>> Come engage in a discussion on community land trusts and intentional housing communities. Learn about how housing can be made affordable and environmentally sustainable through community ownership of the land they live on. This is the first of this year’s Friends Peace Dialogue series by the American Friends Service Committee. Come out this Thu., Feb. 9 at 7 pm to 634 S. Spring St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles. Cost: free.

>> Recycle old fabrics, deconstruct old clothes, turn something old into something new! Learn how to make scarves bags and other items from old t-shirts at a Valentine’s Day DIY Workshop, this Thu., Feb. 9 from 3:45-4:45 pm at the Santa Monica Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Cost: free.

>> CicLAvia is hosting a Valentine’s party! Bring your Valentine – or meet a new Valentine there! There will be live music and djs, speed dating (open to all orientations and genders!), auction, swag and more! Come party this Fri., Feb. 10 from 7-10 pm at Atwater Crossing, 3245 Casitas Avenue, Los Angeles. Cost: free, but bring money for eats and treats.

>> Do you have a strong interested in becoming trained in home food preservation (such as canning, pressure canning, freezing, drying, pickling and fermenting)? Want to share this knowledge with the public? The University of California Cooperative Extension is pleased to announce the spring 2012 class of the LA County Master Food Preserver program. The application deadline is this Fri., Feb. 10 at 5 pm. Cost: free to apply online, $120 for the complete program (scholarships available).

>> This week’s Green Garden Academy topic is Lawn Be Gone (part I). Learn tips for safe lawn removal, choosing plants to replace lawn and plants for parkways this Sat., Feb. 11 from 10:30 am – 1:30 pm in the Multipurpose Room of the Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica. Cost: free.

>> Join Culver City’s mayor and the Culver City Bicycle Coalition each Monday morning to explore Culver City and beyond, by bike! Meet this Mon., Feb. 13 at 8 am at Sid Kronenthal Park by the covered tables, near the community room, 3459 McManus Ave., Culver City. Cost: free.

>> Join Heal the Bay and Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District at a gathering to recognize work done thus far to build sustainability into local schools by parents and others and that will focus on considering how to ensure institutionalized sustainability in local schools. Takes place on Mon., Feb. 13 from 7-9 pm at Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, 1600 Ocean Front Walk Santa Monica. Cost: free.

>> On the second Tuesday of every month, you’re invited to the only pure networking event for owners and decision-makers of LA’s green businesses, hosted by the Green Business Network (GBN). Delicious organic snacks, wine and non-alcoholic beverages will be available. GBN events are recycling points, so bring any old batteries, phones, or newspapers you need recycled. Join the fun next Tue., Feb. 14 from 6-9 pm at DIRTT (Doing It Right This Time) 9014 Lindblade St. Culver City. Cost: $10 when you prepay online, $15 at the door (space permitting).

[Update, 9/22/11: Apparently, this program has expanded by leaps and bounds! Now, all multifamily complexes in Culver City are included in the program, and many more bins -- which happen to be those gigantic, 3-cubic-yard bins -- are available. So if you live in an apartment or condo anywhere in Culver City, get yourself a big recycling bin now!]

Back when I started this blog, Angelenos living in multifamily residences had no city recycling program. Today, the City of L.A. offers blue bins to apartment dwellers — and the state of California may even start mandating recycling services at multifamily residences.

While we wait to see that happen, Culver City residents can take advantage of a newish free recycling program. Live in a condo or apartment complex in the Fox Hills area of Culver City? Then just sign up to get a free recycling bin, free pick up service — and maybe even free promo items like mini bins and totes to help you sort recycling within your home!

The one catch: You have to get your property owner or manager to say yes, since multifamily residences aren’t required to provide recycling services (which is why California’s looking into mandating this in the future). That said, since the service is all free, your landlord or manager might be quite inclined to sign up and feel good about providing an extra service for tenants and doing good for the environment — without spending a dime.

Act now, because Culver City’s foray into multifamily residence recycling is still just a pilot program. That means only 200 recycling bins are available, and those bins are only available to those in the Fox Hills area — a neighborhood with many multifamily residences where many people already support recycling.

Ideally, all 200 bins will be snapped up before the program ends at the end of this year — because if this pilot program’s successful, it could expand to the rest of the city. Find out more by visiting Culver City’s recycling program page — then email Paula Combs at pcombs@sga-inc.net today to start recycling!

Photo by Dan McKay

>> The Green Fair L.A. promises 200+ eco-vendors, a food court, live music and entertainment, a speaker stage, and eco-fashion show. The day-long event happens Sat., July 30 from 9:30 am to 6 pm at 300 W. 22nd St., Los Angeles. Cost: $5.50 online, $7 at the door.

>> RakSa’s Youthful Living 1st Community Health Fair will feature workshops on youth, diet, and beauty — all with an eco-friendly bent. Hear from speakers like eco-boutique Evolue owner Jean Seo and holistic healers from Raksa. There will also be mini facials, Ayurveda, reflexology, acupuncture, and hypnotherapy treatments — plus complimentary organic and vegan sweet treats. It all happens July 30 from 11 am to 4 pm. Cost: Free with RSVP to info@RaksaSala.com or 310.559.7200. Earlier: Raksa: Explore everything from Tai Chi to tarot in an eco-friendly space.

>> Unique LA’s 1st Annual Summer Show will let you shop for all sorts of handmade products, many made with upcycled, reclaimed, or otherwise sustainable materials and ingredients. The two-day event happens July 30 and 31 from 11 am to 6 pm both days at The Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. Cost: $10.

>> Want streetcars to return to downtown Los Angeles? Metro’s community update meeting for the Restoration of Historic Streetcar Service in Downtown Los Angeles Project will let you know the latest info on potential routes. That happens Tue., Aug. 2, from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at Caltrans, 1st Floor Conference Room 100 S Main St, Los Angeles.

Love organic coconut oil as much as I do? You can get a full massage with the delicious stuff at Advanced Bodywork and Massage. There, holistic health and fitness practitioner Paula McGinness uses only pure, organic coconut oil for her intense, hands-on work — making for a rich, sweet-scented, and soothing experience.

Lately, I’ve been having some extra back pain — thanks to too much time in front of the computer and not enough yoga. So when I read Paula’s extensive and impressive bio, I jumped at the chance to try a postural assessment and eco-friendly massage for review. Paula’s no regular masseuse. Yes, she’s certified in shiatsu from the Tao Healing Arts Center and Swedish massage therapy from the Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing — but she’s also certified in the more woo-woo sounding neurostructural bodywork from the Kali Institute for Massage and Somatic Therapies, where she also picked up Rolfing and Hellerwork to integrate into her massages.

That means that a massage with Paula is no regular massage. Yes, there’s the usual relaxing kneading, but Paula’s bodywork’s a lot more intense. She bent, stretched, and twisted my body to relieve tensions, instructed me to breathe into her deep, Rolfing-esque prodding, pinched skin and muscles into relaxation — and even cracked some bones! The deep, interactive session ended with a luxurious scalp massage — which had the extra bonus of moisturizing my hair with coconut oil.

Before the massage though, I got a postural assessment — which basically let me see the small habits that are causing my back pain. Paula snapped photos of my posture (above’s one), and even took a little video of me walking — then explained what I’m doing wrong. Apparently, my right hip is really tight, which is contributing the pain in my back — and perhaps even my left knee. Paula made suggestions to stop practices that could be contributing to the pain — and since she knew I did yoga, encouraged me to spend more time in pigeon and warrior poses. I left with instructions to visit her friend and fitness coach Kurt Elder’s website, which has at-home stretches and exercises for pain relief. I’ve since been doing these seven stretches for desk workers every day!

Paula works with many of her clients long-term, who seek her out to relieve pain sans drugs — so they can again enjoy doing sports and other activities that they thought (or were told by doctors) were no longer possible. I plan to become a long-term client. In the meantime, I’m taking very seriously Paula’s advice to learn to relieve my own pain at home — I’m already sitting up straighter, being more careful about my posture — and feeling extra motivated to kick my yoga practice into high gear again, since the seven stretches I’m doing are basically all included in any good yoga class.

Want Advanced Bodywork and Massage to massage away your pain? Neuro-Structural Bodywork starts at $50 per half hour ($40 for a basic massage).

Advanced Bodywork and Massage. Culver City. 310.403.1608. paulam09@msn.com. Call or email for appointment and address.

>> Didn’t know we had companies drilling for gas and oil right here in L.A.? Yes, yes we do. Watch Oil of L.A. to see what lies beneath The Grove and the Beverly Center.

>> One of those companies is Texas-based Inglewood Oil Field . That oil company promises to clean up its act in Culver City — after getting sued by local groups. I’m guessing this was a hard-won fight, but the deal doesn’t sound so great to me. We’re talking 500 new oil wells — plus fracking, potentially. According to the L.A. Times: “Although the oil company has yet to engage in hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking,’ the agreement requires the company to determine the effects that the extraction technique could have on the surrounding area.”

>> California delays its carbon-trading program until 2013. “The cap-and-trade program, championed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a centerpiece of the state’s landmark effort to cut planet-warming gases to 1990 levels by 2020. It accounts for a fifth of the planned cuts under the state’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act.”