>> Only masochists would dare drive on L.A. Marathon day — but we’ve got some public transit delays due to the marathon too. Plan accordingly.

>> Just in case you missed all the other posts when I referred to this fact: I have indeed run the L.A. Marathon (photo proof right!). It was in 2005, in 04:59:39. I plan to run it again in 2015 to beat a younger me.

>> One of my favorite people, Tracy Hepler of local eco-website Your Daily Thread, is running the marathon today. Encourage her along the 26.2 miles!

>> And just so you know, I — and Tracy, whatever her finish time ends up being — would have run the race a lot faster if it weren’t for air pollution in L.A. Apparently, women more affected than men by air pollution when running marathons (via Treehugger).

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The first thing that’ll wow you at Better Life Cuisine is the water — the delicious, fruit-infused water.

We’re not talking a simple lemon spritz. Better Life takes its unbottled water seriously, steeping it with yummy, flavorful, organic fruits. Just as soon as you sit down, a reusable glass of this thirst-quencher will be placed before you — and your meal will only get better from there.

A mere block from the famed raw restaurant Juliano’s Raw, Better Life’s a raw, organic, vegan restaurant for the masses — meaning that the place has crowd-pleasing nibbles at affordable prices. I stopped by here on Friday with my friend Jolia, Associate Editor at Vegetarian Times, and enjoyed a sumptuous healthy meal at a quiet restaurant that has yet to be discovered by the regular health-conscious Santa Monica crowd.

Better Life’s so committed to organic, raw, vegan food that it actually labels the items that aren’t organic. Granted, only one item — the coconut juice — gets that label, but this goes to show how eco-friendly the restaurant is.

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>> Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow! Here are 11 green ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Los Angeles.

>> The fourth annual Green Lifestyle Film Festival promises a weekend of inspiring eco-themed films, healthy food, and creative entertainment. Experience it all from March 19 – 21 at the James Bridges Theater at the University of California, Los Angeles.

>> Come learn and talk about pedestrian-friendly streets, healthy livable communities, economic development, and more at the 2010 LA Street Summit: Biking, Walking and Beyond. The summit’s free, and happens Sat., March 20, 10:30 am – 5 pm at  L.A. Trade Tech College, 400 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles

>> Take a FREE tour of LEED Platinum certified homes in Santa Monica. Santa Monica has 6 of about 150 LEED Platinum homes in California. During this tour, the architect or owner of the homes will answer questions about sustainable features and the green building process. The tour happens Sat., March 20 from 10 am – 3 pm. RSVP required on Eventbrite to get a map of the homes.

>> See green fashions on the runway at the The Green Initiative Humanitarian Fashion Show, which will benefit Green Youth Movement, a student-run organization with the goal of eco-educating teens. The show happens Sat., March 20 starting at 1 pm at Sunset Gower Studios, 1438 N. Gower, Los Angeles. Cost: $25.

>> TreeHugging Day II — with a public group tree hug and tree hugging march — happens Sat., March 20 from noon to 1 pm at Palisades Park at Ocean Ave. and Colorado Ave., Santa Monica.

>> Take a class called “The Native Plant Garden: An Artist’s View” with Andreas Hessing, artist and landscape designer, who’ll help you “explore a personal approach to landscape design that incorporates artistic expression and practicality with green construction strategies.” The class happens Sat., March 20 from 1 pm – 3 pm at The G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice.. Cost: $30 ($25 for Theodore Payne Foundation members). Call 818.768.1802 to register.

>> Learn from a free seminar, Secrets of Growing Delicious Heirloom Tomatoes, in time for the tomato season. The free class happens Sun., March 21 from 9 am – 10 am at the Ocean View Farms Community Garden’s’ 6th Annual Tomato-bration in West L.A. on S. Centinela at Rose Ave.

>> See a free screening of Tapped, an eco-documentary about bottled water, preceded by a new film from Surfrider Foundation and followed by a presentation from Marcus Erikson of 5 Gyres. Part of the Venice Green Film Series, this event begins Sun., March 21 at 7:15 pm at Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice.

>> Volunteer for the Orange Line bike study, happening March 24 and 27. According to Metro’s blog The Source, “Volunteers will survey bike riders, walkers and car drivers who utilize Orange Line park-and-ride lots. Volunteers also will count bike and pedestrian trips on the Orange Line’s bikeway.”

Photo by swanksalot

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>> Walking in Beverly Hills. NetWalks & Co | Troop 90210 invites everyone who works, lives, or plays in Beverly Hills to join its weekly morning walks. Meet up every Wednesday morning at 7:30 am at the fountain at Santa Monica and Wilshire for a brisk 1-hour walk. Earlier: Discover One Mile Radius living.

>> Running in Los Angeles. The L.A. Marathon’s sold out for the first time in its 25-year history! I ran it in 2005 — and may again in 2015. Will you be running the marathon this year?

>> Making pedestrian life pretty.An iPhone app called CitySourced lets you quickly report potholes and graffiti. Just snap a photo, tag it with a GPS location, and send the info to the city. Currently in San Jose, the L.A. version’s hoped to launch later this month. The bad news is that the city plans to fill 80,000 fewer potholes this year, due to budget shortages.

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>> Santa Monica’s celeb-studded sushi spot The Hump could be shut down for serving endangered Sei whale meat, after Heal the Bay president Mark Gold called them out. The restaurant’s on city property, which means the city can terminate its lease if restaurant owners commit a crime. More in two weeks, after the city investigates the issue.

>> Love Tender Greens‘ local, organic produce paired with organic wines? A new Tender Greens location opens at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood today.

>> Grace restaurant will move to downtown L.A. later this year — and plans to get up to a quarter of its produce from its own garden. to the rectory of St. Vibiana’s later this year, Owner Neal Fraser “has an idea for taking diners into the garden to pick, say, five ingredients for a tasting menu.” This feature article from the L.A. Times also highlights the green efforts of many other local restaurants, including Tender Greens, York, Comme Ca, Napa Valley Grille, and Mixt Greens.

>> The City of L.A.’s growing gardeners with a green gardener training course intended to give eco-friendly and marketable skills to lower-income residents:

Thirty-one gardeners participated in the pilot training program that began late last year, and 89 are expected to be trained soon through the program, which was funded with $250,000 in federal stimulus money, through the city’s Community Development Department, and conducted in partnership with the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California, an immigrant education group.

Earlier: A Green landscape design contest — and 6 free green garden events

Photo by Jory .

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Last year’s LA Bike Summit brought together an impressive number of cyclists from all over the city — and this year the event’s expanded to become 2010 LA Street Summit: Biking, Walking and Beyond!

Come learn and talk about pedestrian-friendly streets, healthy livable communities, economic development, and more — all with like minded Angelenos. The summit’s free, but if you pre-register by Mon., March 15, you get a free lunch!

When: Sat., March 20, 10:30 am – 5 pm
Where: L.A. Trade Tech College, 400 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles
Cost: FREE — with free lunch if you pre-register by Mon., March 15

I was on the “Bike Blogs and More: Electronic Communications Panel” panel at LA Bike Summit last year, and wish I’d gotten up early to make the morning sessions too. This year, I will! Morning speakers include Carl Anthony, founder of Urban Habitat, and Charlie Gandy, the Mobility Coordinator for the City of Long Beach.

The afternoon features 3 sessions, each with lots of different workshops to pick from. Foodies might want to go to “Moving People to Good Food and Good Food to People,” pedestrian advocates to “Changing Communities Through Walkability Assessments,” environmental health activists to “Making the Health Connection.” Many workshops address specific neighborhoods — like Thai Town or Glendale — or very specific issues — like taco trucks or bike racks.

The main summit happens all day on Saturday, but a pre-summit event featuring Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City’s Commissioner of Transportation, will kick things off on Thurs., March 18 at 7:30pm at Keck Theater at Occidental College.

See you at the Summit!

Photo by Lisa Newton

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Nearly 10% of L.A. County residents need food assistance — yet perfectly good food gets thrown in dumpsters around our city every day — which has environmentalists and freebie seekers alike dumpster diving for free food.

Freeganism’s not new news anymore — but a film about freeganism is! It’s called Dive!. Watch the preview’s below (via MNN):

Dive! is screening in L.A.-area venues this month:

>> Thurs., March 11 at 7 pm Conscientious Projector screening at Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. FREE.

>> Sat., March 13, 6:15 pm at the 15th Annual International Family Film Festival, Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Tickets cost $10 each.

>> Mon., March 15 at 7:30 pm as part of 7 Dudley Cinema at The Talking Stick, 1411 Lincoln Blvd., Venice. FREE.

More screenings will happen in April and May, if you can’t make these. I like the idea of freeganing, but I tend to be very afraid of food-borne illnesses, since recalls even on food still on supermarket shelves seem to happen every month. The L.A. Times recently reported that food-borne illnesses really cost you:

A new consumer research report released Wednesday has found that the health-related costs of food-borne illnesses total $152 billion a year, including the costs of medical bills, lost wages and lost productivity.

Get ill and you could end up spending a lot more than you saved on your freegan food. So to freegan more safely, read Leah Koenig’s dos and don’ts of dumpster diving.

Freeganing not adventurous enough for you? Try being a frugan — a frugal vegan, according to one Katherine Fairfax Wright, who dumpster dives for her animal-product-free eats and resells salvaged trashed goods at a profit. She blogs at Frugal Living.

Earlier:
>> Dumpsters get popular: Freegans and junk yard tours
>> Book Review: The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved

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>> Take a FREE Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Garden Class on Wed., March 10 from 6 pm – 9 pm at Hostelling International Santa Monica, 1436 Second St., Santa Monica. RSVP required; contact oceanfriendlygardens@surfriderwlam.org or 310.694.8351 with first and last name, phone number and email address.

>> Co-opportunity’s also having a Free Gardening Event featuring Darren Butler and Margaret Oakley on Thurs., March 11 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the Santa Monica Main Public Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica.

>> Just in time for World Water Day, catch a free screening of Tapped — a film that “examines the role of the bottled water industry and its’ effects on our health, climate change, and our reliance on oil” — on Thurs., March 11 from 7 pm – 11 pm at Santa Monica College’s AET campus, Room 235, 1660 Steward St., Santa Monica. Here’s L.A. Creek Freak Joe Linton’s review. (via The Daily Ocean)

>> Join me at The Organic Center’s 7th Annual VIP Benefit Dinner — themed “Dirt + Water + Sun” — featuring Andrew Weil and other eco-foodie luminaries. The Organic Center’s a fantastic nonprofit that does scientific research and education about organic food and farming — and this party will feature a cocktail reception with organic hors d’oeuvres, live jazz from Mattson Two, and an organic family-style dinner from Pace Restaurant. The party begins Fri., March 12 at 7 pm at the Platinum Ballroom of the Anaheim Mariott Hotel in Anaheim. Cost: $175 per person.

>> Celebrate World Water Day a few days early at World Water Day Los Angeles, a FREE all-day event happening Sun., March 14 from 9:30 am – 3:30 pm at the Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles.

>> Tour the L.A. River with Friends of the Los Angeles River! See the waterway up close, find out about its revitalization plans, and get a lesson on L.A. eco-history. Meet up Sun. March 14, at 9:30 am at the River Center, 570 W Ave. 26, Los Angeles to form carpools and caravan around until 4 pm. Cost: $25, or $20 for FoLAR members. RSVP required to Shelly at mail@folar.org or 323-223-0585.

>> Come hear me speak on BREATHE LA Green Salon panel — “AB 32.0 and the Rise of Green Digital Media” — on Tues., March 16, 9 am – 10:30 am at the California Endowment Center, 1000 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles. Free with RSVP.

>> Did you win tickets to see a free screening of LIFE? Then I’ll see on on Tues., March 16 at The Landmark!

>> Catch a free sneak preview of Dirt! The Movie on Tues., March 16 in the Silver Screen Room of the Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. The event will kick off with an organic reception at 7 pm, followed by a screening at 7:30 pm and a Q&A with the filmmakers. RSVP’s required at KCET.

>> Happy St. Patrick’s Day on March 17! Here are 11 green ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Los Angeles.

>> Weigh in on Metro Westside Subway Extension’s Optional Crenshaw Station. Should the purple line have a stop at Crenshaw or not? Weigh in while the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report’s underway. The meeting happens on St. Patrick’s Day, Wed., March 17 from 6 pm – 8 pm at Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

>> Fight the threat of offshore oil drilling with Surfrider Foundation and Environment California. Get to an educational meeting where staff from Surfrider Foundation and Environment California, as well as environmental activists and local community members, will come together to discuss what the threats associated with drilling are, and how communities can fight them. The meeting happens on St. Patrick’s Day, Wed., March 17 from 7 pm – 8 pm at Santa Monica Library – Fairview Branch, 2101 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica.

Image via tappedthemovie.com and kcet.org

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Do you dream of sustainable urban landscapes when you sleep? Then I hope you don’t live in Orange County, which is just waking up to the fact that maybe mandating gas-guzzling lawns isn’t the best idea when we’ve got water shortages. Other SoCal cities are more water-wise, however, and want your help to get wiser yet. So enter the City of Santa Monica Landscape Design Contest and turn your dream into reality!

The city wants to install 3 new demonstration gardens at 3200 Airport Ave., across from Airport Park — and is crowdsourcing the design. According to the city press release:

These landscape designs must be simple to recreate, yet sustainable water-efficient garden design templates. Participating designers are encouraged to base their layouts on local neighborhood communities in Santa Monica, i.e., Ocean Park, Sunset, North of Montana, and incorporate outdoor living room features, elements from Mediterranean and shade gardens, climate appropriate plants, as well as permeable paving options. Recommendations for scaling up or down the garden design template to match appropriate neighborhood lot sizes should also be included.

Get your design in by Mon., March 15 for a chance to see your dream grow — literally.

Don’t feel confident enough to tackle a landscape design challenge? Maybe you will, after a couple free gardening classes — both happening next week before the contest deadline:

>> Take a FREE Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Garden Class and learn about sustainable landscaping practices that will curb urban runoff and ocean pollution. The class — featuring light snacks — happens Wed., March 10 from 6 pm – 9 pm at Hostelling International Santa Monica, 1436 Second St., Santa Monica. RSVP required; contact oceanfriendlygardens@surfriderwlam.org or 310.694.8351 with first and last name, phone number and email address.

>> Co-opportunity’s also having a Free Gardening Event featuring Darren Butler and Margaret Oakley that will teach you about techniques for sustainable and edible gardening. Be there on Thurs., March 11 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the Santa Monica Main Public Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica.

Gardening goodness doesn’t end there. Put these yummy events into your calendar for the Spring:

>> Learn from a free seminar, Secrets of Growing Delicious Heirloom Tomatoes, in time for the tomato season. The free class happens Sun., March 21 from 9 am – 10 am at the Ocean View Farms Community Garden’s’ 6th Annual Tomato-bration in West L.A. on S. Centinela at Rose Ave.

>> Take the 100 Gardens Challenge and pledge to plant your own edible garden during the weekend of April 24 and 25! I took this challenge last year — and I’m proud to say that my year-old chard plants are still going strong (though the basil died really fast and the lettuce barely grew). Help transform L.A. into an edible oasis over just one weekend by planting that garden — or get involved now with the Westside Permaculture Group, the organization behind this challenge, and help organize the big event.

>> Then head over to the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase and take a self-guided tour on foot or by bike to see pretty, eco-friendly gardens that save water — and money on utility bills. The free event happens on Sun., April 25 and is open to all; a map will be posted closer to date.

Earlier:
>> Book Review: Fresh Food From Small Spaces – Balcony gardens, simplified
>> Urban lawn garden in Santa Monica

Photo by Anika Malone

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Originally written on Sept. 2, 2005, this post is constantly updated and occasionally reposted at Siel’s whim.

Put down The Secret. Here’s the green Angeleno’s guide to the good life:

Eat & Drink

1. Get caffeinated. Drink coffee that tastes better and does good. Find your local organic fair trade coffee shop — or if you must go to Starbucks, take the Starbucks Challenge.

2. Dare to eat a peach — a fresh juicy one from a local farm. Enjoy the tastiest, most eco-friendly fruits and veggies possible — without going out of your way.

3. Get your protein. Opt for grass-fed, free range, organic, and local meat, milk, and eggs, stick to sustainable seafood, and go easy on the highly processed veg meats.

4. Do happy hour. Find out how to green your drink — from beer to wine to shots to cocktails and beyond.

5. Indulge in dessert. Eat ice cream, sorbet, and chocolate. Fair trade and organic options are easy to find now –

6. Learn to cook. Take a local, organic cooking class. There’s bound to be one suited to your diet and lifestyle.

7. Treat yourself. Dine out at an eco-friendly restaurant — or get organic meals delivered to your doorstep.

8. Lose the junk. Try an eco-friendly diet — or just get motivated to get the scary crap out of your body.

Get Around

1. Take a walk — It’s sunny out! Easiest way to get walking more often: Live in a walkable spot. But wherever you are, discover one-mile-radius living.

2. Bike it. My pink townie saves me lots of money and parking hassles — and the Los Angeles biking community’s helpful and friendly.

3. Ride easy — whether on bus or rail. Some bus routes will actually get you to your destination faster and cheaper than in a car, especially if you account for the driving time spent looking for parking — and the money spent paying for it.

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