Sustainable or drought tolerant. What’s the difference?

Sarah Pugh of Outside Landscape Design will be our guest at the MVCC Green Booth this Sunday. Sarah specializes in landscape design that celebrates outdoor living in southern California. She will provide insight in how to utilize a rich plant material palette that is drought tolerant, wildlife friendly and easily maintained.

Join us as she shares the distinctions between sustainable, drought tolerant, and native plant material. See samples and learn what each means and how they differ. She will have live plants, sourcing information and landscape examples.

It began with a porch light...

We converted to CFL light bulbs several years ago and had been thrilled. They reduced our energy cost. They threw off far less heat, which was a bonus on hot summer days. Although more expensive when purchased, they last for years and ultimately saved us money. But sometimes for safety, we wanted to leave our front porch light on over night and that still seemed wasteful. Then we had an 'aha' moment. LED lightbulbs used 1/3 the power of CFL bulbs and 1/30th of incandescent bulbs. So we switched the porch light to an LED bulb....and we loved it! We noticed that there was literally no heat - you can actually wrap your hand around an LED bulb burning brightly. They light up immediately when turned on. We had become fans.

After seven years, we broke our CLF light bulb a few weeks ago and had visions of mercury poisoning dancing in our heads. Luckily, it was in an enclosed bag and I had book marked a site with safe disposal directions , so it wasn't a crisis. That convinced us - as each CFL died, we would replace it with LED. So far we have replaced 6 and we love them. We practically have a little ceremony with each new opportunity to convert.

The technology in LED light bulbs is still emerging - selection is limited and they are expensive but we will start seeing rapid progress. We have been buying the Philips Ambient LED Indoor Flood PAR30L - it is designed for recessed and track lighting. We found them at Home Depot and they are pricey - $49.97 - but the life of the bulb is 25,000 hours.

Incandescent bulbs are being banned in more parts of the world and will be phased out in California by 2018. As each bulb in your home is replaced, consider LED bulbs as an option. When it is done one at a time, the expense is more manageable. Here are some great sites with more information -

Eternaleds - great information and they also sell a very wide selection

Eartheasy - this blog posted some great information

As your old CFL bulbs burn out, you can take them to Home Depot for safe disposal.

Drop by the MVCC Green Booth on Sundays at the Farmers Market and share your thoughts with me about this!

Let's make Mar Vista the first clean electricity neighborhood in Los Angeles!

Saturday was International Day of Climate Action and Sunday was a milestone for climate action in Mar Vista!

The Mar Vista Green Committee unanimously approved a motion to make Mar Vista the first clean electricity neighborhood in Los Angeles, with a goal of 100% clean electricity by 2018. The motion must be approved by the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) in two weeks, on November 10, and you can help! Please sign the petition that will be presented to the MVCC, urging Mar Vista to make the switch to solar.

With Million Solar Roofs funding, solar electricity is now cheaper than coal-powered electricity for many homeowners with solar-friendly rooftops. Next year the LADWP will introduce "virtual net metering" along with other ways for businesses and residents in apartments and condos to go solar too! And with community support, Mar Vista can be a leader in installing solar panels on our schools, library and post office.

Read more about the national effort to Repower America with 100% clean electricity by 2018 -- and sign the petition to make Mar Vista the first clean electricity neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Trash for Treasures....

Have any obsolete inventory headed for a landfill or liquidator? Think about donating it instead! How do you put a dollar value on seeing it put to good use and making kids happy?

My client, yogitoes, received an order of 800 ecodots - a yoga prop that is used like a block. The label supplier used a faulty adhesive that left a marred finish when the label was removed. Rather than have them destroyed, they donated them to a variety of local schools and non profits that put them to creative use. In the hands of kids they became building blocks, stools, props for yoga classes and the basis for art projects! We'll post more pictures as we get them. Here is a list of some of the lucky recipients - think of them when you look at what you aren't able to use or sell!

Grand View Blvd. Elementary School
Contact – Sarah Auerswald
sauerswald@gmail.com

Neighborhood Youth Association
Contact – Jeanne Kuntz
(310) 397-7897
jeanne@marvista.org

Mar Vista Elementary School
Contact – Annie Barnes
acmags@mac.com

Free Arts for Abused Children
Contact - Karrah R. Lompa
Karrah@freearts.org
www.freearts.org

Rediscover
Mary Beth Trautwein
mail@reDiscoverCenter.org
310.393.3636

Trash for Teaching
Contact - Laurie Sugita, Director
laurie@trashforteaching.org
323. 262.3400 ext 25

Las Doradas Children's Center
Contact - Gail Bryant, Director
lasdoradas2@yahoo.com
(310) 450-0327

Rain Barrels and Butterflies on Colby Avenue!

Rain barrel applications were extended until November 1st! There is still a chance to get one!

We just received this great note and picture from a Mar Vista homeowner who received a free rain barrel through LA Rainwater Harvesting. Who says rain barrels are ugly? Hopefully all of the enthusiasm in Mar Vista will push this project to go city wide! We'd love to hear more stories about how the water is used and also any blocks that have several participants - we have 2 so far on our block on Coolidge!

"I thought you might get a kick out of seeing our wonderful rain barrel, newly adorned with her butterfly tattoos! There are milkweed in pots around her so it seemed only natural. We’ll catch rain the next time as her paint was drying during last week’s rain plus we wanted the roof and gutters to get washed off. We named her Lluvia, BTW.
Just had to share,
A Green Committee minute reader,
Susan"

Take the Mystery Out of Solar!

Solar energy consultant Patricia Tabachnik of California Green Designs joins us to answer common questions people ask about going solar. Learn what the cost is for a typical single family home and what the regulations and rebates are as well as the technical aspects that are involved. She will bring case studies that show images and electric bills before and after as well as a couple of solar panels for you to see up close.

California Green Designs designs and installs Photovoltaic Systems and has been involved in renewable energy since 1985. Patricia has a background as a Math and Physics professor with over 20 years of experience and is a committed environmentalist.

Our Barrels Runneth Over!

You know you are an eco geek when you have spent your day twittering about your rain barrel!

But that is exactly what we have been doing today in Mar Vista. Those of us lucky enough to already have gotten our city rain barrels installed are posting on facebook and blogs and generally giddy about what we are seeing.

It was amazing how quickly that 55 barrel filled up! Even more amazing - yesterday when there was a lull, I drained four buckets worth off the barrel to water some pots that were under cover. There is nothing like a visual to make the concept of 'first flush' real. First flush is the run off from the first 3/4" of rain that hits your roof. A month without rain will allow significant amounts of pollutants to build up on a roof. The first flow from rain after a dry spell will contain concentrated poisons dissolved in the rainwater as it flows across the roof surface, into our sewer system and directly out to Santa Monica Bay. So if the accumulation from a month is toxic, what is it like in a drought condition like ours?

This is the big plus about our rain barrels. Not only are we capturing water that we can use - we are capturing that all important first flush. Even if the rest of it overflows from our rain barrels, we have diverted the toxins that were on our roof and captured them. Then we let the earth do what it does best. We use that water in our gardens where the earth will filter it.

Look at that bucket - do you want your kids swimming in that?

Learn About No Waste Lunches!

No-Waste Lunches are the hot topic right now among moms of all stripes. Many are packing 10-15 lunches a week, and that’s just for the kids. Add in their own brown-bagging, and the trash pile can really mount up.

So what’s a green-leaning mom to do? Moms need to know the options and hear what other moms (and dads) are doing.

On October 18th, from 9am – 2pm, Sarah Auerswald of MarVistaMom.com and Annie Barnes of InspireTheChange.com, will be on hand to present options and start a dialogue with the community about the idea of reducing the waste that comes from sending our kids’ lunches to school.

Also on hand to present relevant information about the safety of the food containers we use for our kids, Jennifer Taggert of TheSmartMama.com, will help us all be aware of what to look for when choosing lunch containers. And Elizabeth Reitz, of WhiningNDining.com, will help jump-start the interactive “I Need More Ideas For Lunches” – a list the community is encouraged to add to throughout the day.

The following new No-Waste Lunch products will be on display in the booth:
• Snack TAXI reusable bags for snacks and sandwiches
• The Goodbyn lunchbox
• The LapTop Lunchbox bento system
• the Go Green Lunch Box
• Kleen Kanteen re-usable drink containers, courtesy of BuyGreen.Com
• PLUS a selection of products you may already have on hand at home!

For more information about local school-based Zero Waste Lunch efforts, check out the Mar Vista School's Green Dolphin blog.

MarVistaMom.Com is a blog-site about Mar Vista, California, a community in Los Angeles located between Culver City and Venice. The site was created and is written by Sarah Auerswald, a former member of the film industry, the mother of two young boys, a writer, and entrepreneur who covers the goings on of her tight-knit street, the local schools, and Mar Vista business and political news for her trusting and rapidly-growing readership. Mar Vista Mom’s weekly farmer’s market update was just chosen to be the update for the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market website, www.marvistafarmersmarket.org.


InspireTheChange.com is a site co-created by Annie Barnes and Jessica Tuck, is dedicated to creating a supportive online community with local flavor to inspire the greening of families in Los Angeles, starting with our own neighborhoods, and the people we know best: moms. Recognizing that moms exert tremendous influence – in their families, in their communities, in schools and in their work-lives - Annie and Jess call that Momfluence – Inspire the Change calls on all momfluentials to inspire, create and enjoy a greener world, one that starts at home, and has ripples through our neighborhoods, our cities and our world.

Annie Barnes is a mom on a mission to raise her two boys as green as possible. She believes that what makes it all work are the small communities within the megalopolis and feels fortunate to live in the village called Mar Vista.

Mar Vista Community Council given an award for environmental efforts!

I am pleased to be the bearer of some good news. The Mar Vista Community Council was selected to receive the First Annual Neighborhood Council Peer Award which was presented during lunch at the Empower LA 2009 A Congress of Neighborhoods on October 10, 2009 at City Hall. We were honored in the “Environmental” category. There are four categories, and two winners in each category. So we are among 8 Councils that were honored out of 89 community councils in Los Angeles.

A huge thank you to the community effort throughout MVCC that earned this recognition! Most important, it is exciting to know that our efforts are inspiring other communities.

Join the Big Plant-In!

Volunteers are needed to join the Big Plant-In on the Grand Canal on the Marina Peninsula in Venice beginning Sunday, October 18, and running each Sunday and Monday following, until completion. The restoration project is the final part of Phase I of a project that has been planned to beautify the area and heal a part of the historical Ballona Wetlands which has long been ignored.

Sponsored by Ballona Institute, the City of Los Angeles, L.A. City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl's office and SunBrook Partners, the Plant-In aims to get 10,000 native plants into the ground, which will restore and enhance the lagoon ecosystem, providing additional habitat for butterflies, birds, fish, crabs and many other forms of life that live in and around the Grand Canal Lagoon. The plants, grown from seed and cuttings taken from the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, were nurtured by native plant nurseries at Growing Solutions' in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles Conservation Corp's Sea Lab.

"We kicked off this project on Coastal Clean-up Day, preparing the area with a final removal of invasive weeds and clearing the area of major debris and trash," explained Ted Giwoff, Restoration Logistics Coordinator for Ballona Institute.

"Now we have a huge job to do, and it will be one of the more fulfilling jobs available, as we work to support new life at the wetlands -- plants which have not been growing in this area in a long time will be brought back -- what could be better?" continued Giwoff.
Individuals, groups and students (some schools offer community service credit) are all welcome to participate in this ecological restoration project.

To volunteer, or for additional information please contact call Ted Giwoff at 424-227-9845 or leave a message at: (310) 578-5888 or via email: outreach@ballonainstitute.org.

China Town, Chapter Two...

I had the privilege of representing the MVCC on a 3 day tour of the Los Angeles Aqueduct System, as a guest of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. It was an amazing tour – eye opening and thought provoking. Having already read about our water history in Cadillac Desert and with memories of the film classic China Town, I was eager to get a first hand view for myself.

Water conservation is a passion for me. I know that we have less than we need – but this trip gave me dramatic evidence of just how little we have. Even more important, I saw first hand the damage we did taking the water we have enjoyed since we built the Los Angeles Aqueducts – and just how difficult it has been to undo the damage.

When Los Angeles filed for water rights from the Owens Valley River, we took 100%. Until recently, that provided us with 75% of the water the DWP uses for Los Angeles. It is cheap water - $170 to $200 per acre foot, compared to the $600 to $800 per acre foot that we get from Colorado through the Metropolitan Water District. It tastes great – Crystal Geyser actually pulls their water from the same source. But the cost was too high. By diverting the Owens Valley River water to the aqueducts, we dried out the 110 mile Owens Lake, creating unbearable alkaline dust storms that made the area almost uninhabitable.

The Clean Air Act mandated that we mitigate the damage. Since the 1980’s, we have spent $4 million a year studying the problem, $450 million in implementation and $30 million a year to manage the mitigation. Today we have stopped the dust and re-watered the river, but the lake remains dry. Instead of supplying 75% of our needs, we have had to reduce the amount we take to only 35% of our needs.

Los Angeles has done a good job of reducing our interior water usage - our water consumption today is the same as it was 25 years ago, despite a million more people. But our per capita daily use is still 144 gallons per day. Compare that to Europe, where it is 69 gallons. The primary difference is water use for outdoor landscaping.

This trip showed me the impact on a small region. It has taken 40+ years to mitigate the damage in the Owens Valley. If we don’t change our thirsty habits, what damage will we do globally? What will life be like for our children 40 years from now if we don’t change course now?

Like many in Mar Vista, our family tore out our lawns and replaced them with drought resistant landscaping. As a result, our per person water usage is 69 gallons per day. This is less then half of the Los Angeles average and comparable to the average usage in Europe.

We can do this. Let’s not wait too long to start.

Photo: Looking past water flowing through our Los Angeles Aqueduct to the 110 mile dry Owens Lake bed beyond


Per capita daily use per country – provided by Kevin O’Donnell
US - 151
Australia - 130
Japan - 99
Mexico - 96
EU - 69
Brazil - 49
UK - 39
India - 36
China - 22
Africa - 5

Composting & Organic Gardening with the Gardenerd!

Looking for insight into composting and organic gardening? Join Christy Wilhelmi of Gardenerd at the MVCC Green Booth this Sunday!

Christy Wilhelmi is the driving force behind Gardenerd.com - the ultimate resource for garden nerds and organic gardening tips and tidbits. Gardenerd.com is designed for people who have a healthy sense of humor about their obsession with organic gardening, and who have a thirst for knowledge.

Many of you have met Christy through the committee – her home was on the garden tour and she was a presenter at the Wise Water Use Expo. You may have seen her on ABC Nightline, read articles about her in Edible Los Angeles or read her column in The Ray Magazine. This is an incredible opportunity to get first hand advice!

Gardenerd offers workshops and coaching covering the basics of organic gardening, composting and food garden design. Christy believes that gardening unifies both physical activity and healthy food choices, while providing a grounding spiritual and creative outlet. She has dedicated herself to the study of organic gardening and its benefits, and delights in sharing this information with anyone who will listen. She is your one-stop-shop for gardening resources and information.

Photos courtesy of Yvette Roman Photography