Wanna become a greener Angeleno? Here’s how. I’ll update the list as new green options become available –
Eat & Drink
1. Kick off your day with a hot cup of coffee — the good kind. Here’s a handy list of LA locations for fair trade coffee by the cup or by the lb. Or if you must go to Starbucks, take the Starbucks Challenge.
2. Bite into a juicy local, organic nectarine. Enjoy the tastiest, most eco-friendly fruits and veggies possible — without even going out of your way to find it.
3. Eat meat and fish wisely. Cut back on your red meat consumption, and opt for grass-fed, free range, organic, sustainably-harvested stuff when you go carnivore.
4. Do happy hour. Find out how to green your drink — from beer to wine to shots to cocktails and beyond. Plus, go to LA Green Drinks to meet like-minded drinkers –
5. Indulge in dessert. Eat ice cream, sorbet, and chocolate. Fair trade and organic options are easy to find now –
6. Experiment with the 100-Mile Diet. The first rule: Start small. The second rule: There are no rules. Eat and enjoy :)
Get Around
Here’s a quick one-post guide to de-car-ing, but below’re more details:
1. Make friends on public transit. Some bus routes’ll actually get you to your distance faster and cheaper, especially if you account for the driving time spent looking for parking — and the money spent paying for it.
2. Join the bicycling community. My pink townie saves me lotsa money and parking hassles — and the LA biking community’s helpful and friendly.
3. Get to the airport car-free! Avoid parking hassles — or bugging friends for rides — by taking advantage of these green and easy airport travel options,
4. Take a walk — It’s sunny out! Walking in LA’s easier now, with Google Maps’ walking directions that show you the shortcuts you can take if you just get out of your car. Easiest way to get walking more often: Live in a walkable spot — That’s why I moved to Santa Monica! Discover one-mile-radius living.
If you still have your car:
5. Go with friends! Carpooling will give you driving company — and also make you a safer driver!
6. Become a Better World member. Unlike AAA, Better World gives money to environmental causes and doesn’t lobby against public transportation. Plus, you can get $40 worth of gas money reimbursed a year.
7. Offset your CO2 emissions. It’s not expensive, and you’ll feel better about driving or flying.
If you’ve joined the car-free crowd:
8. Cab it — or rent it — green. Find out about local green taxis, car sharing programs, rental cars, or even green limos.
De-, Re-, and Free-
1. Find new-to-you stuff — or give away new-to-them stuff. Swap out the stuff you don’t want for the stuff you do — and save time and resources while you’re at it.
2. Recycle everything from your old running shoes to your broken DVD player — because you might even be able to make money at it.
3. De-junk-mail. Stop unwanted letters and coupons by getting rid of junk mail once and for all.
4. Buy recycled. Get 100% recycled office supplies and bathroom tissue (aka toilet paper).
5. Bring your own! Soon, BYOing will be the status quo — so get a stylish reusable bag, eco-friendly lunchbox and utensils, and to-go mug and bottle, here’s the LA-area anti styrofoam and plastic bag rules.
Spend differently
1. Power green. Sign up for LA Dept. of Water and Power’s Green Power program, and all your electricity will come from green sources.
2. Clean nice. It’s easier than ever with this round up of effective green cleaning products :)
3. Get knitty with it. Make what you want, how you want it.
4. Put your money where your politics are. Check out BuyBlue. You may end up switching banks and phone companies.
5. Buy local. Keep LA unique — You can start with the bookstores :) And if you live in Santa Monica, get your groceries at Co-opportunity.
6. Get eco-chic. Shop to look good and feel good in your clothes.
7. Get pretty, with greener toiletries. Here’s a list of enviro-friendly lotions that feel and smell good.
8. Decorate your house in your own green style. Check out Earth Accents in Santa Monica, Livingreen in Culver City, or Organic Interior Design in Venice.
9. Green your IRA. Save it like you mean it. Switch to an eco-friendly fund.
10. Find eco-happiness. This anti-capitalist video guide to happiness will get you started. You might also enjoy some eco-socio-political games that are actually fun to play.
Collaborate
1. Meet other passionate green peeps! Stay motivate through your social network :) There’s always Green Drinks; beyond that, try Green Business Networking. You can also join green e-networks!
2. Throw a green party! They’re fun, yum, and — you know — green. I threw a super enjoyable fair trade choco party — Do likewise!
3. Learn from others. In Cali, we have a lot, A LOT of green programs, at JCs, 4-year undergrad programs, and grad programs. Check out the list here :)
Unrelatedly — Some resources for LA residents to help you out, or just help satisfy your curiosity –
Siel,
You are coming to “the game” strong… do you find that the more you post the fewer comments you get? I notice you’ve added a few strong posts in the last few days, but I’m wondreing if everyone visiting looks beyond the “lead.” I ask because sometimes the posts I’d most like feedback on move down the “page” as I add more posts and ulimately are lost…
Thanks for supplying with me with more to copy… er… inspire me.
Comment by Castaway — September 2, 2005 @ 5:10 pm
Siel,
I’ve been meaning to look at Progressive, given that I’ve probably viewed their commercial a billion times. I didn’t know about their political affiliation. Given the name, probably should have. I’ll look into Better World as well.
Comment by Fletch — September 2, 2005 @ 7:23 pm
Fletch — I hope you save money with both Better World and Progressive — It’s nice bonus when good changes also give you cash back :)
Castaway — I’d say the # of comments seem to depend mostly on the topic. Posting about American Apparel, for example, drew comments from passionate anti-sweatshop people who don’t usually comment on my blog.
That said, I’ve noticed that the most popular pages — the ones that get the most hits — don’t necessarily incite commentary. A lot of people find my coffee crisis series via technorati or del.icio.us and spend some time reading it, but few comment — I think because for many, it’s a new issue they’re just learning about.
Do you track your stats? Maybe it would help your blogger morale to know that people are reading your posts, even if they don’t comment? :)
Comment by Siel — September 2, 2005 @ 8:57 pm
Don’t worry about the comments and how they reflect on your blog. The first blog I really got into was detroitblog by “John” (I think I mentioned this already). First, if you read his early, early archives, he didn’t take his site seriously. He oftens goes on and on about drinking binges and so on. Second, his subject is unique (most people don’t care at all that Detroit is rotting away). Third, he tells stories in the way reporters do. Nobody seems to know what his day job is, but I suspect it’s just that.
I disagree with castaway in that this new media isn’t “a game.” What game, really? I don’t intend to earn a cent from my site. If people want to read my thoughts, great. If they don’t, merely okay. Even professional bloggers like John, have earned nothing for their work. Incidentally, I’d love to party with this guy.
Comment by Fletch — September 3, 2005 @ 2:29 am
I truly hate to say this, because I wanted more than anything to get away from AAA, but Better World is a terrible auto club. In the six months my wife and I had it, we used it three times, and each time (in the middle of L.A., not in the middle of nowhere) the wait for a truck was over an hour.
An auto club, to be effective, must first be a good auto club. Sadly, Better World can’t meet that standard.
Someone should try to take over AAA and turn it green.
Comment by Anonymous — September 26, 2005 @ 2:30 pm
I love what you are doing with this blog. I work for a non-profit in Santa Monica that does the same thing for residents in a 6-week workshop filled with information about the environmental issues we face in LA. Each week we tackle one of the following topics; Water, Energy, Waste, Chemicals, Transportation, and Food & Shopping. The workshop is designed to move people to action by giving them the 20 or so recommendations in each area along with the tools to execute their intentions. We give out, shower heads, faucet aerators, leak detector tablets, compact fluorescent bulbs, canvas shopping bags, bus tokens, and many other coupons and samples so people can start saving resources immediately. The workshop is available to anyone in LA but Santa Monica residents get a reduced price, thanks to the City of SM. $25 for SM residents or $35 for anyone else. This includes the invaluable worksbook. To find out about locations and dates of the next workshop call Sustainable Works at (310) 458-8716 x1 or email kawar_ferris@smc.edu. Our website is http://www.sustainable-works.org
Comment by Sustainable Works — September 26, 2005 @ 3:12 pm
Truly sorry to hear about your experiences with Better World — I’ll be honest and say Better World has taken 45 -55 mins a few times that I called them — But I haven’t had much better experiences with AAA. Maybe I’m jaded, but I’ve gotten used to rather slow service from any AAA-esque service. Ideally, I’d have an efficient, enviro-friendly car service, but then I’m not sure such a service exists — I’m just going for the enviro-friendly at this point –
Comment by Siel — September 26, 2005 @ 9:13 pm
I teach the Sustainable Living Workshop that was mentioned earlier. If anyone is interested in getting all the information you need to live a green life in one place check out one of the 4 upcoming workshops. We will cover the following topics: WATER, ENERGY, WASTE, CHEMICALS, TRANSPORTATION, AND FOOD & SHOPPING.
Workshop schedule (all start at 7:00 pm):
If you miss the first meeting you can join the second week
Start Date Location Monday April 17th 1744 Pearl St. Tuesday April 18th 2811 Pico Blvd Wednesday April 19th 1744 Pearl St. Thursday April 27th 725 California St. (St. Monica’s Parish)
RSVP to Ferris at Sustainable Works (310) 458-8716 x1 or by email Requested donation for Works book is $25 Santa Monica Residents and $35 for LA Residents
In addition, we give you the tools you need to start you on the right path.
Each participant receives free:
Energy saving light bulbs
Canvas shopping bags
Low flow shower heads & faucet aerators
Leak detectors & garden hose nozzles
Non toxic cleaning samples
Chlorine free paper products
Comment by Ferris — April 17, 2006 @ 3:36 pm
I might get ripped for being a neophyte to the site, as well as someone with a vested business interest…but here goes…
I work for Mountain Valley Spring Water, which bottles in glass (mostly) and plastic (some) a naturally sodium-free and healthy single-source water from a protected forest near Hot Springs, Arkansas. (It’s available for delivery in the L.A. area.) Our small company has been around for 135 years and is not part of Coke, Pepsi, Nestle, Cadbury, or anyone else for that matter. I urge those who care about the purity of their water, and especially those with chemical sensitivities, not to lump all bottled waters together! Mountain Valley is the result of a 3,500-year cycle of natural filtration and mineral imbuement. The director of the Environmental Health Center in Dallas reports that ours is the purest water in the world (when packaged in glass) and it’s the only water used to treat the thousands of chemically sensitive patients who go there. We post full third-party lab analyses of Mountain Valley on the website and invite comparisons.
Thanks for the soapbox. It just pains me to occasionally read articles, posts, and other commentaries that paint all waters with the same brush. There are differences, and even high-quality filtration systems aren’t a good option for everyone.
Comment by Jim — May 12, 2006 @ 8:33 pm
I found your site through treehugger…l like it alot..been living in China for the last year..we are turning a former military base into a bamboo design village..but I have to come back to states soon to find people to populate the village..everyone here wants to live in the cities..smoke cigarettes and buy rolex’s…finding your site gives me hope for Los Angeles..and a reason to come back for a bit…
name of village site…http://mosovillage.com
keep up the good work.
Comment by Timothy Ivory — June 15, 2006 @ 3:11 am
Ferris, Jim, and Timothy — Sorry I didn’t respond earlier! For some reason, I’m not getting an email alert to comments on this post :(
Ferris — I’ll get right on the Sustainable Works program.
Jim — I’m more for consumers spending time and energy working with local govt. to improve tap water — rather than on buying bottled water, regardless of brand…
Timothy — Thanks for the props — and Moso Village sounds like a brill idea!! Will explore the site further — Lemme know if you’re ever in the LA area, and I’ll treat you to a cup of fair trade coffee –
Comment by Siel — June 17, 2006 @ 10:47 pm
where can i obtain a copy of black gold in dvd or video to show at my church?
Comment by gwen — September 7, 2006 @ 12:05 pm
Hi Siel,
Random question for you…I seem to recall that you steam cleaned your carpets at some point last summer/fall. (Or did I dream that?) Can you tell me if you rented the equipment, if so from whom? Or did someone come out and do it?
Thank you much!
Comment by Callie — January 31, 2007 @ 11:04 am
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THE BETTER BAG is a triple play. It’s made with recycled material. It’s incredibly sturdy and it’s the only reusable bag that’s guaranteed recyclable. We can offer this guaranty because we recycle it! To learn more, please visit our website:
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Comment by Steve Silver — January 7, 2009 @ 10:50 am
I just found this site and it’s the best Green resource I have ever come across! Keep up the good work!
Comment by Melissa — February 9, 2009 @ 8:28 pm