1. Find your love for wheels. Two wheels, that is. Singular, a magazine for happily single people, is organizing a Valentine’s Day Beginner’s Mountain Bike Ride in the L.A. area. Bike 5-6 miles through the Sullivan Canyon in Brentwood on Valentine’s Day from 10 am to 1 pm. Plus, Singular magazine can be a great Valentine’s Day gift for all your happily single friends.

2. Make art for the environment’s sake. Clear your Saturday night for Lucent L’Amour, an annual “visionary lovefest” with art exhibits, bands, and other live performances happening this year at the Shrine in Los Angeles. In the midst of all the entertainment will be Lighting in a Paintcan, when 20 live painters will create art pieces with used and recycled paint. A silent auction during the event lets attendees bid on the pieces — with the proceeds going to buy art and music supplies for local underfunded schools. Support eco-art and a future generation of local musicians and artists too, while enjoying the lovely spectacle.

3. Lust after free fair trade yummies. WorldofGood.com’s giving away 15 fair trade gift baskets — worth $98 each — filled with a handmade bear, chocolates, cocoa, and candles. To win, all you have to do is reveal who you’re going to give the gift basket to and why in 75 words or less.

Winners will be judged on a “variety of factors including, but not limited to, originality, humor, sincerity and/or desperation” — so a humorous note about why you sincerely deserve to eat the entire gift basket yourself could work. Enter by Feb. 7 — and even if you don’t win, you’ll get a coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase of fair trade goodies from WorldofGood.com.

4. Embrace public transit and celebrate Valentine’s Day a few days early by taking the bus or train to the Move LA Valentine Celebration. The local pro public transit nonprofit is raising funds while celebrating car-free travel in L.A. with music from KCRW’s Tom Schnabel, live music from Latin salsa band Opa Opa, and more. The party begins Thurs., Feb. 11 from 6 pm – 10 pm at The Center at Cathedral Plaza, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. $50 gets you in.

5. Spread the handmade love. Why buy a single Valentine for one person when you can get bargain package deals on Etsy for all your lovers? At the L.A.-based Marmoset shop, get a pair ($4) — or quartet ($8) — of handmade Valentines crafted with upcycled and reclaimed paper to send to everyone you love — in post-consumer recycled brown kraft envelopes, of course.

6. Have a crayon heart. Want little gifts to go with those cards? An instructables member who goes by Some Art Mama’s put up photo-illustrated, step-by-step instructions for turning old crayons into pretty little hearts. Collect old crayons and a few simple supplies — and a little messy work later, and your homemade, eco-friendly, pretty-as-well-as-useful gifts will be ready.

7. Find love for your glove. Lost a glove? Find your widowed glove a mate by sending it in to Glove Love, a cute little initiative by a green website called Do The Green Thing that pairs up single gloves with sorta-matching partners. Jasmin Chua at Ecouterre calls it a “matchmaking service for lovelorn mitts.” You can also buy a pair of pre-loved, mix-and-matched Glove Love gloves for £5.

The bad news: As you may have guessed from the “£,” Glove Love’s in the U.K. A closer-to-home green glove idea’s to plan a Valentine’s Day clothing swap — that includes lonely accessories like single earrings and gloves, or if you’re bold, shoes — to mix-and-match or upcycle.

8. Get green bling. Have too much room in your jewelry box after upcycling the earrings sans partners? Keep your shopping eco-friendly by opting for recycled and ethically-sourced jewelry. I love my Peace Love Earth recycled sterling silver necklace from Annatarian (right, $60), and have my eye on a recycled Silver Butterfly Pendant from Brilliant Earth ($50). Of course, buying pre-loved jewelry is an even greener option — so don’t forget about my guide to pre-loved fashion shopping in Santa Monica!

9. Give with chocolate. Yes, that “with” is supposed to be there, because why would you give chocolate to others when you can eat the perfectly delicious stuff yourself? Okay — Nicobella’s organic fair trade vegan dark chocolate truffles (my review here) come in a pack of six, so sharing does actually come easy — but purchase a $27 duet pack of these and $2 will be donated to help the victims of Haiti through the Happy Hearts Fund, thus letting give with your chocolate while eating it too.

Get the pack by emailing nichole@nicobellaorganics.com or calling 609.792.5231. Fair trade chocolate, by the way, also gives chocolate producers a fairer share of the profits from the money you spent on the delectable desserts.

10. Write a love poem. The Valentine Peace Project collects poems about peace and love, written by individuals who want to share peace and love. Anyone can write a poem to contribute to the project, whether online or in their neighborhoods.

Photos via marmoset/Etsy, Do the Green Thing, Nicobella, Singular, WorldofGood.com

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Do you know Crayola’s Law? It’s simple: The number of colors doubles every 28 years! (via Kottke)

Which makes an environmentalist wonder: What happens to all these crayons and their often strangely-named colors when they get too stubby to draw with? Colorful eco-thinkers have been turning old crayons into new, pretty crayons for years — and an enterprising green company called Crazy Crayons even has a national crayon recycling program for those too lazy to melt down the bits and ends themselves.

But for eco-crafty people into upcycling — and saving money — here’s a crayon upcycling idea perfect for Valentine’s Day: Turn them into colorful Valentine’s Day gifts!

An instructables member who goes by Some Art Mama’s put up photo-illustrated, step-by-step instructions for turning old crayons into pretty little hearts. In addition to old crayons, you’ll need melting cans (upcycled soda cans!), wooden sticks (upcycled popsicle sticks, perhaps?), a large pan, and a mold with heart shapes. A little messy work later, and your homemade, eco-friendly gifts will be ready.

I wish I had old crayons just to make these myself! If this post’s inspired you to go out and buy crayons, however, opt not for new paraffin-wax Crayolas but for soy wax-based, beeswax-based, or recycled crayons — like those made by Crayon Rocks, Stockmar Beeswax Crayons, and Crazy Crayons.

Photos by Some Art Mama via Instructables

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If you’ve watched The Corporation, then you’ve heard Ray Anderson, the CEO of carpet company Interface, talk about the green awakening that led him to radically change the way the company does business. Ray (above right) is now a famous eco-minded industrialist who speaks often about how environmental and economic interests can go hand in hand — and Interface is a highly successful company that’s shrunk its carbon footprint while growing its bottom line.

And last night, Ray was in Santa Monica at the first LEED platinum certified prefab home in the U.S. — owned by Steve Glenn (above left), CEO of green pre-fab housing company LivingHomes — to talk sustainable business and sign his new book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose – Doing Business by Respecting the Earth. An intimate crowd came to hear Ray and buy copies of the book — and were given blue booties to wear to keep the house dry, as you can see if you look carefully at the photo below. Yes, we do odd things here when it rains –

During his brief talk, Ray shared the toughest question he’d ever gotten at a Q&A session:

I got this question from way in the back — “Hey Ray, in a sustainable world, do you think that there will be a place carpets?” I was flummoxed. I had no answer for him. I mumbled something incoherent. And then I thought later what I wish I had said…

What was Ray’s too-late comeback? “Yes — There will be a place for Interface products (laughs) … because we are in the business of selling beauty and comfort to lift human spirits and make people happy. And if we can do that sustainably — and only, only if we can do that sustainably — then yes we have a space for us.”

Didn’t get an invite to last night’s event? Then clear tonight’s schedule to ear from Ray at the Sustainable Business Council L.A.’s event. Register now for the event, which happens Thurs., Jan. 21 from 8 pm – 10 pm at UCLA Korn Hall at the Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles. Cost: $25 — or $60 if you want the VIP package, which includes a pre-event reception, autographed copy of Ray’s new book and a private Q&A.

Photos by Siel; book image via Macmillan

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What is eco-friendly about cooking brats with a flamethrower? Well, if the resulting mess inspires you to create yummy dishes out of ingredients generally considered inedible…. These are the kind of strange food antics you’ll see in Future Food, a crazy new cooking show that will debut on Discovery’s Planet Green channel in March.

Future Food stars Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche — two chefs at MOTO restaurant in Chicago who concoct bizarre dishes by using unexpected technology and inventing new cooking methods — practicing “molecular gastronomy” to create “postmodern cuisine.”

But how exactly are lasers, ion particle guns, and liquid nitrogen really part of eco-friendly cuisine? Well, while these tools and ingredients aren’t exactly ones you’d use to put together an organic salad with farmers’ market produce, they’re components that can draw attention to eco-foodie issues on an entertaining cooking show. In one episode, the chefs make burgers not from meat, but from the stuff a cow eats, thereby shortening the food chain. In another, the chefs create brats out of composter-bound scraps like peanut shells and potato peels, thereby turning “trash” into food.

Most episodes seem to involve some sort of taste-test competition at the end, pitting Future Food chefs’ concoctions against their “conventional” counterparts. And at the Discovery 25th anniversary celebration reception last night, I got to taste some Future Food: a few seafood concoctions — made without fish to draw attention to overfishing and mercury contamination!

The postmodern bites were pretty tasty, though I’m not sure I’d mistake them for real sushi. The Japanese BBQ Maki was the most believable with a fish-esque tang and texture; the Watermelon Nigiri was sweet and chewy — like a watermelon-flavored jerky. Afterwards, I nibbled on the salty edible menu (below) for dessert!

Curious about postmodern cuisine? Watch Future Food when it debuts on March 30 on Planet Green — but think twice before trying the antics in your home kitchen.

Top 3 photos by Planet Green/David Nicolas; bottom 2 photos by Siel

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Love to DJ — and have a dozen friends who love to hear you DJ enough to run on hamster wheels in hot weather? Then get in touch with eco-educational nonprofit Global Inheritance for your chance to spin a half-hour set at Coachella.

The last time I went to Coachella Music & Art Festival was in 2005 — and I remember a lot of traffic and a lot of trash. But the last few years, the popular music fest’s been slowly greened up by Global Inheritance, which combines art, fun, and play to promote environmental concerns.

You may remember Global Inheritance for its environmental theme park Environmentaland, public transit friendly concert series Public Displays of Affection, or its Re:cycled Tweets social media fundraiser. Thanks to the nonprofit, concertgoers have been able to get to Coachella by train, charge up cell phones with bicycle power and enjoy eco-themed art installations.

This year, Global Inheritance plans to make even more green noise at Coachella with the Sweat Shop, an initiative that gives eco-minded DJs a chance to spin on equipment juiced up by human power. Would-be DJs have to recruit a dozen friends to ride bikes and see-saws, turn hand cranks, and run on hamster wheels to power their music career, literally!

Have 12 friends ready to sweat it out at Coachella? Email sweatshopMIXER@globalinheritance.org with your website for consideration. If you’re chosen, you’ll need to reserve your spot with a $50 deposit — which will be refunded after you and your friends successfully power and perform your set.

More of a quiet visual artist than a noise-making DJ? Then help green up Coachella by redesigning the 96-gallon recycling bins for Global Inheritance’s getTRASHED program — so that people won’t be able to resist using them. Email coachella@globalinheritance.org with a link to your artwork, concept, or website. On Jan. 31, Global Inheritance will pick 20 designs plus 5 alternates — and the artists will get tickets and VIP passes to Coachella. After the big weekend, the redesigned bins will be placed in Southern California schools to inspire a new generation of recyclers.

Image via Global Inheritance; photo by misterjt

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Can a fabby gay couple from the city become fabby biodynamic farmers? Apparently yes, at least in a new Planet Green show dubbed The Fabulous Beekman Boys. Those boys are Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge, two out and proud urban men who decide to try homesteading at an upstate New York farm, a.k.a. Beekman 1802.

Here’s a show I wish was airing now, while all the Prop 8 shenanigans are going on in California. “Who says gays can’t raise kids?” say the couple — while bottle-feeding a baby goat!

The Fabulous Beekman Boys doesn’t begin airing until June, but I got to see a few clips at the Television Critics Association Cable Tour Panel earlier today. What I learned: Urbanites look funny when they try to farm. We see Josh and Brent buy a pair of cute piglets — that nimbly escape and tear across the farm, with the would-be farmers chasing after them in wide-eyed panic.

Luckily, the guys have the help of one Farmer John, who loves his goats so much he tears up while talking about them. On a panel at the TCA event, Josh and Brent talked about how the milk from Farmer John’s 80 goats got them making yogurt and cheese — then crafting goat milk soap (“It really was the best soap that we’d ever used”) — then starting a small soap business — then getting into arguments about all the work this eco-friendly endeavor entails. Because Josh is still works full time in the city while Brent plans big events and projects at the farm, the couple ends up bickering fairly often on the show about how they spend their weekends.

Organic farming may not always be idyllic, but from what I’ve seen, The Fabulous Beekman Boys promises to be entertaining, often hilarious, and hopefully full of tasty organic, homegrown food. I’m told we’ll get to taste some food from the Beekman farm at a reception tonight; I’ll report back with a taste test!

Photos by Chris Ramirez and Joao Canziani for Planet Green

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Why pay a tailor to sew a loose button back on, when it’s cheaper to just buy a new top at Forever 21? That’s the sort of decision would-be fashionistas make these days, ignoring the fact that cheap fashion looks, well, cheap.

So how does a frugal girl afford to look good? By sewing her own buttons, of course. And how does she eat well on the cheap? By making her own fluffy pancakes.

That’s the idea behind How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew, a fun girly DIY book by Erin Bried, a senior staff writer at Self magazine. This book’s got how-to instructions for more than 100 projects, ranging from very specific beauty tips like “How to Wear Red Lipstick,” to financial challenges like “How to Start a Rainy Day Fund,” to more nebulous, lifetime goals like “How to Make Friends.”

I, of course, wanted to start off with the booze-related goals. But “How to Make Dandelion Wine” had this little crazy bit hidden near the end of the instructions: “Set it in a dark closet for about 6 weeks.” What?! I thought “How to Brew Your Own Beer” would be better — but that one still required a 2-week wait. Lacking patience, I started with the very first how-to in the book: “How to Make Blueberry Pancakes.”

Of course, I didn’t have blueberries on hand. Those fruits haven’t been in season for months! Thus, when I read step 1 of the instructions — “If you’ve got the blueberries, chances are you’ve also got everything else you need to make these tasty flapjacks for two” — I knew I was in trouble. No, I didn’t have an egg in the house. Nor milk, canola oil, sugar, or flour. I did, however, have salt — and some old, clumpy baking powder!

So I went shopping — and started substituting. Soy milk stood in for cow’s milk, fair trade organic olive oil from Alter Eco for canola oil, and raspberries that happened to come in my ParadiseO delivery for blueberries.

(more…)

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>> How to make magic happen by lipsynching: Lipsynch backwards. That’s how some high school students defy gravity while mouthing the words to “You Make My Dreams Come True.” (via LAT Technology)

Remember when we’d have time to plan out shenanigans like this back in high school — except we didn’t have YouTube then?

>> How to get subway takers on the stairs: Make musical stairs. Apparently, 66% more people will exercise if music-making’s involved! (via The Source)

>> How musicians drink beer: Blow for the Bowen Beer Bottle Band. My friends Summer and Matt threw a party where everyone was given an instrument — the beer bottle — to perform a Christmas carol.

I got to the party way too late to join in, but in time give the Bowen cats their holiday gift — knitted mousies upcycled from very ugly socks I got as a holiday gift one year.

To the right are Matt and Goat putting the gift to good use.

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The Copenhagen Climate Talks closed last week with the sinking hopes of many enviro-groups who, expectedly, called the summit a failure — and with a “sinking” mural by world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy.

“I don’t believe in global warming,” reads Banksy’s new mural — with the bottoms of the letters painted below the water, as if sinking in disbelief. That message is one of four new Banksy works painted on the Regent’s Canal in Camden, north London, according to the BBC. (via Social Vibe)

Not sure what exactly went down in Copenhagen? Fellow MNN blogger Karl Burkhart’s post has skinny on the Copenhagen Accord, the non legally or politically binding agreement with no real timeline many enviro groups are upset about.

But don’t despair — The fight isn’t over yet. Ken Ward at Grist notes that although the Copenhagen Accord is basically “utterly useless language, unenthusiastically scrabbled together in hours by 5 out of 192 nations,” a few good things basically came out of it — namely, global acceptance of the fact of global warming, and the fear and clarity that we really need to start working to mitigate global climate change. NRDC’s Jake Schmidt is hopeful that the Accord will be “further fleshed out in the coming months.” And Geoffrey Lean of London’s Daily Telegraph goes so far as to outline 7 steps that need to be taken as we work toward a real, binding international climate deal.

Sign up at 350.org to stay on top of the news and keep fighting for a fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement.

Earlier:
>> Stay an eco-activist after Blogger Beach Cleanup — and the Copenhagen Accord
>> Disillusioned in but hopeful after Copenhagen
>> Californians in Copenhagen

Photo by unusualimage

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Walk around One Colorado in Old Town Pasadena tomorrow after sunset, and you’ll notice a glowing curiosity: Empty storefronts illuminated with eco-themed videos.

That public art show’s part of an eco-art installation dubbed “Don’t Blow It/A Rising Tide” by artist Alex Kritselis and filmmaker Joey Forsyte, husband-and-wife collaborators. The videos depict a climate-changed, flooded world, complete with submerged consumer goods floating whimsically through rising oceans.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of “Don’t Blow It/A Rising Tide” is its playful, somewhat anti-consumerist message — displayed on storefronts closed up by the recession — right alongside open stores inviting holiday shoppers to buy. In one video displayed on a storefront window, an upscale handbag “drowns” in a flooded world. Right next to that exhibit’s a bright store window — spotlighting new must-buy accessories of the season.

Kritselis says the irony was unintended, though interesting. Irony or not, the regular passerby’s likely to be flummoxed by the videos at first. After all, Kritselis and Forsyte made sure not to hit pedestrians over the head with an eco-didactic message. Some explanatory signs will be placed around One Colorado, but Forsyte says she simply hopes people will see, stop, look, and think — something holiday shoppers aren’t particularly encouraged to do very often.

Thousands are expected to see this exhibit, since it’ll be up during the Rose Bowl Parade. Frequent shoppers need not fear art-boredom, since new videos will be put up at least once a week, with new eco messages and ideas.

Stop by tomorrow, Thurs., Dec. 17, to see the artists ambling about One Colorado on the official opening day of the exhibit. “Don’t Blow It/A Rising Tide” will be projected every night from sunset to 1 am starting until Jan. 3. Don’t live anywhere near Pasadena? See the videos on the artists’ Facebook page.

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