To make de-car-ing more popular in L.A. we need pleasant sidewalks — but the city doesn’t make it easy for neatnik pedestrians. Steve Lopez’s latest column in the L.A. Times tells the story of one Boaz Hepner and his long quest to get some sidewalk trash cans in his neighborhood. The guy spent a lot of time calling the city and waiting on hold, pounding the pavement to get local businesses to sign on to the Adopt-A-Basket program, and organizing a neighborhood cleanup day with his city councilmember.

About a year later, he’s still waiting for some of the trash cans to arrive — and recycling bins aren’t even an available option.

The story’s both disappointing (due to the slowness of the city) and heart-warming (due to Boaz’ persistence), but what really caught my eye was a comment that Boaz left on his story:

When i mentioned the complaint of dozens of businesses that their requests to trim their storefront trees have been ignored for YEARS, the councilman’s office told me that it’s unfortunate but the city simply doesn’t have the money for it. That’s the true reality.

That comment reminded me of the tree jails I saw while walking down Washington during the Great L.A. Walk in November. Below’s a photo of one:

For a while Esther of e*star LA, H.C. of L.A. and O.C. Foodventures, and I pondered why each sidewalk tree had a costly-looking green cage around it — green cages that matched the green trash cans, but still lent every tree a sad, jailed, dont-you-dare-hug-me appearance.

The money and effort invested in these cages seemed a waste to me at the time — especially if that money and effort could have been spent trimming trees that desperately need trimming. But for all I know, perhaps the cages were necessary. Perhaps there’s a history of tree vandalism in the area?

Does anyone know the story behind the tree jails? I was going to call 311, but having just read Boaz’ story, I though asking you readers might be faster –

Okay — I just realized it’s Wednesday — but I’m putting this post up anyway.

Your turn to help me –

green LA girl and The Daily Ocean are teaming up — for a fun, social beach cleanup on Sun., Oct. 25!

The two of us — me and Sara Bayles — cleaned up the beach together for 20 minutes before. Now, you’re all invited to join us for a friendly, 20-minute beach cleanup of Santa Monica beach — sandwiched between lots of socializing over snacks and drinks with bloggers and readers. More details coming soon — but mark it down in your calendar now!

We also need a cute name for the cleanup, since all we can come up with is Siel and Sara’s Beach Cleanup. Ideas? Share them in the comments.

Update: The Blogger Beach Cleanup‘s now happening on Oct. 24, on the International Day of Climate Action. Join us!

Your turn to help me –

At long last I’m getting around to replacing my vinyl shower curtain, which I bought pre-loved via Craigslist but must get rid of because vinyl in heated environments just isn’t good for you.

Why did I put off this replacement task for so long? I can’t decide what curtain to get.

From what I can tell, hemp shower curtains get moldy pretty fast (see comments on this post). My guess is that linen curtains would have the same issue. Ruling those out unless someone lobbies strongly for them in the comments, I have 2 options:

1. EnviroCurtain recycled polyester curtain / liner. I like the idea of just having one curtain-liner, instead of having a curtain and a liner. However, I don’t know anyone who just has a single curtain-liner — and I seek assurance that the item won’t be a miserable failure like those shampoo-and-conditioner-in-one dealios.

Will this curtain-liner work as well as its doubled-up counterparts? And am I willing to welcome sustainable but somewhat crunchy looking tagua nut buttons — used instead of metal grommets — into my bathroom?

2. Organic cotton curtain with vinyl-free liner. Umbra at Grist has a polyester-and-cotton ensemble — so I’d like to go one better and get organic cotton and recycled polyester.

I found a number of organic cotton shower curtains — EnviroCurtain makes an off-white one, and Pottery Barn’s white Cameron Organic Matelasse Shower Curtain‘s my fave so far, though since an all-white shower curtain may be bad news, I may go with the Sausalito Stripe Organic Shower Curtain — so that part’s easy.

However, the only recycled polyester liner I’ve been able to find is the one above — and must be used independently because it won’t attach to metal grommets. So I’d need to go with a virgin polyester liner — available all over the place including Target — or some other non-vinyl liner like this one at Gaiam.

What shower curtain-liner combo would you get if you were me — and what do you use at home?

Images via Amazon and Pottery Barn

So what’ve you done to show for it? How’re your New Year’s resolutions going? Have you made and stuck to any eco-related changes?

Has 2009 been all you hoped it would be and more?

As you know, I fulfilled my resolution — but now I have new ones going….

Your turn to help me –

Today’s question’s simple: What prompted your interest in the environment?

How and when did your eco-interest emerge? I ask because the answers to this question relate to a hunch I have about the beginnings of enviro-consciousness…. I hope you’ll weigh in.