Don't recycle? Are you freaking kidding me? Get with it and take some personal responsibility. You live on this planet too.

Founded in 1985 Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay, with Dorothy Green at its helm, grew into one of the region's most powerful environmental organizations.

"Dorothy Green was simply the most influential water quality activist in California for the last 30 years," said Mark Gold, her protégé and current president of Heal the Bay.

If you would like to pay tribute to Dorothy and her years of tireless work, there will be a public memorial celebration on Sunday November 23. The memorial will fittingly be just south of the Santa Monica Pier at 10AM. Click HERE for additional information and parking instructions.

My condolences go out to all that loved and knew her. And of course please support the efforts of Heal the Bay.

Prop 7:

Like I said with Prop 10, I would love to support a ballot initiative that would start California on the road to clean energy in the form of more solar and wind. But there is so much extra stuff written into this plan that it feels almost like they wrote it to fail. It's too expensive for California at a time when we hardly have a state budget in place and people struggle to pay for basic needs. I hope they try again and this plan morphs into something we can all support. Click HERE to read about Prop 7.

Prop 10:

As much as I would love to see a ballot initiative that helps consumers purchase high fuel economy vehicles and fund research for alternative fuel technology and renewable energy technology.  After reading all the proposition facts, along with the pros and cons. It seems to me that as much as I would love to see all these initiatives come to fruition, his prop just seems too costly at a time when California is having a severe budget crisis. Here is the LINK take a peek and let me know what you think.

Coming tomorrow Prop 7.

I know that I have bugged you about this before, more than once I'm sure. But here goes...don't throw your E-waste in the garbage. Why, you ask? Many of our safe, common household electronics contain hazardous materials that are toxic when put into landfills and released into our environment.

If you live in the Simi Valley area your in luck, they are holding a free E-Waste recycling day on October 18 between 9 and 3 at Simi Valley Unified School District Parking lot. The district is located at 875 Cochran Street in Simi Valley.

So get together your old TVs, cell phones, monitors and computers and drop them off. It's the right thing to do. It's the environmentally conscience thing to do. Click HERE for more info.

The non-profit genius X Prize Foundation announced this week that they have crafted an eco challenge for YouTubers called "What's your crazy green idea?" Dream up a world-changing idea to stop global warming, post a two-minute YouTube video about it, and it could be worth $25,000. "Because before it's a breakthrough, it's a crazy idea."

The rules are pretty simple:

• Go join the "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" YouTube Group
• Create genius and post your two minute video to YouTube.
• The deadline for videos is October 31.

• What is the Grand Challenge or world-wide problem that you are trying to solve?
• What is the specific prize idea (goal, rules, judging criteria)?
• How will this prize lead to benefits for humanity?

So get out that camera, fellow eco-lovers and commit your genius green idea to digital greatness. You could win $25,000...it could also be worth so much more to the planet.

For more information on the "What's your crazy green idea?" contest, go HERE. To find out more about the X Prize Foundation, check THIS out.

It goes a little something like this:

• Both male and female groups 55 years and older reported above average usage of environmentally-friendly home goods.

• Leading the way are 55-59 year old females, who are more than twice as likely as the average consumer to use green products, the survey shows.

• Males 65-69 years old are second, more than 1.7 times as likely to use green products than the average American.

• When asked why they elect to purchase eco-friendly goods, a leading 33 percent of the group said it "makes me feel good about myself."

• The next most common reason selected for avoiding green goods was, "I do not believe that they are that much better for the environment," said 17 percent of respondents.

I'm at a loss. We're the mover shaker generation and we're letting "other people" carry the responsibility. Go out and recycle something, would ya?

For more information on the survey results, check HERE.

It occurs to me that it has been weeks since the last time I went on one of my plastic bag rants. Plastic bags. Yep, those handy-dandy plastic bags that they pass out at the grocery store, pharmacy and just about anyplace you buy anything are choking the planet one bag at a time.

They're everywhere. Just look around as you walk or drive around the city, you'll see them clogging storm drains and stuck in trees.

Let me give you some numbers to consider.

• Californians use more than 19 billion disposable plastic shopping bags each year.
• Taxpayers spend more than $25 million to collect and dispose of them.
• Over one million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide.
• In the US less than 5% of plastic bags are recycled.
• Plastics are not biodegradable, they photo-degrade which means they break down into little toxic pieces. That can contaminate soil, water and harm wildlife.
• Approximately 60 to 90 percent of marine debris is plastic.
• Plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish or sponges, are mistaken for food by seabirds, marine mammals, fish and sea turtles.
• More than 1 million seabirds and marine mammals die each year because of ingestion and entanglement of debris including bags.
• Single-use bags made out of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are the big problem. They stay on the planet up to 1,000 years.
• It takes 11 barrels of oil to produce a ton of plastic bags.
• Producing 1 million bags generates 13 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

It's so easy to switch to reusable shopping bags, I say take the first step. There are so many styles options and sizes to choose from. Click HERE to check some out. You can carry them with no eco-guilt as a matter of fact you will show everyone your great big social conscience, and who doesn't love this planet? Well we love America right? That's what all those politicians keep telling us.

Ebay, everyone's favorite guilty pleasure and online juggernaut, has gone green and fuzzy. Ebay has launched WorldofGood.com, an online trading post that brings together thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place, empowering you to shop in ways that align with your personal values. "Where your shopping shapes the world"

The goal is that you will be lured to buy things made of sustainable materials or products that help other people around the world, and Ebay has put them all at this one-stop-shop spot. Yes, it's consumerism...but it's ethical and responsible consumerism. And it gives you that same great Ebay high.

You can even search the site in four categories based on your ethical priorities: People Positive, Eco Positive, Animal Friendly and Support a Cause.

So what's available on WorldofGood.com?

• Pottery - This stunning, although not cheap, Murano glass vase hand crafted in Brazil

• Clothing - like this hand-dyed, organic cotton baby tee that is cut and sewn by the Fair Trade Zone women's cooperative in Nicaragua.
  

• Jewelry - or this rad bracelet made of colorful, recycled telephone wire by a Fair Trade bunch from South Africa called the Bartel Arts Trust
  

The nice thing about the site is that it gives you loads of information about where your purchase comes from and how it's produced. And of course, "Respected, independent organizations verify the positive impact every product has on people and the planet. Our goal is to ensure that every choice you make here is a good one."

So what you waiting for, kittens? Go CHECK IT OUT...that means CLICK HERE.

I have to say I have my issues with her stand on "social" issues. But as I watched she made a lot of what sounded like pro-environmental claims to me. So being a blogger/journalist I decided to investigate some of her claims. Click HERE and see what I found. Let's just say she is a true politician, and expert at the spin.

• Apple+Honey+Oatmeal
• Avocado+Honey
• Banana+Yogurt+Honey
• Brown Sugar+Milk
• Strawberries+Cream+Honey
• Egg Yolk+Honey+Olive Oil
• Oatmeal+Olive Oil
• Cucumber+Yogurt+Strawberries+Honey
• Blended Almonds+Honey+Egg White
• Baking Soda+Water
• Apricots+Milk
• Lemon+Egg+Honey
  

I'm all about the snacks, mostly of the salty and crunchy nature...and although I've never been a super fan of SunChips, their green initiatives may convince me to give them another whirl. Because SunChips are now created with sweet, clean solar energy, at least in the company's Modesto, CA plant.

The California plant is just one of the company's eight factories turning out the little whole grain munchies, but the only one that is using solar power. The beauty of a small change is that it leads to bigger revelations. Consider it a first step.

For those grungy oil-burning plants, the company buys green energy credits to match 100% of the electricity required to make each and every bag of SunChips snacks. Renewable Energy Credits are used to promote the creation of renewable electricity.

For more information on the solar toasted snacks, check THIS out. To read more about the work in Greensburg, go HERE.

For extra credit: The SunChip is neither a chip nor a cracker...discuss.