I haven’t tried these out yet, but hope to soon:

>> Tiara Cafe. The vegan-friendly “Asian-tinged, pan-Mediterranean menu” here apparently offers everything from farmers’ market salad to heirloom pig, according to LA Weekly’s Jonathan Gold. 127 E. Ninth St. Los Angeles. 213.623.3663.

>> Andiamo. This pizza place in Silver Lake cooks with free range chicken, organic eggs, and other organic ingredients — and delivers on energy-efficient scooters! For drinks, you can choose from organic, fair trade coffee, natural sodas, or your own beer and wine — no corkage fee! Get details about Andiamo’s eco-conscious efforts from this LA Times article. 2815 W. Sunset Blvd., 213.483.7070.

>> Animal. If you love to eat massive amounts of bacon — with a side of seasonal, organic produce, Animal’s for you. 435 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles. 323.782.9225.

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A twice-weekly sharing of eco-shwag.

Today’s giveaway is a copy of “Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems: Principles and Practices,” a book by Peter Newman, director of the Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, and sustainability researcher Isabella Jennings.

“Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems” is sure to inspire urban planners, permaculturists, and other big thinkers. This book names the many environmental, social, and economic challenges today’s cities face — then follows each of these up with a number of strategies for coping with or addressing these issues, along with examples of successes from around the world.

I reviewed the book here. Comment or email by Friday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Saturday. US addresses only.

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Eco-fashion’s getting reincarnated! In April, L.A. got its own Nau store at the Beverly Center — which closed in May when Nau declared it was closing shop. A month has passed, and now Nau’s back again!

Nau’s reincarnation comes thanks to a buyout from a Santa Barbara company called Horny Toad. What will happen now: The current Nau site will continue selling the summer line — at 50% off — until the end of July. The new Horny Toad-owned Nau company will relaunch Aug. 1 — but isn’t expected to start selling the fall / holiday line until October.

Nau will also no longer have its own stores, but will be selling on the web and at “select, progressive outdoor dealers and urban boutique retailers.” For more details, read Warren McLaren’s post on Treehugger.

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>> Fence editor Rebecca Wolff tells contributor to eat shit and die, then posts the entire email exchange on the Fence blog. Crazy comments ensue.

>> Latest headline re: the tomato-salmonella scare: “Eat Shit and Die: Contaminated Veggies Are the Meat Industry’s Fault.”

>> An anagram for “eat shit and die”: “and I hesitated.”

>> Sadly, nothing interesting’s been done with eatshitanddie.com, .net, or .org.

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Summer’s usually not a time when people go shopping for school or office supplies, but I always get binders at the beginning of the summer — to clean up the mess I’ve created during the school year. Now’s when I collect all the loose sheets of paper piled, filed, and randomly shoved between books and put them in some semblance of order. For those who do the same, pick from these green eco-binder options and avoid the junky vinyl crap:

TerraCycle Eco-Binders. Best known for its worm-poop fertilizer, TerraCycle’s now gone into the office supplies business — and to my knowledge, TerraCycle Eco-Binders have the highest post-consumer content of any binder out there. The recycled paper cover boasts at least 75% post-consumer recycled content, and the steel rings are made of 80% recycled material. The cover’s extremely hard and durable, but if you manage to damage it somehow, you can send it to TerraCycle for repurposing. Find these binders at your nearest OfficeMax.

ReBinders. These corrugated cardboard (at least 35% post-consumer recycled content) binders are assembled in Seattle by Northwest Center, which provides job services to disabled and disadvantaged people. Not only are the covers 100% recyclable, they are replaceable with new covers! Sustainable Group, the company that makes the ReBinders, actually offers replacement Rebinder covers, complete with a how-to guide for reattaching those metal 3-ring thingies. You can find ReBinders at Whole Foods marketed under the New Leaf label, or buy them in bulk online.

Greenback Rebinders. Also made by Sustainable Group, these Greenback Rebinders are made of chipboard (56% post-consumer recycled content) — and thus stronger than the regular ReBinders. The metal rings are removable — but Greenback covers can’t available, so you’d have to get a regular ReBinder cover to reuse the rings. The main downside of Greenback ReBinders is that they’re hard to find, unless you buy them in bulk online.

I’m officially done with school now, so this summer may mark my last binder purchase –

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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My mail dude Luis climbed the stairs on this hot day just to deliver this by hand, because he’s sweet like that:

Notice that the diploma’s post dated — I must plan another party for mid-August.

Do you know your mail deliverer’s name?

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>> Life, interrupted. Find out the odds of you dying from dangers ranging from arachnids to alcohol. You have 1 in 116 chance of dying from “Intentional self-harm,” BTW. (via utne)

>> Lottery tickets, unscratched. Ali Alvarez of I love my life the way it is likes the feeling of dreamy hope more than actually winning stuff — or likes creating an art project simply by buying lottery tickets and resisting the urge to scratch. (via Utne)

>> Cookies, uneaten — unless you show up at the 2nd Annual No Cookie left Behind bake sale happening Saturday, June 28, 2008 from noon to 4 pm Scoops, 712 N. Heliotrope Dr., Los Angeles. The sale’s part of Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale; proceeds go towards fighting childhood hunger in the U.S.

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At the moment, L.A. exploits other regions to sustain itself, according to Peter Berg of the Planet Drum Foundation:

Los Angeles gets water from the Colorado River and northern California. Its liquid natural gas is from Indonesia. A large percentage of its labor comes from Mexico. Its electrical energy is derived from coal that comes from the Four Corners area of the Southwest.

Berg’s comment is one of many eco-stress-inducing quotes in "Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems: Principles and Practices," a book by Peter Newman, director of the Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, and sustainability researcher Isabella Jennings. Yet "Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems" is still a very upbeat book, sure to inspire urban planners, permaculturists, and other big thinkers.

This book names the many environmental, social, and economic challenges today’s cities face — then follows each of these up with a number of strategies for coping with or addressing these issues, along with examples of successes from around the world. In fact, some of these examples come from the L.A. area. L.A. Ecovillage’s efforts toward sustainable urban living, the Dervaes family’s urban homestead in Pasadena, and the Santa Monica Festival Environmental Art Project all are part of the solution for creating sustainable cities, according to Newman and Jennings.

The main point of "Cities as a Sustainable Ecosystems" is that "cities need to be seen as ecosystems integrated within their wider context — communities nested within bioregions and the global biosphere." To help cities move in this direction, Newman and Jennings supply 10 main principles — and even provide a "Sustainability Checklist" at the end of the book that lets you rate your city’s progress.

Newman’s the person who coined the term “automobile dependence” in the late 1980s in reference to suburban sprawl that necessitated cars. In the 5-minute video below made late last year, hear Newman talk about how de-car-ing’s both necessary and feasible: "We just have to rediscover how cities work without so much oil."

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Thanks to everyone who came to our Summer Solstice party last night! Above are the party throwers — Summer, me, and Traci.

Miss us already? Then put July 16 in your calendar. That evening, the three of us are leading a Green Apartment Living Class, as part of Co-opportunity Community Greening Classes.

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[Part of my challenge to give something away every day for 29 days, again]

Thanks to five friends’ birthdays, the completion of a PhD, and the end of Emerald City, I had lots and lots of occasions to give — So this final day of the second 29-Day Giving Challenge is actually a list of gifts given but not yet mentioned –

Me: Every guy should have a good flask.
Summer: Every guy over 30 should have a good flask.

Matt turned 30 on Tues — and got a flask from me (actually, I think it’s still en route).

Gina too had her birthday on Tues; we celebrated with drinks and food at Bodega –

Tony gets these Sol Tumblers — made of recycled beer bottles and smallishly perfect for orange juice — for all his support and help with the Emerald City blog since he became the editor of all the blogs at LATimes.com.

Happy summer everyone! Kick off the new season by taking the 29-Day Giving Challenge yourself!

View my page on 29-Day Giving Challenge

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