Bee challenge!

My neighbor has a front lawn and parkway planted with California Native plants – very mature plants that she barely needs to water. For 2 years now, she has suddenly had bees build hives in the water meter at the curb. The hive makes city access impossible. Consequently, the DWP cordons it off with hazard tape and gases the hive with poisons to kill off the bees. She has not succeeded in getting them to move the hive as they can’t confirm they are the type of bees they want to nurture. We assume these are toxic chemicals that are going into the runoff and out into Santa Monica Bay. Any advice?
Ways to discourage the hive of being built there?
Resources to move the hive?
Non toxic ways to get the bees to leave?

From Sean at The Learning Garden
I think the Backwards Beekeepers would be perfect for this situation. The guy who runs the club is named Kirk. Removing bees is one of his businesses.

They are always looking for new bees for their club members.
As for the bee's building in the water meter, it's probably because it provides shade from the heat of the day, as well as a ready source of dripping water to drink. I'm not sure how to solve the problem besides covering the meter better.

From Rob Kadota of the Mar Vista Community Council (and several others!)
I would contact Harry’s Honey at the Mar Vista Farmers Market. He’s trapped and moved hives for local residents especially if they’re as convenient as described. He doesn’t remove hives as full time work but is of course handy around bees and always on the look out for swarms of easily accessed bees.

From Christy at Gardenerd
A-BEE MAN, David Saraf (310) 207-1090
BEE CATCHERS, Steven Downs (818) 987-7477
I think you have to request the bees be saved. Sometimes they don’t if the bees have been hybridized with African Bees (which is most bees, unfortunately)

Great opportunity to promote your green business!

The theme of the Fall Festival at Mar Vista Park this year is "Mar Vista Goes Green"!

As part of the theme this year, the goal is to get information on environmental issues or sustainability out to the community. Organizations that have ecology, sustainability, nature, and the environment as their mission can rent a 10’ x 10’ tent are available for $50 each for non-profit groups, $100 for For-profit organizations and $200 for commercial entities. This is a great, inexpensive way to promote your 'green' business in the community! (They will also consider featuring community groups that do not necessarily have an ecological mission, on a case by case basis.) Each booth rental includes a tent, table, and two chairs.

If you are interested in obtaining a booth, please pick up an application in the Park Office or call us and we will send one to you.

The Fall Festival draws around 3,000 people to the park for the day, providing a good opportunity for organizations to present information to the public.

Let's all do what we can to encourage our community businesses to support this event!
Here are more details.....

We are pleased to announce the 2009 Mar Vista Community Fall Festival will take place on Saturday, October 3, 2008 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Mar Vista Park. The planning committee for “Mar Vista Goes Green!” is seeking financial support for this event which promises fun for the entire family, including live stage entertainment, a student art show, giant slides and bouncers, games, prizes, food, arts and crafts, face painting, lots of eco-friendly information booths and demonstrations, and much, much more!

If you would like to contribute to the success of this event, please consider these support options:

Venue Sponsor -$1000 and up to have your company name/logo displayed in the program on a prominent page in the event program, your logo on the Festival T-Shirt, and room to display of up to two (2) company banners on the park fence for 7 days prior to the Festival.
Youth Award Sponsors - $500 offers a full page advertisement in the event program, your logo on the Festival T-Shirt, and display of one (1) company banner on the park fence for 7 days prior to the Festival.
Golden Leaf Award - $250 offers a half page advertisement in our event program and your logo on the Festival T-Shirt.
Festival Friends - $100 or more offers name recognition in the event program.

Finally, we are seeking door prizes from local artisans and businesses. If you can contribute a gift basket, gift item, or gift card (valued at $25 or more) it will be awarded at various times throughout the Festival. If you desire you can award the prize to the winner and mention your business.

For further information, please call Laura Island at Mar Vista Recreation Center at (310) 398-5982.

Farmers Market to begin composting!

The Mar Vista Farmers Market is about to begin a composting program! Starting next Sunday the vendors have been asked to comply with the new guidelines. In a few weeks the bins will be in place to roll it out to the visitors as well.

Experience has shown that signage is not enough - for the best results we need 'coaches'. The Green Committee would like to help recruit volunteers who will spend an hour or two on a Sunday to help guests learn what goes where.

Please contact Diana Rogers to volunteer to take a shift. This is also a great way to introduce your teens to community service - ask them to volunteer for a few hours! The bonus is that they will be trained in how to identify compostable materials - everyone wins!

Please contact Diana at dianalrodgers@yahoo.com.
Thanks for your help!

Sneak Peek: Rainwater Harvesting Program to kick-off in Mar Vista

The City of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works is busy in the planning stages of rolling out the City’s first-of-its-kind free Rainwater Harvesting pilot program to kick off in the Mar Vista community along with the Jefferson/Sawtelle area this Summer.

The Rainwater Harvesting program will transform willing residents’ homes into admirable best practices by installing free rain barrels and rerouting downspouts for residents and businesses.

The program will be enlisting sign-ups for the free services as soon as the application has been finalized. Stay tuned to find out how you can get a free rain barrel or downspout disconnection to help save water dollars and improve local water quality!

For more information, please call (562) 597-0205.

Trees at Risk!

This note has a happy ending as we just learned that the trees have been saved!

Note to 'Ask Us' ...
I wanted to bring to your attention that I came home last Wed to find every tree on my block taped for removal. It turns out the city wants to remove these trees, which some neighbors have complained about because of large (baseball size seed pods that drop--we call them bonkers). There are male and female trees, and only the male trees have these. I would want to save the trees that don't have the seed pods, as they are large majestic trees--50 years old. The one in front of my house is very large and has no bonkers, and is not a hazard to anyone. The city wants to replace them with very small australian willows, which are low maintenance. If the city wants to replace them, I am guessing that my neighbors and I would like a more stately tree--such as a sycamore. The trees really make this neighborhood and it is a shame to just have the city come in and mow all down, even those not causing any problems. Our trees do not mess up the sidewalks.

Do you have thoughts about what we can do here? I was wondering if this is the kind of thing the mar vist community council gets involved in.

Thanks for any thoughts

Cheryl


The Department of Urban Forestry deals with tree replacement - . You will find names and contact info here so you can start to get your position heard. You will also find the list of trees that are options. But what I know from sitting through a meeting Board of Public Works meeting that your mature trees will be replaced by a young tree and it will take years to get anything like what you have there now.

We have to assume that the city is reacting to stakeholders who have a concern and if they hear from others who oppose it, they will listen. This is not an instance where they are coming down to widen a street or make room for a development. I really believe that you can make a difference and that is why they post these notices!

We would love to hear from anyone else who has been through this process!

Rain Barrel Volunteers?

Want to be an early adopter?

In the LA Times April 18 Home section, "The Realist Idealist" column focused on rainwater-storing water walls and was accompanied by an article that said the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation will be running a pilot rainwater-capture program in Mar Vista later this year.

The program will launch with complete info and the chance to sign up at the Wise Water Use Expo on July 21st. For those of us who just can't wait, they are looking for volunteers to be early adopters. If you are interested, contact Codi Harris by email at charris@sga-inc.net or by phone at (562) 597-0205 and tell him that the MVCC Green Committee sent you!

Celebrate the Swearing-in of Councilmember Bill Rosendahl

Councilmember Bill Rosendahl is a huge supporter not only of Mar Vista but especially of our eco efforts!

Please join us as we help him celebrate being sworn-in to his 2nd term in office representing L.A.’s 11th District.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Mar Vista Farmers Market

Intersection of Grand View Blvd. and Pacific Ave.

Mar Vista, CA 90066

Ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m.

Free ice cream for the whole family to enjoy!

Please RSVP at councilman.rosendahl@lacity.org

Monday & Thursday - spread the word!

The hot topic in the neighborhood (okay, one of them!) is how many people haven't heard about the new water restrictions. On our morning walk yesterday it was thrilling to see how many lawns we passed that had been watered on the correct day. But this morning we passed six homes that had run their sprinklers - and one apartment building!
We'll add this poster to our bulletin board at the Farmers Market. When you see someone watering on the wrong day, assume they haven't heard - and spread the word!

Rally to clean up Old Fire Station 62!

How cool will it be when the Old Fire Station looks like this? You can help!

FROM THE MAR VISTA COMMUNITY COUNCIL:
Mar Vistans Rally for Mayors Day of Service Clean Up of Old Fire Station 62
Los Angeles, California USA-June 15, 2009
On Saturday, June 27, 2009, from 8 AM until noon, Mar Vistans will rally to clean up Old Fire Station 62, located at 3631 Centinela Avenue [northwest corner of Centinela at Windward], Mar Vista.
The vacant fire station cleanup and beautification is a service project of the Mar Vista Community Council Old Fire Station 62 Ad Hoc Committee in conjunction with the Mayor’s Citywide Day of Service. It was approved June 9, 2009 by the Mar Vista Community Council Board of Directors.
When new Fire Station 62 was completed on Venice Blvd., Old FS 62 was decommissioned because it was too small for modern fire apparatus at only 4,000 square feet.
While vacant, the building has been the target of squatters and graffiti vandals. Weeds are 6 feet high; trees untrimmed; and trash has been strewn about the property.
Litter and debris will be removed from inside the building. The property will be weeded and the front yard planters’ beds prepared for simple water-wise landscaping.
The entire community is encouraged to come out and help.
Protective masks and light rubber gloves will be provided, however proper protective clothing is advised: long sleeves; long pants; and heavy work or gardening gloves. Tools such as shovels, push brooms; rakes; small gardening implements; and 5 gallon buckets should be brought to the site by volunteers. Donations of plain brown cardboard with all plastic tape removed are needed for the planter beds.
Contact:
Sharon Commins,
Co chair, Mar Vista Community Council Old Fire Station 62 Ad Hoc Committee
Email: smcommins@msn.com
Address: 3630 Wade St, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone: 310-390-2644
Special thanks to Agnes Anderson for creating the picture of our vision!

DWP offers cash incentive to remove lawns

Emily Green writes about the new rebate program in the LA Times Home section today.
"Fast on the heels of the new watering ordinances that took effect June 1, the has begun a cash-for-grass program. Single-family homes served by the DWP will be eligible to receive $1 for every square foot of turf they replace with less thirsty alternatives." read more...

Green will have a weekly column on drought-tolerant gardening in the Home section's blog: latimes.com/home. She also blogs at chanceofrain.com. It's great to have an advocate at the Times on this issue! We're going to reach out and let her know about the Wise Water Use Expo on July 21st!

Free Compost?

Hello,

Thank you for having the Green Committee. I would like to be kept informed with your projects and meetings if possible.

I am also writing because I remember reading some time ago in the newsletter something about some free compost available for pick up somewhere on Jefferson. I am wondering if any of you could further guide me with this - what is the exact location or contact info please?

Thank you very much in advance,

Melissa

There are a lot of great compost options in our community. First, the easiest - you can pick up free compost through the LA Department of Public Works on Jefferson Blvd in Culver City (although they list it as West LA). Link through here to the flyer with more info. This compost is made from what is collected in the green bins, so it is not organic.

An amazing number of people are now composting on their own and love it!
The LADPW offers free composting classes, discounts on compost bins and free worms. You can find the schedule and location here. I've attended that workshop and it is informative but not hands on. Christy at the Garden Nerd offers a hands on, composting work shop that is very reasonable priced, located in Mar Vista and a lot of fun!

Glendale 4" tall rule?

The latest ‘Ask Us’ question came from a homeowner in Glendale who was inspired by our garden tour….


Greetings -

My husband and I really enjoyed your Garden Showcase, despite being unable to visit such a small number of the gardens in the tour. A bit overwhelming.

I was particularly interested in the way a number of gardeners had replaced the grass in the parking strips in front of their house (i.e., the strip between the sidewalk and street) with mulch and/or drought tolerant plants. I've been wanting to encourage that in the city of Glendale, but believe it or not, found that there is currently a code on the books that prevent people from planting anything that would grow more than 4" tall. The city person I spoke to liked my idea and said the city has never enforced that 4" rule (to her knowledge), but I cynically don't trust them not to do so in the future. I've written to one of our council people about this, since Glendale most definitely needs to reduce its water use, and also suggested changing the code.

Is there any advice or guidelines you can give me that the Mar Vista Community has offered to help more communities make such changes?

Thanks,
Stephanie

Stephanie, you are right to be cautious as evidenced by this column that Steve Lopez wrote in the LA Times last year. Glendale officials have been known to threaten homeowners with "criminal charges" after switching from water-guzzling landscaping to native California plants and a rock bed. "No brown, all green," an ever-vigilant Glendale official had warned.

With our drought conditions, the time may finally be right to help Glendale City officials become more enlightened!

The group at G3LA (theirs were the homes showcased on Redwood Avenue) is devoted to educating homeowners, design professionals, and the local community in the latest eco-restorative landscape techniques and promoting the principles of low-impact development. They offer workshops designed to provide up-to-date information about the latest environmental issues, as well as cutting-edge techniques and the restorative practices underlying sustainable landscape design. Our constituent group includes designers, architects, planners, contractors, consultants, water suppliers, and water auditors. It would be worth introducing them to your Glendale City Councilman. They are doing a series of Ocean Friendly Garden workshops for the Metropolitan Water District in conjunction with Surfrider.org. They would be a great asset to help Glendale develop guidelines.

Gary Kamisher of Gary's Greenery notes that the city of Santa Monica has some detailed ordinances you can refer to.

“garden\garden, a demonstration landscape project of the City of Santa Monica and the Metropolitan Water District at Santa Monica College, compares two landscape strategies, sustainable vs. traditional "mow and blow," side-by-side.

The results are in - there is no comparison. Sustainable landscaping enhances our coastal environment, significantly reducing pollution and waste, while saving time, money and water.”

Their site detailing this project includes incredible resource information. There are PDF’s on native garden plant lists, permeable paving info, rainwater infiltration put info and native garden resources.

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Wise Water Use Expo - Save the date!

The CD11 Empowerment Congress Environmental Committee invites you to their Wise Water Use Expo.

The event is hosted by the Mar Vista Community Council Green Committee and will be held on the evening of July 21st at the Mar Vista Recreation Center. at 6:30 PM.

The evening is designed to further awareness of the drought crisis that we face as a community and provide information and tools to embrace water conservation. There will be three guest presenters who will then offer a panel discussion and Q&A. There will be water conservation information tables with give aways and special raffle items. Caroma has donated two dual flush toilets to the raffle!

Guest presenters are:

Ed Begley, Jr. – actor, author and environmental activist. As environmental issues become more pressing, there are two possible responses: forget it and hope that government and corporations will figure it out, or take action yourself. In the “take action yourself” camp, a few individuals are leading the way. One such person in California is Ed Begley, Jr. Environmental lawyer and long-time friend, Bobby Kennedy, Jr. has said “Ed has a greater sense of social obligation than anyone I know. He’s like a West Coast cadet who gets up every morning and says ‘reporting for duty’”.

Kevin O’ Donnell – sustainable design strategist, presenter for Al Gore’s Climate Project. Kevin was trained by Al Gore to give his An Inconvenient Truth slide show. As a member of the non profit group, The Climate Project, he presents customized versions focused on the relationship between buildings, landscaping and climate change.

Green Gardens Group LA (G3LA) – G3's focus is to change the paradigm of the beautiful Southern California landscape from the water and resource-guzzling gardens of today to the climate- and place- appropriate sustainable ideal of tomorrow. Their organization is devoted to educating homeowners, design professionals, and the local community in the latest eco-restorative landscape techniques and promoting the principles of low-impact development.

The Council District 11 Empowerment Congress was organized by Councilman Bill Rosendahl to bring together the genius, the energy, and the commitment of our neighborhood leaders. The 11th District is bounded by Mulholland Drive on the north, the Pacific Ocean on the west, Imperial Highway on the south, and (roughly) the 405 Freeway on the east. It encompasses the distinct communities of Brentwood, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, West LA and Westchester.

Flea & tick control products raise health concerns?

This time, I am the one who asked the question! My husband found this article in Consumer Reports siting concerns about flea and tick control products.

"Certain products used to control fleas and ticks are raising hairs. In April 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an advisory after an increase in the number of reported health incidents in pets treated with some flea and tick control products.

Following the EPA advisory, in an unrelated effort, the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a lawsuit in California against major pet product retailers and manufacturers for allegedly failing to use warning labels on flea and tick control products that contain a chemical linked to cancer."

So I sent a note to the group and got some wonderful feedback!

Yvette Roman of Beyond the Lawn shared this awesome Green Paws site where you can check each specific product.

Kiki Christianson of Re:source shared this tip - "We use Dr. Bronner's soap, diluted, about once a month, to wash our short haired dogs. Seems to work pretty well. No grass in your yard helps too!! Fleas need water to live and breed, so dry out your yard where you can."

Iain sent this info -

Certainly nothing will be as effective as a pesticide, but to be effective, the natural flea remedy must aim to reduce the habitat of the pest, both in your house and outside. Remedies such as diatomacous earth and beneficial nematodes can give you impressive outdoor protection with almost no unwanted side effects.

I highly recommend this website for all your pest/gardening questions.


Here are some facts about the most common spot-on flea remedies -

Fipronil (Frontline) is a nerve poison.(10) It caused thyroid cancer in laboratory tests, and affected the development of the nervous system in offspring when pregnant mothers were exposed.(14) [Fipronil factsheet]

Imidacloprid (Advantage) is another nerve poison.(10) It caused miscarriages and abnormal development of bones in laboratory tests with rabbits.(15) [Imidacloprid factsheet]

Lufenuron (Program) stops the development of flea eggs.(16) It is given to pets as pills or as a liquid mixed in food. In some dogs and cats, it caused vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, lethargy, and itchy skin.(17,18)

Methoprene (Precor) prevents emergence of adult fleas.(10) It stimulated gene activity in a laboratory study using mammalian cells.(19)

Pyriproxyfen (Nylar, Archer) prevents flea larvae from molting.(10) It caused anemia and increased blood cholesterol levels in a laboratory test using dogs.(20)

Thank you everyone for your help!