The Greenest Home ... is making the one we have sustainable!

The path to a green home isn't building something new. Sustainability is fully utilizing what you purchase - and protecting what you own from earthquake damage is a key component.Join us on June 13th 2010 at the MVCC Green booth when we welcome back Modaa Inc. as they show us how to protect our homes.

sus·tain·a·ble  (s-stn-bl)adj.
Economic: Capable of being sustained.

2. Life/Environmental Science: Capable of being maintained without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage.

3. Maintain all that you can and prevent the need to replace.


“1st Step to Sustainability is to Prevent Breakability”

Meet Mar Vista's Youngest Eco Activists!

What would our world be like if we each had begun to care about the environment at age 3 or 4 or 5? The preschoolers at New School-West are showing us what a difference one person can make – and when that person is only 4 years old, the impact is beyond astonishing. Come to the MVCC Green Booth on Sunday June 6th to meet these incredible kids and see what they have accomplished! Here's Keira calling her friends to let them know not to litter, and to 'tell a friend'.

The New School-West preschool has been in Mar Vista for over 20 years. Since 1996, NSW has been inspired by the Reggio approach and in 1999 began applying its principles that influence how we learn together with our children, families, and surrounding community. For the last few years, they’ve observed how the awareness of our environment has affected the children’s play, work, and communication.

On a field trip to the Ballona Wetlands, the children interviewed the rangers and learned that this area is a ‘drain’ to the ocean so trash from the city collects there. It is a school tradition to impart a sense of place in the children by taking them on many neighborhood walks to meet the shop owners and know the area around us. On these walks, the children insist on taking bags to collect trash. A small group of children within the school kept policing the trash at lunchtime; “those cups are recyclable!” They became ‘The Cup Group’ and implemented a recycling and composting program within the school to reduce trash.

This year, their focus has culminated into a desire to directly communicate with the people in our city. They decided to make signs to help keep our ocean creatures healthy and our land creature free from pollution. “We have to help the world get better.” “My mommy always gives me a bandaid when I’m hurt.”

Think of the ripple effect as these kids move on from pre-school and into our elementary schools and beyond! Please join us to let them know that they are making a difference!

Checking out rain barrels?

Have you gotten a rain barrel yet? If you are one of the lucky ones included in the LA Rainwater Harvesting program, this is your chance to to get a little more advice. And if you weren't, here is a chance to learn about adding a rain barrel to your garden!
Our guest this week at the MVCC Green booth at the Mar Vista Farmers Market will be Paula Henson of Rainbud. You may have met Paula on the Green Garden Showcase.Rainbud is a local company which uses recycled food grade barrels and retrofits them for use as rainbarrels. They use only recycled local barrels in their products so there is no excess carbon produced in the creation. Here in Southern California, thoughtful water-use is one of the most important aspects of sustainable living. Rainbud offers homeowners the opportunity to both save water for use on their gardens as well as limit the amount of water that rushes to the bay during our often-heavy rainfalls. Equally important is capturing the toxic 'first flush' - all of the gunk that washes off our roofs and straight into Santa Monica Bay.

Ready to "Kill-a-Watt"?

Join us on May 16th at the MVCC Green Booth and meet local solar energy experts from Constant Solar Electric, a company based here in Mar Vista. They will have, for loan to neighborhood residents, “kill-a-watt” devices that you can use to measure the electrical consumption of the appliances in your home. Stop by with your questions and curiosity!

Solar specialists will be on hand to answer all your questions about solar-electric technology and the generous federal, state and local financial incentives for going solar. In addition, Constant Solar will have pictures of their recent solar electric installations on homes in the neighborhood and will have solar panels on display as well as a solar electric demonstration so you can see how beautiful and simple solar technology is.

"If one out of three California homes installed a 5kW solar power system, we would generate more power than all of the nuclear reactors operated by Southern California Edison, eliminate the need for burning 19 billion pounds of coal per year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 22 billion pounds per year!"