying around. Excepting the old cartridge, I have none of those things, much less the optional 1/2" drill motor and 1/2" drill bit.
So for now, I'll be sending my used Brita filters to the Take Back the Filter campaign. You can mail them to Take Back The Filter, 5245 College Avenue, Box #815, Oakland, CA 94618.
And if you feel so moved, sign the "Take Back the Filter" petition -- and maybe even write a letter to Clorox executives. Filter buyers are, after all, Clorox's repeat customers. Let your consumer demands be known.
Image and photo courtesy of Take Back the Filter
 Don't be fooled by the "private street" signs; many Malibu beaches are publicly owned, as urban nature activist Jenny Price often points out. If you're afraid to venture alone into the notoriously public-unfriendly city -- which by the way is also trying to restrict people from camping in public parks -- The Los Angeles Urban Rangers can help.
The Rangers -- a collective of artists, writers, architects and urban designers who explore L.A. and work to help others do likewise -- are back with the Summer 2008 Malibu Public Beaches Safaris -- free educational tours that will show you exactly what beaches are there for your surfing, swimming and sunbathing pleasure -- and how to find, park, walk, picnic and play there.
 When: Pick from one of five safaris in west and east Malibu:
- East Malibu: Sat., June 14, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sun., July 27, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Sun., Aug 3, 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
- West Malibu: Sun., June 15, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sat., Aug 2, 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Cost: Free with RSVP by e-mailing info@laurbanrangers.org with tour date, name and number of people.
Can't make time for a Safari? You can still explore Malibu beaches on your own with this handy Malibu Public Beaches guide (PDF) provided by the Rangers. Enjoy the beaches that belong to you!
Photo and image courtesy of LAUR
Check out the yummy catch from our own beaches! In a guerrilla education effort, Surfrider Foundation collected the detritus from our beaches and packaged them up as the "Catch of the Day," then displayed them at farmers markets (via Treehugger). Above are "Condom Strips" from Newport Beach, below are "Styrofoam Bites" from Long Beach.
Malibu, true to its efforts to keep the public from actually enjoying public beaches, gets a "Private Beach Mix":
Venice Beach gets "Butts-n-Bits." Stop smoking, beachgoers!
You can watch a little video clip of the Surfrider Booth at the Hermosa Beach farmers market here.
In other Surfrider news: Quicksilver's made some 100% organic board shorts dubbed "Slightly Choppy" to benefit the nonprofit. How much of the $59.50 per pair goes to Surfrider? The press release I received said "a portion," so I asked for more info -- to find out that each pair will net Surfrider just a buck. I get the feeling that amount won't be specified on the tags, but now you know. The shorts are available in Quicksilver stores now, and will be available on Quicksilver's website in about 2 weeks.
Earlier: L.A. beaches get cleaner -- due to drought
Photos courtesy of osocio.org
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