July 2008 Archives

Aveda, maker of hair care and beauty products, will reinstitute their plastic bottle cap recycle program from earlier this year to collect bottle caps nationwide and recycle them into new stuff.

The company's Recycle Caps with Aveda program will collect caps through Aveda stores.

They are collecting any hard plastic bottle tops, which will go to a recycler to be broken down and re-molded into new caps and containers.

Want to participate? There are Aveda stores at the Glendale Galleria, Hollywood and Highland and the Beverly Center. For more information you can email capcollection@aveda.com or call 1.877.AVEDA09.

If you just want to mail your caps, send them to
ACA Waste Service
40 Eads St
West Babylon, NY 11704

OK, so I'm listening to the radio today...yes, I still listen to the radio...and I hear this bizarre, sick ad urging Californians to demand that their representatives oppose AB 2058, the state bill that would require consumers to pay 25 cents for each biodegradable plastic bags they get at the grocery store. 

The ad uses the big, scary, red-button-pushing word "tax." The T-word.  The word "tax" incites fear, loathing and anger is perfect for scaring listeners into mindless action.  Which is exactly what the sponsors are hoping will happen when they direct listeners to a specific website in order to air their grievances. 

Oh and FYI, the ad is sponsored by the Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council (the folks who produce plastic bags) and The California Film Extruders and Converters Association (the professional organization that represents folks who manufacture and supply plastic).  Hmmm...I'm sure there's no ulterior motive there.

Let me make this clear: this ad and it's accompanying website are pure, unadulterated propaganda.

AB 2058 does not propose a bag tax, it proposes a voluntary fee.  You will have to pay a fee for every plastic bag you CHOOSE to take from the grocery store.  I liken this bag "tax" to the tax on cigarettes.  And before you get all nuts, hear me out: a tax on cigarettes is a completely voluntary fee imposed on a product one buys by choice that is harmful to you and to the environment. 

Don't want to pay the tax, don't buy cigarettes. Don't want to buy plastic bags, then don't. Put your groceries in paper, canvas or your pockets. This is not like a tax on gas or food, or something we all have no choice in buying.  This is a penalty for lazy consumers.

And don't get all "It's the government trying to keep us down, man" on me. Since when do we a Americans have the inalienable right to free grocery bags.  Grow up.

Charging for plastic bags works in it's efforts to reduce toxic plastic whenever it has been instituted on a large scale.  Don't believe me, ask TREEHUGGER. ("What's so bad about plastic?" you ask...let's start HERE.)

For the record, here's who supports AB 2058:

• Californians Against Waste (Sponsor)
• County of Los Angeles (Sponsor)
• Sierra Club
• Surfrider Foundation
• Heal the Bay
• Alameda County Waste Management Authority (Stopwaste)
• Ballona Creek Renaissance
• California Coastal Coalition
• California League of Conservation Voters
• ChicoBag
• City and County of San Francisco Department of the Environment
• City of Oakland
• East Bay Municipal Utilities District
• Marin County Board of Supervisors
• Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers Authority
• Northern California Recycling Association
• Planning and Convservation League
• San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority
• Sonoma County Waste Management Agency

And here's who opposes it:

• American Chemistry Council
• California Grocers Association
• California Retailers Association

Huh, look at that.  Whose team do you want to be on? To show your support, go HERE or HERE.

Just look at their little, fuzzy, coughing meerkat faces and then tell me you don't care about grody emissions. Ride a bike, save a meerkat the chest x-ray.

I always try to buy paper goods that are made from post consumer recycled paper. You can find it around if you look,  it's getting a little easier lately. But I heard about something today that intrigues me to no end.

I just have to share it with you. Tree-free notebooks and paper. What? Apparently the paper is made from tropical fibers in Costa Rica. Harvest Collection notebooks can be purchased online and at Whole Foods.

If you go to the online store you can also buy this stuff in reams for your printer.

So let's say for instance we are talking about the Banana Paper. When they harvest bananas there are stems at the top called pinzotes. A huge amount of these stems are put either in rivers or in landfills. They don't decompose well because the are very fibrous. A company named EcoPaper takes that fiber and via a bunch of complicated process' that I really don't understand. Viola - Paper!! If you want to check out all the different paper goods made by EcoPaper and read a whole bunch about how his stuff is made and the fact that it's all done under fair trade conditions. Click HERE.

I plan on picking some up next time I'm at Whole Foods; I'll let you know how I like it. Or if you have used this paper by all means let me know.

Oooohhhhh...I have seen the future of hand drying and that future is the Dyson Airblade.

As previously discussed, I've been traveling and this weekend I had the distinct pleasure to be back in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport using the ladies room. After the mandatory hand washing I looked for the nearest drying apparatus and found the Airblade.

Let me make this clear: this is no regular, run-of-the-mill hand dryer. First it looks different. You don't have to push a button to get it started, so there's no chance you get someone else's cooties. It also has a HEPA filter, which removes 99.9% of the air's bacteria, and a near-silent digital motor. And of course, it cuts down on the paper towel trash and uses 80% less energy than the old school hand dryers.

But the sexiest part is how it dries. It doesn't just lamely blow air in your general direction leaving you to wipe your damp hands on your pants anyway. It uses a powerful 400 MPH jet of air to instantly squeegee moisture off your skin. The sensation is wildly bizarre, wonderfully satisfying and your hands are wet-free in 12 seconds flat. (To see the Airblade at work, check THIS out.)

I'm sold and so is Ikea (the super stores have Airblades in the customer bathrooms)...but at a reported $1500 per machine, can they be widely instituted so everyone can enjoy this rad technology and also save paper and energy? Sigh, I love it anyway and hope it spreads like a sneeze at day care.

Wahooooo! Los Angeles gets it right by banning the skanky plastic bags.

"But I'm not like those scary people who still use plastic bags," you say. "I'm a good person. I use paper!" Yes, you are a good person but you have to ditch the paper bags, too.

Here's the thing...producing a paper bag creates 70% more air pollution than making a plastic bag. Of course it takes a plastic bags 500 years to biodegrade on top of the 9,000 other reasons to never even look at a plastic bag.

So what's a conscientious eco-fuzzy citizen of the Earth to do? Duh, get reusable canvas bag...but you know that! Seriously, there is no good argument for continuing to resist the rad bag movement. Otherwise, it would seem you're just digging in your heels, sticking out your bottom lip and proclaiming, "I don't wanna get super cool, efficient, hefty, responsible, economic, sexy canvas bags and you can't make me!"

Be one of us. You won't regret it. Resistance is futile.

Check out this Flash slide show, it's pretty cool. And it brings into focus what we are trying to preserve. Our beautiful planet.

The sight of a gas station, especially recently, usually inspires feelings of shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression and finally acceptance. But what if I told you there's a gas station right here in the Southland that can inspire hope?

Helios House, located at the corner of Olympic and Robertson Boulevards here in L.A., is striving to prove that even gas stations can be environmentally responsible and maybe even motivational. Helios House, operated by British Petroleum (BP), is bursting with eco-innovations that both reduce its carbon footprint but educates consumers on all things great and green. BP doesn't freak completely out and call their newest station "revolutionary," but just "a little better."

So what's going on at Helios that's so cool? Let's be honest, the gas itself is your basic same-oh non-PC gasoline found at any gas station, BUT...

In addition to its sexy, steel Disney-Center-esque outer shell, the station uses solar panels and motion-sensor lights, collects rain water to irrigate its CO2-reducing green roof (meaning its covered with naturally insulating plants), serves as a recycling station for cell phones, is lit with LED lights AND the building itself is constructed from recycled or sustainable materials. Even the promotional flyers available at the pumps are impregnated (yeah, I said it) with wildflower seeds so if one accidentally blows away or is tossed, the paper biodegrades and sprouts new flowers. Is the gas always greener?

This you got to see. Where's it at? 8770 W. Olympic Blvd. LA, CA.

Here's the question, though: can a gas station that still dispenses gas be green or is it simply a case of making the best out of a systematically bad situation? You make the call.

For more info straight from BP about Helios House, read HERE.
(In case you wondered, Treehugger weighs in to say THIS.)

Finally! The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a staff recommendation to adopt a citywide plastic bag ban by 2010. So the deal is by July 2010 if you don't BYOB (bring your own bag) you will pay 25 cents per bag for biodegradable plastic bags.

Lets do the math shall we? For the sake of this blog let's say you go to the grocery store once a week. Each trip you take you will walk away with five plastic bags. That's $1.25 per week on the BAGS. Over the span of a year - 52 weeks - it's a grand total of $65. That's for something that you are going to use for 10 minutes then throw away. This of course doesn't take into account multiple shopping trips each week. And forget about it - if you have a big family you can double or even triple that amount.

So for all you out there that are saying at this point...It was my understanding there would be no math. The reason I bring all this up is this. Buy some reusable bags!!! They last for years and they will pay for themselves in a very short period of time. Plus you will look all eco-friendly and evolved.

It's worth noting the City Council also voted to support a Styrofoam ban on city property, including LAX, and at city-sponsored events.

I heart this little reminder from Animal Planet and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the little pup in this flick is the spitting image of my very own MagPie. Is it the British accent that makes this message so darn irresistibly charming?

I got a great tip from a coworker. If you are a Verizon customer and you sign up for paperless billing and auto pay. First of all you will be doing the right thing for the environment because no more wasted paper. I pay all my bills online. But they will do one better and plant a tree on your behalf. Verizon Wireless has joined forces with American Forests Global Relief Project for this project.

Trees... We all love trees right? We all know that healthy forests filter water, remove air pollution, remove carbon from the air, and provide homes for wildlife. Plus they give us shade and a place to sit on a hot summer day.

California in particular has been hit so hard recently with wildfires. I think we all know the value of trees.

I've been up to something terribly subversive in this hot weather and I feel like I have to tell someone. I'm not using my clothes dryer. There, I said it. I feel so much better, it's like a weight has lifted!

Allow me to explain. You see, last year my sad old washer finally took a dive and the dryer no longer dried. It was time to replace. So I marched my way down to the local (your home contractor store here) and bought two brand new, energy efficient, front-loading, water saving appliances. They're so pretty.

But it occurred to me last summer that the clothes I took out of the dryer were equally as toasty as the delicates I had air-drying. I mean we live in the flipping Valley so it's not unusual for the backyard to get twelve hours of blazing sun that peaks at a temperature of 105 on a good day!

So this summer I haven't put one washed item...not one single pair of undies, not one towel and not one sheet...into the dryer. Every load of wash has been hung out to dry in the sizzling, wrinkle blasting sun. It's true. All my laundry is swinging in the wind.
And everything has that fresh, breezy airy scent.

You can save two gazillion tons of energy just by air-drying and it's so easy! You can string up an old-school clothesline or for something way less permanent, just get a free-standing rack like THIS one and stick it in a sunny spot. It doesn't take long and on these ridiculously hot days things are dry nearly instantly. I swear even jeans and towels are stone dry in less time it would take to throw them in the dryer and with a touch of a good eco-softener, they don't come out all crispy and stiff. Plus, this au natural dryer method prolongs the looks and life of your clothes.

Bonus points: No dryer sheets are harmed.

Check out this brand new eco-blog from the president of Heal The Bay, Mark Gold. The blog, entitled "Spouting Off" will cover water related enviro issues. This looks like it should a good resource for all you greenies out there that want a bit of local Heal The Bay coastal related news.

A story on the LA City Council and the proposed bag ban is right up top today. Something I support whole-heartedly.

It looks good. My only question, what took you so long?

One complaint. Green Spirited should definitely be on the blogroll. I mean come on how many local eco-blogs does LA have?

I got one word for you: Wall-E.  On the surface, a deceptively simple Disney story about a little robot who, for being a hunk of sharp-edged metal bits, is wildly likeable, cuddly and expressive. And as all good fairy tales go, he falls in love with another robot and lives happily ever after, right? Well, yes...except for the none-too-subtle, terribly perceptive glimpse at the plight of the planet.

I won't ruin all the delish sweetness of this movie, but just to be sure you get sucked in here's how it goes, tidbit style...

• Wall-E is a diminutive 'bot charged with the task of cleaning up the centuries of garbage and crap WE left cluttering every surface of Earth.

• He's all alone, because the entire population of the planet is cruising on a Love Boat-style spacecraft, waiting for Earth to be inhabitable again...and they have been cruising for 700 years. They are literally waiting for signs of sustained photosynthesis and evidence of spontaneous life.

• Oh yeah, and we as the human race have lost the use of our bodies having become a species-wide collection of inactive, obese blobs floating in hover chairs, drinking all our crap food from super size cups and chatting endlessly with an image projected on a video screen that hangs mere inches from our noses. Hmmmm...

This flick has all the earmarks of a Disney movie and then some; Wall-E is funny, adorable and engaging.  And it's served with a giant, delicious helping of satire, self-awareness and social commentary.

All's I got to say is "Two Ginourmous Green Thumbs Up."

I know I wrote a post about this already but we cannot forget the Honey Bees. Haagen Dazs have set up a site called Help The Honeybees as a means to raise money and awareness. Some of the actions recommended on the site are plant wildflower seeds, support your local beekeepers, and donate to research. Haagen Dazs is also selling a brand new flavor, Vanilla Honey Bee; profits from the sweet summer treat will be used to fund research at Pennsylvania State University and University of California at Davis.

Yeah, I'm still waxing poetic on the travel tip...but this time offering up a few valuable resources to help you plan your own eco-rad vacation.  The hottest thing in green travel is lovely, exotic trips that not only encourage responsible environmental action and minimize our earthy impact, but also arrange what's deemed "ethical" vacations. Ethical travel can mean that in addition to being environmentally responsible you may be also working in a far-flung exotic land helping to make wherever you are a more sustainable community.

But I promise that just because you are traveling all eco-sensitively you will not have to use leaves as toilet paper or sleep in the dirt...although those are options too.

To that end, a little light, fun and informative reading for my fellow eco-adventurers:

• "Green Travel: The World's Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels" from the travel experts at Fodor's.
• "25 Ultimate Experiences: Ethical Travel" - this one even includes a zero-impact luxury ski camps in the freakin' Swiss Alps! 
• "Code Green: Experiences of a Lifetime," published by Lonely Planet.

These guides even include handy tips or chapters that can help you figure out if your trip is really green or simply green-washed.
 
To find out more about eco-travel, for everyone from the hard-core, rough-it enthusiast to the kick-back, organic cocktail on the beach type, check THIS out.  You don't have to be the ugly American on parade.

So I'm on the road again as we speak...well a wing and a prayer, actually...as I wing my way to Michigan, the land of my forefathers.  I'm feeling just a smidge superior because I already covered my carbon footprint indiscretion by flying cross country with a Terrapass, but said to myself "Self," I said, "there's got to be more I can do while traveling that either minimizes my environmental impact or actually does some good."

It's in that spirit that I bring you the six ways for the regular people to travel green, or so says THESE GUYS:

• Take the train when you can as opposed to driving or flying.
• This is a no brainer if you have the time to hang out on the train. The train emits far less CO2 than any car or plane and can be considered mass transit, which is just like mass carpooling to Disneyland.
• Take nonstop flights rather than bunches of connecting flights.
• Most of the carbon emissions are blasted out during take-off and landing, so it would make sense that the fewer times you have to do either minimizes the carbon footprint.
• Reuse towels and sheets in your hotel room rather than having them switched out every day.
• Hey kids, how often do you change you towels and sheets at home? Yeah, you'll live.
• Use local transportation where you visit instead of renting a car.
• Common sense...plus, you get to check out your surroundings without having to check the map constantly and meet all kinds of bitchin' locals.
• Travel domestically rather than internationally.
• Longer flights = more burned fuel.
• Travel less and stay longer rather than taking several short trips.

Now let me be the first to say, there are just going to be times when one simply has to get a connecting flight and trust me when I say, no on here is going to poke you in the eye because you're planning a trip to Paris. These are just a few things to think about and when the opportunity arises, we hope you'll be able to slip a few of these ideas into your travel agenda.

For more eco-travel tips, like never use the potty on the plane, go HERE or HERE. Stay tuned for green travel guides.

A beach goer holding an inflatable raft walks past a set of trash can set on Waikiki, July 11, 2008 in Honolulu.  Once known for its sugarcane and pineapples, Hawaii's next big export to the U.S. mainland could be less sweet _ 100,000 tons of trash.  Oahu is looking to ship the bulk of its municipal waste to the West Coast.  (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)


According to a story by the Associated Press Oahu is running out of landfill space. So the unlucky people that live on the West Coast get to enjoy the Aloha spirit and absorb their excess trash. Oh Wait!!! That's us...Well almost.

The Honolulu City Council, which governs all of Oahu, wants to hire a company to haul some of it away. One bidder is proposing to take the trash across the Pacific, sail it up the Columbia River and deliver to the biggest landfill in Washington.

Joe Casalini, business development director for the Roosevelt Regional Landfill, which would receive Hawaii's trash under one of the proposals, said Washington State's sparsely populated and relatively arid Klickitat County has welcomed the dump, which is the major business in the area. It converts methane from its waste into electricity.

Well at least that's something. Maybe they can throw in a nice Hawaiian vacay for the residents of the town that get the garbage.

Finally it seems some carmakers have gotten the message. Most of us, at least most of my peeps, want smaller, fuel-efficient cars. And I will guarantee you that the next car I purchase will absolutely be a hybrid. So the good news for me personally and people my same boat is that our selection of models is about to get a bit larger. Honda has rolled out its plans to have a four-car hybrid lineup by 2015: the Civic; the Fit; the sporty CRZ; and, as early as next year, a hybrid-only model Honda hopes will give the Prius a environmentally friendly run for it's money so to speak.

The unnamed hybrid will debut in 2009. Like Toyota's best-selling Prius, this car would be a five-door sedan available only with a hybrid powerplant, but Honda as of now is not releasing pricing. No name, no price. Hmmm. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Here is to more car companies jumping on board. Whether it's the ever-increasing cost of gas or the desire to go easier on the environment or both, there is need and demand for a wider selection of hybrids.

If this little ditty doesn't inspire you you to...well, you know...ditch the skeezy plastic and take your sexy canvas bags to the supermarket, then something is seriously wrong.

I bring you Tim Minchin, British comic extraordinaire and rock star in training with his message: BRING YOUR CANVAS BAGS TO THE SUPERMARKET.

And 3..2..1..

Have you started your spring closet cleaning yet? I suppose it would be a summer cleaning. I usually do this about twice a year and it's been a while. What I have done the past few years is give the whole lot to charity. I still plan on giving, but this time I'm going to keep a few of my better pieces and swap them. Yes, swap them, It's like shopping sans guilt. The way I look at it if it's not in my closet it's new to me even if it's not brand new.

Swapstyle.com is an online fashion swap party where you can swap, sell and buy clothes, accessories, cosmetics, shoes and lots more with people from all around the world. The best part is registration is free.

This is how it works. First you will need to register. After you have registered you post anything you are willing to swap on the forum, a photo of the item helps. Be sure to include any information about wear and tear and any flaws the item may have. If a fellow swapper likes what they see they will offer to either swap you for something they have or they can even offer to purchase the item. And of course you can do the same. You are under zero obligation to accept a swap request; I mean it is your stuff and your choice.

Let me just give you some examples of some of the things I saw to be swapped to give you and idea of what's out there. Prada and Coach bags, Chanel sunglasses. Jeans galore, from Old Navy to Seven to Jones NY. There are dresses, jackets, skirts and they even have a vintage category with all kinds of different things to browse.

A dozen or so Greenpeace activists climbed the Eiffel Tour yesterday (that's in Paris, kids) to unfurl a banner protesting the French government's policy regarding nuclear energy on the day when Paris hosts a major summit of heads of state.

A Greenpeace statement states ""Since he was elected, President Nicolas Sarkozy has done everything he could to sell nuclear energy." There was also a separate Parisian anti-nuclear protest on Saturday, which included thousands of protesters who marched through town with signs declaring, "Stay inactive today and you'll be radioactive tomorrow."

OK, a couple of thoughts...because what fun is a blog if we don't get to share?

First, I share Rox's previous assertion that climbing a building to raise a banner is a well-crafted publicity stunt, but at the end of the day it's just that. I find way more importance and weight in action. The press will cover the stunt because it's a radical and illegal thing to do, but the message gets lost in translation to the public.

Secondly, not to be all controversial but...Patrick Moore, one of the original founders of Greenpeace, has done an astounding turn-about when considering nuclear power, calling it "the planet's only hope for slowing global warming."

Moore makes the case saying, "More than 600 coal-fired electric plants in the United States produce 36 percent of U.S. emissions -- or nearly 10 percent of global emissions -- of CO2, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. Nuclear energy is the only large-scale, cost-effective energy source that can reduce these emissions while continuing to satisfy a growing demand for power. And these days it can do so safely."

In the interest of full disclosure, I grew up just six miles from a nuclear power facility. I even did nuclear fall-out drills in elementary school and joined in protests against the unfortunately named Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. My parents live just a mile from the same facility to this day and I have to admit, that at this crisis tipping point environmentally, we have to re-examine the possibility that this is a safe and viable option. Because, apparently we can't be trusted with the responsible use of coal energy.

Make up your own mind. To read Patrick Moore's complete letter regarding his new stance on nuclear power, go HERE. For more on the Greenpeace's stance and the Parisian protest, check THIS out.

It's those Brits again! They're always snaking us on the eco-front.  The newest "Top That" is a brand new eco-nightclub opening in London called Club Surya (named for the Hindu god of the sun, or so I'm told).

"Unless we stop preaching to people and use an inclusive philosophy we're never going to create the revolution to combat climate change," says Andrew Charalambous, the mad scientist behind this after hours revolution.

Surya boasts its own wind turbine and solar energy system, planning to donate any extra electricity to the local community. The club also has cutting edge air flush, waterless urinals and low flush toilets. But that's not all!  If you happen to visit Surya by way of your own two feet, either walking or on a bike, you get in the club for free.  The dance floor is so eco-rad it makes its own electricity generated by the movin' and the groovin' of club patrons. I hope they're serving organic vodka.  (My only complaint about this amazingly eco space is the Surya choice of music: icky tub-thumping House stuff.)

Oh yeah, and the dreamy Princes Harry and William have pledged to hang out at Surya with all their sexy royal friends.

Which is all well and good, but where is our eco-club here in LA?  Like Hyde or Area can't make a couple of changes? House of Blues is too cool to be green?  Because if I have to fly all the way to London to party eco-responsibly, I'll do it...just think of all the Terrapasses I'm going to need. Sigh.

To read more about Surya and all the eco-innovations those Brits have brewing, check THIS out.

Editor's Note: HOLY SMOKES!  I totally spaced...it being Friday and all...check out ROX'S POST from a few weeks ago dishing the dirt on Ecco, the yet-to-be-open green friendly LA watering hole. I'll cease the ranting now.

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. A website called Current Configuration claims to have finally solved the age old question that has vexed couples for ages and in the process came up with the answer to greening your bathroom experience. Via TreeHugger.

Happy Friday!

I like to say I'm a Lipstick Environmentalist.  I am not betraying the planet because I shave my under arms. I also truly believe that you can live an absolutely green, ecologically responsible life and not have to give up on beautifully made luxury. To that end, allow me to introduce you to the completely biodegradable high fashion line from Linda Loudermilk.

You heard me right...all of the stunningly gorgeous pieces in Linda's line are biodegradable, made from everything from vegan silk to seaweed. You have to see it to believe it, I swear. Linda's even been dubbed the "Green Goddess of Luxury Eco" by the fashion mavens at W Magazine. The Linda Loudermilk line also boasts a high falutin celebrity clientele including Liv Tyler, PINK and my newest crush Robert Downey Jr.

And for all of us who aren't working with Sarah Jessica Parker's wardrobe allowance, Linda is hosting a special weekend sale THIS WEEKEND to make her collection more accessible and affordable to everyone. The celebrated sustainable designs will be 30-40% off retail and 10% of the profits will go to "Healthy World, Healthy Child."

Here's all the info you need to get your green self to this exclusive sale:

• When: Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12 (11:00am-6:00pm)
• Where: Visonary Boutique (Your One Stop Eco-Chic Boutique), 8568½ Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069
• Why: Because how cool would it be to wear that dress until it biodegrades? And your purchase benefits "Healthy World, Healthy Child." 
  
• To RSVP: rsvpvisionary@gmail.com

I've heard this one a bunch of times "I can't recycle I live in an apartment" sound familiar? Well your days of using that excuse are over.  

The City of Los Angeles now has a program that provides multifamily residential buildings with free recycling services. Residential properties such as apartments, townhomes and mobile home parks can participate in the program, and will receive the following: recycling services once a week, blue bins for storage of recyclables and they will even get you started on your path to recycled enlightenment with educational materials about the types of materials accepted in blue bins.

Tenants need the consent of the property owner or property manager in order to register to participate in the recycling program. City staff will even contact the property owner or manager on behalf of the tenants.  All you need to do is call 1-800-773-CITY or send an email to  multifamily@lacity.org. Give them your contact info, type of residence, number of units (you must have at least 5), and the owner or property manager's name and number, and someone will contact them to set things up.

According to the website LA County accrues up to 35,000 tons of unrecycled waste daily - partly because many multi-fam buildings aren't equipped with bins. It's time to take things into your own hands and do the right thing. It's easy and you may just feel good about yourself.

So you haven't gone all electric because the cars are way too weird looking? Have I got news for you...the electric Mini Cooper is coming to California!

Yes that same cute Mini Cooper driven by Austin Powers and on the Italian Job is getting an electric make-over. Here's how it happens as I understand it: BMW is shipping 500 Mini Cooper shells from England to Germany to be filled with all the electric goodies that converts it to battery-only power, they'll paint the cars there and then ship 'em to California.

Which do you want first, the good news or bad news? Oh, let's start with the bad news: 500 high-end electric cars for the whole state?? Yeah, those won't sell out faster than they get off the boat. But the good news is, we gotta start somewhere and BMW is putting a toe in the water to entice those folks who only want to buy a luxury car into going green. (Of course, there are all kinds of after market kits that can be used to convert those old Mercedes and BMWs into electric or bio-diesel, if you have the means and or the know-how.)

For more info on this fledgling Mini Cooper eco-auto project, and all about green vehicles in general, check THIS out.

I heart t-shirts. If you saw my WAY overcrowded closet you'd definitely get a loud and clear t-shirt vibe...most with snarky little phrases, vintage rock bands or ironic irony which is funny only to me and mine. But I'm making room for a collection of eco-friendly, organic cotton t-shirts from Small Hands that feature positive, uplifting, warm & fuzzy messages.

The idea is that the sentiment emblazoned on your shirt, is echoed in your heart and in those around you. Simple, but powerful.  And the t-shirts are ridiculously cute (or for you boys, ruggedly handsome).

This summer they have unveiled three brand new designs made up of "Vote with Your Heart," "Practice Compassion," and "See Only Love," which join these guys already available: "Manifest Peace," "Love Your Earth," "Awaken to Joy," "Everyone's Connected," "Peace and Love Forever," "Send Love," "Inspire Action," "We are All Extraordinary" and "I am Loved."

"I know that when I put on my 'We are all Extraordinary' tee people respond in a great way," says Small Hands, Inc. owner and designer Dara Cuoco. "People are always wonderful but a positive message will just bring that to the surface sometimes. This, of course, is the entire theory behind our line."

And if that's not enough to get you donning the Small Hands, get this...Small Hands donates a portion of the proceeds from every purchase from its web-store to The Miracle Project and Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC).

The designs sell out fast, so be sure to get one for you, your kids, your friends, neighbors and heck, get one for that irritating person one cubicle over...maybe they just need a little love.

I am not a wine drinker. But I do have some friends that are definitely winos. You know who you are. If you like a nice bottle of wine or two I pose this question to you. What do you do with the corks? I'm going to assume you recycle the bottles but what about those corks. How about joining a Cork Brigade?

A super eco-friendly company named TerraCycle wants your used corks. TerraCycle will be upcycling corks, both natural and synthetic into "into cool products that will be available nationally at major retailers".

Some of the upcycled products that are currently for sale on the TerraCycle website are; bird feeders made from recycled soda bottles, pots made out of 100% crushed e-waste. But the flagship product is worm poop fertilizer packaged in recycled bottles. I can't make this stuff up. The website claims the fertilizer is goof-proof.

There is no telling what your memories of dinners and cheese parties past in the form of old corks will become. Kind of cool, right?

To participate in the Cork Brigade or to check out some of the products go to http://www.terracycle.net/.

Wanna a super quick, super cheap, super easy way to save water, energy and cold hard cash? Of course you do, especially what with the drought and economy and all. Well, just slap an aerator on the end of that old kitchen faucet and voila!

See, an aerator mixes air with the water flow cutting the sheer volume of water used nearly in half without affecting your pressure. And you save oodles of energy used to heat the hot water, cuz you're using less water.

When shopping for an aerator, look for one that has a flow rate of 2.2 gallons per minute (or less), which can save up to three gallons a day. It's easier than skipping showers, Tommy Lee. All you do is screw an aerator on to your existing faucet. Plus, it makes this really cool whooooshing sound when you run the H2O.

Where to get an aerator: EarthEasy has 'em, so does Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot and any other good houseware store. Or get totally crazy and Google "aerator"...see what pops up!

We have gone over the more environmentally friendly cleaning products in a past post. But one thing we didn't really touch on is keeping white clothes white without all that harmful chlorine bleach. For almost a year I have been trying to figure out a way to keep my husbands socks clean and white with out the bottle of bleach, now I share with you what I have learned.

It is best to avoid most bleach, sodium hypochlorite, moderately toxic chlorine that can potentially bond with other chemicals to form cancer-causing toxins in the wastewater system.

Oxygen bleaches are available and found primarily in health food stores, and are based on hydrogen peroxide not chlorine. I like Seventh Generation's Non-Chlorine Bleach-Free & Clear with oxygen bleach stabilizers, but sometimes it can be hard to find.

Want to try something more natural? Add a ½ a cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle of a medium load of whites it will lightly bleach your clothes. If you have a lemon tree in your yard, this is a great way to use some of those extra lemons that don't make it into the lemonade.  

Another kind of "old school" product that I just stared using over the weekend, and it really worked is borax. It's actually a natural mineral compound. I know it's probably what your grandmother used but she used it for a reason. My whites looked really bright and it has a fresh scent to it. It turns out that it's one of those natural products like baking soda, which can be used for tons of other stuff around the house. And it's cheap. I'm told it works best if you don't have hard water.

Leave it to the Brits to come up with an innovative and entertaining all-purpose guide to recycling just about everything.  "How Can I Recycle This?" is an interactive, community-based site that lets readers submit mind blowing suggestions as to how to recycle, oh I don't know...everything!? 

For example, let's say you have an old 10-gallon fish tank not living up to it's original purpose.  You would post an entry on the "How Can I Recycle This?" site and wait as your fellow eco-buds weigh in with creative ideas as to what ELSE you can do with a 10-gallon fish tank.  (I base this example on a recent real life entry, so it would only be fair to let you in on the suggestions for said tank: a terrarium, grow herb for the kitchen, a candlescape, put vellum on the outside and a string of Christmas lights inside for a sophisticated accent light, upside down to protect or accent a collection of something, a wastebasket or a paper recycle bin, on end for a mini bookcase for oversize books...)
 
It's freakin inspiring! Ever wonder "What the heck am I going to do with this?"  Never fear, they have the answer...Poke around on the site and be wowed at how gosh darned resourceful we can be...kiddie pools, worn jeans, aluminum can pull tabs, deflated balloons, old windows, discarded basketballs, even stale cake (good for biscotti) and yes, half-used hair gel can be bewitched into something new and useful.  Try the handy search engine on the site for specific items and inquiries. You don't even have to be MacGyver to make something cool.

So before assuming that thingamabob is only good for trash, make a pit stop at "How Can I Recycle This?" first. What do you have lying around? That's an old washing machine drum! ----->

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is offering a $5 credit for customers that enroll for electronic bill payment.
 
Electronic bill payment provides customers a way to pay bills on-line, check water and energy usage, and access environmental information.  Paying bills is also good for the environment because it reduces paper and printing and gas to get the bill and payment to you and then back to the DWP.

The $5 credit will be provided only once on each residential or commercial account when you register. It would be nice if it was more than a one-time deal, but we take what we can get.  To register on the website, you will need your Customer Access Number from your bill, the last four digits of your Social Security Number or Tax ID, and an e-mail address. Click HERE for additional info.

Save a few bucks and do something good for the environment.

I love the animation in this Brazilian eco-public service announcement, it reminds me of the deliciously off-kilter style favored by the boys in Monty Python. A lovely reminder that every choice we make has lasting and long reaching consequences. Plus, there's a snuggly seal.