Join the Divine Ms. Didi Pop to Get The Scoop on Mar Vista Goes Green!

Stop by the MVCC Green Booth this Sunday to learn about the upcoming fall festival - "Mar Vista Goes Green” ..

The Divine Ms. Didi Pop will make a guest appearance at the MVCC Green Booth at 10:30 - bring your kids to join a parade to her music!

Mar Vista Goes Green is a free festival designed to increase awareness of and participation in protecting the environment while having a lot of fun. There is something for every age!

Entertainment will include performances by the Stilt Circus troupe, the Red Ribbons square dance group and the Summer of Love show featuring live music from the 1960s and 70s with band members sporting styles from the era.

For children there will be a morning puppet show by Kiddle Karoo and her Kooky Krew promoting environmental awareness. The rest of the day will have a Kidz Go Green Zone with nine inflatable slides, bouncers, arts and crafts led by and using recycled materials provided by the Rediscover Center, face painting, games, and a petting zoo.

Leave your car at home! Bikerowave is not only offering free bike valet service, they will also provide information on how to keep bikes in good condition, and perform minor repairs at no charge.

Students from area preschools through middle schools will display their work at a youth art show. In addition, professional artists will present their own accomplished works, and an artisan marketplace will give festival-goers a chance to purchase arts and crafts.

Organizations with demonstrations and exhibits will include Heal the Bay, Ballona Institute, Surfrider Foundation, Buy Green, L.A. Rainwater Harvesting Program, Teaching Wellness, and Reptile and Amphibian Rescue Network. There will also be information on recycling, composting, water conservation, and drought-tolerant landscapes. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

For more information about the Mar Vista Community Fall Festival, call (310) 398-5982.

Support For Bikes!

How did we manage without Bikerowave in our neighborhood?

My bike has been omitting an ominous crunching noise for several months now. So, on Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. I pedaled over to the corner of Venice and Ocean View to get some tips on how to get that awful crunching sound out of my gears…or was it the chain? Luckily, Cole took me under his wing as soon as I arrived, put my bike up on one of the many stands, and proceeded to diagnose and address the problem. After several procedures which took a total of 10 minutes, he advised me on how to apply the chain lube oil, hoping that would do the trick.

Before leaving, I had a chance to congratulate Steve Mattson on the bike valet service that Bikerowave will be providing at the up-coming “Mar Vista Goes Green” Fall Festival. We both spent a few shame-faced seconds admitting that, due to equipment transporting constraints, we were probably going to drive to the event. (I will be offering free Green Wellness Coaching sessions at the Teaching Wellness Booth). The conversation then turned to the possibilities of someday offering a bike valet service at the Mar Vista Farmers Market, and maybe a bike trailer rental for people who want to bring home a bushel or two of produce. Steve even suggested that a bike delivery service might serve the needs of those who want to have their sustainable produce delivered home to their homes in a sustainable manner.

With images of a cycling-friendly Mar Vista dancing in my head, I pedaled home…noiselessly.

Jeanne Kuntz
Certified Wellness Coach
www.teachingwellness.com

Bikerowave is a DIY, not for profit facility that helps support a reduction in our carbon footprint as we opt to bike rather than drive!

Tips on Removing Your Grass

So you've decided to remove your lawn and replace it with drought resistant landscaping but don't have the budget to hire big guns? Christopher McKinnon and Patricia Karasick will share how they accomplished it! Tips on wading through the city bureaucracy, where to go for free stuff and really everything you need to know to do it yourself!

A how-to visual presentation by do-it-yourself Mar Vista homeowners on how they removed their front and back grass lawns and replaced it with herbs, vegetables, rocks, gravel, decomposed granite and drought tolerant, California native plants while integrating existing tropicals and other plants. A work in progress. They will cover the ups and downs, successes and failures, tools, sources, time, costs and water savings. The garden is also certified as a Natural Wildlife Habitat.

This house was part of last April’s Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase and as a result was invited to be part of a presentation to the Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commission on how to save precious water and point out the citywide need to retrain gardeners to maintain yards that have no grass.

This is a great chance to get neighbor to neighbor help on your project!

The DWP Will Take Your Questions on Greywater!

The LA Department of Water and Power will have representatives at our booth on Sunday September 13th! We have specifically invited them to answer your questions on installing greywater in your home. They will bring copies of the current code and information on resources. Most important, this is your chance to ask questions one on one that are specific to what you can do at your own home. This is an exciting opportunity - not just to get information but to share concerns and priorities that we want to be able to address while the DWP is still forming policy on greywater issues.

This will also be a great opportunity to talk to them about the turf rebate program! Both to get information and to let them know what might issues you may have encountered.

This meet and greet was arranged after Thomas Erb saw the level of passion for water conservation in the Mar Vista Community at the Wise Water Use Expo. We feel it is a ground breaking event and a real compliment to our community. Please take advantage of this unique opportunity!