>> Sustainable Works’ 2012 Los Angeles Green Living Workshops are back this year! Get solutions to some of today’s greatest environmental challenges and save money in the process. The first workshop is this Wed., Jan. 25 from 7 – 8:30 pm at G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice. Cost: free for residents of Santa Monica and Los Angeles Districts 5 & 11. Register online.

>> Steve Glenn, founder and CEO of LivingHomes, gives the talk “High Design; Low Impact. Building LivingHomes” on modern, prefabricated homes that combine world-class architecture with an unparalleled commitment to healthy and sustainable construction this Wed., Jan 25 from 7-8 pm at CODA Experience Center, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., #133, Los Angeles. Cost free, though RSVP required: concierge@codaautomotive.com.

>> Find the freshest and most healthy ingredients, enjoy personally crafted foods from home cooks and local kitchens, and discover healing foods both old and new at Eat Well Market. They will feature hand-made and hand-grown foods from backyards and kitchens around LA. Join the fun Sat., Jan 29 from 12-3 pm at Camp Mariposa, 615 E. Mariposa St., Altadena. Cost: free.

>> Get a closer look at the precious resource right beneath our feet and learn about the science of soil with our experts at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles’ Sustainable Sundays this Sun., Jan. 29 from 9 am – 3:30 pm at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. Cost: free with museum admission. Tickets are $12 for adults, $5-8 for children.

>> Los Angeles Bioneers is hosting Shannon Biggs who will talk about her work on passing a “Sustainability Bill of Rights” ordinance in Santa Monica, which would strip personhood rights from corporations and give rights to ecosystems instead. Takes place next Tue., Jan 31 at 7 pm at G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice. Cost: free with RSVP to srnichols@mac.com.

>> Come learn about the money available to SoCal homeowners who make energy-saving improvements. There is currently up to $8000 available per household, with some of the rebates will expiring in March. $200 in rebates will be given away. Come for a presentation about the program with contractors available to answer questions next Tue., Jan. 31 from 6:30 – 8 pm. Cost: free.

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Question: Thanks for your green LA website – a very useful resource for my planned visit to LA. I am just visiting for two nights as I am off to Sedona afterwards, but I wonder if you know of any (budget if poss) eco places to stay in LA? Mike

Answer: Two spots immediately come to mind: The LEED Silver certified Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, and the Venice Beach Eco Cottages in Venice — though I wouldn’t describe either as “budget.”

That said, green certification programs for hotels are now numerous. We have:

>> Green Seal certification. The nonprofit Green Seal’s certification marks hotels that have reduced their carbon footprint; get details on the creds at Green Seal’s website. A number of L.A. hotels have earned this certification, including Hilton Los Angeles Universal City , Radisson Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, and The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites.

>> Energy Star label. This distinction’s given to buildings that use energy more efficiently than comparable businesses. L.A.-area hotels on this list include Ambrose, Los Angeles Airport Marriott, Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa, and Renaissance Los Angeles Airport.

>> Santa Monica Green Business Certification. If you plan to stay in Santa Monica, look for hotels that have earned its local green creds. Ambrose of course makes this list, as do the Ocean View Hotel and Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica.

>> California Green Lodging Program. Put together to help California state employees travel green, this program awards one or two palm trees depending on a hotel’s green commitment. One-tree hotels haven’t necessarily undertaken actual greening efforts yet; two-tree earners in Los Angeles are Kyoto Grand Hotel & Gardens, Radisson Los Angeles Airport, and Sheraton Gateway Hotel Los Angeles.

On the upside, all these programs and certifications mean a growing number of hotels have taken part in various eco-friendly initiatives. On the downside, no one database or list of green hotels exists, and the varying standards of each program makes figuring out how green a hotel is a rather herculean task.

My suggestion to budget-conscious visitors interested in traveling green is generally to focus less on the eco-creds of the hotel itself and more on the location of the hotel — so as to reduce your in-city travel footprint while making bargain hunting easier. Planning your visit so you drive less — and maybe even not rent a car! — will likely do a lot more to lower your trip’s carbon footprint than agonizing over green hotel certifications (or high per-night prices).

If you’re serious about budget travel and want stay around the beach, I recommend trying Hosteling International – Santa Monica — which is walking distance to many amenities, including bike rental spots, and close to the 720 and 704 Metro Rapid lines.

Photo by ayustety

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Question: Hi. My name is Nina, I live in Boulder CO. I’m trying to get my city council to start taxing plastic bags, and I’ve been doing allot of research. Seeing as I’m only twelve years old, I need all the help I can get. You don’t really have to reply to this, but I would appreciate the support, thank you for your time.

Answer: I’m not known to be a fan of pre-adult humans, but I found Nina’s email adorable, especially as it came with this sig file:

(\__/) 4 out of every 3 people
(=’.'=)
(“)_(“) have trouble with fractions.

I don’t have trouble with fractions — crossmultiply and divide, baby! — but I think bunnies are cute. In any case, I had good news for Nina! Other students in her ‘hood — at New Vista High School and University of Colorado — also want to ban plastic bags! They’re drafting up an ordinance to do just that, and plan to meet with city council members to push the resulting ordinance into law.

And that, really, is what anyone needs to do to get a plastic bag ban or tax in their neighborhood. Find just a few like-minded people to work with, contact a city council member, then bug said members until a ban or tax happens.

Yes, you’ll probably run into complications — as we have in California. In an ironic turn of events, plastic industry people are using California’s groundbreaking environmental laws — the California Environmental Quality Act — to file lawsuits saying banning plastic bags will harm the environment. No, I’m not kidding — The industry’s actually dubbed itself the “Save the Plastic Bag” Coalition, as if the plastic bag’s an endangered species like the polar bear.

But the work on plastic bag bans and taxes in California continues — if a tad slowed down — on city, county, and state levels. And Heal the Bay’s new Trash Your Friends campaign‘s part of a bigger effort to make a state-level plastic bag tax happen this year. Participate and trash your eco-frenemies!

Until actual legislation goes through and toting your own tote becomes de rigeur, you’ll have to keep hearing “Bring your own bag!” as an eco-mantra. The plastic bag issue’s become such a ubiquitous eco-message the last few years that it’s gotten tiring — almost as tiring as the eco-blights that still litter our streets, oceans, and neighborhoods.

Being a green blogger, I get the full range of emails about plastic bags — from those who chew out every grocery bagger that dares bag items without asking (I email back encouraging friendly convo, since after all, baggers are TRAINED to do just that but are usually more than happy to de-bag if you say you don’t need one), to others who don’t get what the big deal is when plastic bags can be recycled (I email back letting them know only a few municipalities actually recycle plastic bags — and the ones that do do so at an extremely high cost to the taxpayer).

The damn bags have really become a strange sign and symbol for me. Last weekend at Trader Joe’s, the guy in front of me bought three items — A tiny tub of dried figs, a pack of 8 mushrooms, and a small bottle of organic orange juice — and got a plastic bag for what he could have easily carried out with his two hands. I of course had my own bag for my bottle of Moscato. And the woman behind me came armed with a stack of reusable Trader Joe’s bags for her groceries; she glared daggers into the guy in front of me.

What kind of grocery shopper are you? The plastic bagger, the dagger glarer, or the Moscato toter?

Earlier:
>> Styrofoam and the City: The fate of plastic bags and polystyrene in LA
>> Bag fee means bag free — or what shoppers in DC do to save 5 cents

Top photo by Envirowoman

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Question: Do you have a favorite face cleanser, preferably a slightly scrubby one? I combed through your archives and didn’t find anything. My tube of Aveeno is finally empty (I’m pretty abstemious with it), and I never liked it much to begin with, so I thought I’d switch to something else. Any recs? meg

Answer: Naturally clean, healthy, glowing skin’s every eco beauty seeker’s desire — but the exploding eco-friendly beauty product market’s got quite a few green-but-not-effective duds in it. And since each facial product really takes at least a month to show what it can do, finding a green and effective beauty product that works can be an excruciatingly long-term endeavor.

So excruciatingly long and full of potential skin perils, in fact, that makes some women just stick to the ungreen but cosmetically acceptable products they’re already using. Unless you’re like my fellow green BlogHer contributing editor Beth Terry, in which case you’ve started washing your face with baking soda.

I’m not ready for the baking soda routine — so I’ve done the product research work for you. Over the life of this blog, I’ve put quite a lot of beauty products to the test — and now have a regimen I’m happy with. Good skin begins with a good cleanse, so to kick off this series of green beauty posts, here are the best eco-friendly facial cleansers I’ve found and use now — along with a runner up:

Best facial cleanser: Arcona Toner Tea Bar ($38 for a 4 oz bar)

Balking at the $38 price tag on a simple bar of soap? Rest assured that one generous bar of Toner Tea Bar lasts me well over 6 months — which makes this facial cleanser a money-saving beauty product as well as a very effective one.

I discovered Toner Tea Bar when I got a facial at Arcona, which puts together a 5-product skin care regime complete with generous free samples of each of the products for any first time facial customers. This bar cleanses thoroughly without drying out the skin and without leaving any residue. Plus, Toner Tea Bar smells like a fresh, light, citrus-infused tea.

(more…)

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Question: I am a raw vegan and I am taking a 3 week tour of cali so i thought you may be able to tell me some restaurants to go to! I would love your help! Thanks! Penny

Answer: I am not a raw vegan, but I can recommend raw vegan restaurants I like!

My favorite raw vegan organic restaurant of the moment is Better Life Cuisine, which offers yummy soups, salads, smoothies, juices, wraps, and entrees at affordable prices. Try the Fiesta Platter to get a sense of what the casual place has to offer — and be sure to save room for the sumptuous raw desserts.

Want wine with your raw dinner? Try Juliano’s Raw, which as far as I know, is the only raw vegan restaurant that serves alcoholic drinks. I also love the tasty salmon rolls and chocolate mousse — but I’m not a fan of the overly fruity and sweet appetizer plate.

Also in Santa Monica is Euphoria Loves Rawvolution Cafe, a neighborhood favorite that hasn’t yet pleased my taste buds — but perhaps I should give another try. I’ve had friends rave about the restaurant’s onion “bun” and though I’m not a big fan of the thing, I did enjoy Euphoria’s no-bean hummus — nevermind that I have nothing against eating cooked beans.

For raw Asian dining, visit Cru in Silver Lake for bento box style meals and tasty raw sorbet desserts. I’d visit Cru more if it were on the westside, but for now I just mostly ogle the photos of the restaurant’s raw organic dishes.

Finally, visitors to L.A. will be amazed to see the variety of yummy raw vegan foods available at local Whole Foods. My favorites are the Notchos raw kale chips!

Enjoy your Cali visit. Readers: If you have other L.A.-area raw vegan restaurants to recommend, share your reviews in the comments.

Raw updates:
>> SunPower Natural Cafe: An organic vegan spot makes kale delicious
>> Raw Living Vegan Bazaar: Free monthly raw organic food fest

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