Heard about Concord., Calif.’s money-saving — and sad and brown — Christmas tree? I took a little walk today to find a similar friend in my own ‘hood — Santa Monica’s slightly sad Christmas tree! A treehugging neighbor must have planted the scraggly yet still living tree recently.

For the rest of you — unless you went the rental or eco-reusable route — it’s time for treecycling. Don’t just set it in your alleyway at random as that’s illegal, as per L.A. Municipal Code 57.21.06! Dry trees can create a fire hazard.

Ready to part with your holiday tree? Every city in the L.A. area has its own set of rules — so follow the guidelines for your ‘hood. Remember to take off all decorations from your tree to reuse next year — That’ll also help make the chipping and mulching process go more smoothly.

Beverly Hills: Put your tree next to your trash bin on trash collection day.

Culver City: Put your tree next to your trash bin on any trash collection day before Jan 31.

Los Angeles: You’ve got 3 options:

1) Place the tree next to your green bin or the street’s curbside for collection on trash collection day,
2) Chop up the tree and put it in your green bin, or
3) Haul the tree to one of many drop off sites on Sat., Jan. 2 – Sun., Jan. 3 between 9 am – 4 pm.

Pasadena: You’ve got two options (PDF):

1) Place your tree at the curb before 7 am on your trash collection day between Jan. 4 – Jan. 15, or
2) Drop off your tree at one of two sites: Eaton Blanche Park (3100 E. Del Mar Blvd.) or Robinson Park (1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave.) between Dec. 28, 2009 – Jan. 2, 2010 from 7 am – 2 pm.

Santa Monica: You’ve got three options:

1) Drag your tree to Clover Park (25th and Ocean Park), Douglas Park (Chelsea and Wilshire), Christine Emerson Reed Park (Lincoln and California), or Los Amigos Park (5th and Hollister) any time during the month of January.
2) Drop off the tree at the City of Santa Monica Transfer Station at 2401 Delaware Ave. during 6 am – 2 pm, Mon. – Sat., or
3) Chop up your tree and put it in your green bin, if you have one.

West Hollywood: Put your tree next to your trash bin on any trash collection day on or before Jan 16.

My neighbors are apparently really happy to declare Christmas done, because the Santa Monica park near me’s already a tree graveyard!

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If you were at the Healthy Child Healthy World gala last night, you’d have seen that concern for children’s environmental health certainly brings out the celebs — though not child celebs, as the cocktail-party-and-dinner affair was really for the 21 and over crowd.

Sheryl Crow, Jessica Capshaw, Amy Smart and Ricki Lake were among the many celebrities who came to the LEED-certified Montage in Beverly Hills to show their support for the eco-health nonprofit Healthy Child Healthy World. They and many other supporters of the nonprofit came undeterred by the strong winds — which had Montage employees handing wraps to the guests trying to enjoy pre-dinner wines on the patio.

But the purpose of the gala wasn’t just to give Healthy Child Healthy World some star power. In fact, the event honored a “regular” parent, Shelby Rodriguez as the 2009 “Mom on a Mission” for her work to stop a polluting, roof-tarring project in Antelope, Calif. Read the powerful story about Shelby’s efforts to keep air cleaner in her community — despite multiple personal and scary threats — at Healthy Child Healthy World.

Know a “Mom on a Mission” in your community? The 2010 nominations are now open — so give your neighborhood activist her due praise. No, there is no “Dad on a Mission” — perhaps because we already have plenty of eco-awards that generally go to men.

I tend not to focus enviro causes that center around kids — Does a healthy world no longer matter if only adult bloggers are at stake?! :P — which is why I don’t write about Healthy Child Healthy World very often though it is an excellent locally-based nonprofit. I simply already get way too many emails about eco baby clothes and BPA-free breast pumps — perhaps because I reviewed the Healthy Child Healthy World book!

Photo of Sheryl Crow, Jessica Capshaw and Amy Smart via Healthy Child Healthy World

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A select list of upcoming eco-events that look fun to me:

>> Serious about food, environment, and social justice? Hunger Action L.A.’s offering FREE training sessions (PDF) that’ll teach you how to speak out on hunger and poverty. The first training happens Wed., April 15 at Pacoima, to be followed by April 23 in Long Beach, April 30 in Van Nuys, and May 7 in Los Angeles. The trainings are part of the preparation for Hunger Action Day (PDF), happening May 20.

>> LA Green Drinks – Silverlake/ West Hollywood happens Thurs., April 16 from 7 pm at El Cid, 4212 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Earlier: Green Drinks FAQ.

>> The CSU Veggie Bus Launch/ Earth Day Festival — featuring speakers, entertainment, and food — plus demos in planting, pruning, yoga and service projects featuring solar panel installation, an engine conversion and orchard care — happens Sat., April 18 from 10 am to 3 pm at Normandie Avenue Elementary School at 4505 S. Raymond Ave, Los Angeles

>> Topanga Earth Day will shuttle you in biodiesel cars to hear an eclectic mix of L.A. area bands, take workshops with “healers, yogis and holistic specialists,” and much more. That happens Sat., April 18 and Sun., April 19 from 10 am to sunset on both days at Topanga Community House Fair Grounds, 1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd, Topanga. Cost:$10 per day.

>> Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will have its Earth Weekend with “fun educational activities for the whole Family on Sat., April 18 and Sun., April 19 from 11 am – 6 pm at 1600 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica.

>> City of Beverly Hills’ Earth Day happens at Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market, 9300 block of Civic Center Drive on Sun., April 19 from 9 am – 1 pm.

>> Universal Studios’ Eco-Fair, a FREE event featuring elecric bike rides, cookies from solar-powered ovens, many exhibitors and educational displays happens Sun., April 19 from 10 am – 4 pm.

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Rachel Carson’s bestselling book Silent Spring inspired the modern environmental movement when it was published in 1962 — and is widely credited as the impetus behind the 1972 ban on DDT. Now, a new film about Rachel’s hoped to inspire more budding environmentalists.

Next month, A Sense of Wonder will be shown at 100 FREE screenings across the U.S. as part of National Women’s History Month. According to the film’s description, A Sense of Wonder “depicts Rachel Carson in the last year of her life, as she battles cancer and the chemical industry and focuses her final energy on getting her message to Congress and the American people in the wake of publishing Silent Spring.”

The L.A. screening will be on Thurs., March 19 at 7:30 pm at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Check A Sense of Wonder’s website to find a screening near you.

If you can’t make it to a free showing, you can buy a DVD copy of this 55-minute film on A Sense of Wonder’s website starting March 1.

Image via A Sense of Wonder

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The Subway to the Sea may not get to Santa Monica until well after 2020, but we could get dedicated bus lanes running down Wilshire by 2011, thanks to the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit Project.

We’ve already got the rapid 720 and rapid express 920 lines running down Wilshire — but because those buses share the same roads as the rest of the traffic, they don’t run as rapidly as they should. This BRT Project would create bus-only lanes during peak hours — 7-9 am and 4-7 pm — and hopefully get those red Metro buses zooming past cars in regular traffic. Drivers, then, may be enticed to stop clogging up the roads and start getting on the bus.

The one downer part of this plan: Neither Beverly Hills nor Santa Monica are included in the project at the moment. While Santa Monica tends to be transit friendly — and is just not as jammed up as other areas to begin with — traffic around the less public transit-friendly Beverly Hills sucks.

In fact, 90210’s the exact spot where the rapid buses get jammed up right now. For proof, read Wad of MetroRiderLA ’s review of the 920 line, a post which Wad says could also be titled “F— Beverly Hills. F— everything about Beverly Hills. F— Beverly Hills with the business end of a rake and Ann Coulter’s head.” Wad found that the trip from Santa Monica to Koreatown took 75 minutes: “Of this, 40 minutes was passing through Beverly Hills.” If Beverly Hills remains uninvolved with the BRT Project, the bus-only lanes would only speed up the other 35 minutes of the ride, without dealing with the main time-suck that’s making every rider and driver miserable.

On a more positive note, perhaps the time savings gained from the rest of Wilshire will be enough to get many more people out of their cars. I’m curious to find out at the meetings exactly how much Metro anticipates the time savings will be once the bus-only lanes are implemented.

Other details of the project: Between Fairfax and Western, some roads would be repaved and 11 parking spots would be eliminated. Between Barrington and Sepulveda and between Federal and Bonsall, Wilshire would be widened for an eastbound bus lane.

Assuming all goes well, Metro would approve the BRT project around summer 2009. Final design and construction would take about 2 years. The project will cost about $31.5 million, with $23.3 million coming from the Federal government and $8.2 coming from Metro and the City of LA.

Find out the details of the BRT plans and let your voice be heard at the upcoming Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit Project meetings!

* Wed., Nov. 12, 6-8 pm, Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
* Mon., Nov. 17, 6-8 pm, Westwood Presbyterian Church, 10822 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
* Tue., Nov. 18, 6-8 pm, Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Blvd., 5th Floor, Los Angeles
* Wed., Nov. 19, 6–8 pm, Felicia Mahood Center, 11338 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles

Photo by Wad / MetroRiderLA

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Wanna order a damn good organic salad for lunch from a place that checks to make sure you want your dressing tossed in or on the side AND gives you advice on what wine’ll go best with your selection? Then step in to Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop in Beverly Hills.

My friend Alison (top photo, in purple) and I stopped in last week for a late lunch. I got the Greenleaf Farm Fresh ($7.95, above), with local greens from Scarborough farms, among other fresh organic yummies.

Alison got the Antioxidant Orchard ($9.50, above), which boasted the same organic and local ideals but with a sweeter taste. Bot of us added on wild Alaskan salmon fillet for just $4 extra!

Lunch was very yummy. Picky about your salad? You can pick from a bunch of other specialty salads — or opt to build your own. Ask for wine pairing advice once you’ve got your salad picked out — and save room for dessert.

Greenleaf’s all about organic and local ingredients — and uses recycled and compostable products if you choose to get your eats to go.

Best day to try out Greenleaf’s November 3, when the restaurant’ll open for dinner for the first time. Stop by between 4 pm – 8 pm that day for a free salad!

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop. 9671 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills. 310.246.0756. M – F, 11 am – 8 pm; Sat, 11 am – 4 pm.

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Annette Bening kicked off the grand opening for the brand new TreePeople Center for Community Forestry today, waxing lyrical about how much she and her kids love TreePeople’s work educating and greening Los Angeles.

Ed Begley, Jr. also showed up, along with LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and LA City Councilmember Wendy Gruel (below, with TreePeople founder Andy Lipkis), to celebrate this 4-acre enviro-educational campus — expected to see 70,000+ visitors a year.

The Center itself’s gorgeous, with a LEED Platinum certified Conference Center, a learning center decorated with kids’ nature-inspired art work, a spacious nursery (below), and an educational urban watershed garden with interactive exhibits. Plus, a 216K-gallon underground cistern stores rainwater collected from all over the Center, including the parking lot, sloped to direct rainwater to the cistern.

During the opening ceremonies, groups of students were already taking tours around the Center. I actually heard squeals of delight when a guide (below) made it “rain” in the watershed garden to illustrate what happens to urban runoff.

The Center’s located at Coldwater Canyon Park, 12601 Mulholland Dr., Beverly Hills. The main carbon footprint issue I see, as you can imagine, is the fact that the place isn’t easy to access except by car — though I believe some TreePeople employees manage to bike up the hill. The wooden bike rack, however, sat empty while I was there.

On the upside, Wendy Gruel (above, with Annette Bening) pointed to this exact problem in her short speech — she, like most of us, had to fight traffic to get there (the last 2 miles took me a half hour) — and said the first meeting at the new Conference Center should be to discuss transportation and environment issues in the 2nd district — Her district, in which this new Center sits. 2nd district constituents: Follow up with Wendy on her initiative!

Don’t understand how the Center can have a Beverly Hills addy while being located in an LA district? Juan Villegas, Public Relations Associate for TreePeople, explained it to me. Apparently, the TreePeople buildings and yurts are located in LA — but the mailboxes sit just across the Beverly Hills border –

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