Author Archive

Plastic Grocery Bags Banned in L.A. County Starting in 2011

November 17, 2010 · Filed under Energy conservation, Environmental Justice, Environmental Movement, Green Economy, Green Living, Green Products, Recycling · Tagged , , , , ,

by Karoline Steavenson

The Los Angeles Times and other local news outlets reported Tuesday that the L.A.

County Board of Supervisors approved a ban on plastic grocery bags countywide

starting  July 1, 2011. Food and drug stores will no longer be allowed to bag customers’

items in plastic bags. Customers can carry their goods home in paper bags, but those will cost $0.10 each.

Bag Monster. (Photo credit: http://zev.lacounty.gov/news/environment/finally-its-in-the-reusable-bag)

Here is the portion of the ordinance that gives the details of the new law:

“Approve and adopt the Ordinance banning plastic carryout bags at all supermarkets and other grocery stores, convenience stores, food marts, pharmacies, and drug stores located in the County unincorporated areas, while requiring stores that provide recyclable paper carryout bags to impose a charge of ten (10) cents per bag to a customer, effective beginning July 1, 2011, for certain affected stores and January 1, 2012, for all other affected stores.”

Rong-Gong Lin II, reporting for the L.A. Times, wrote that, “In Los Angeles County alone, 6 billion plastic bags are used each year, an average of 1,600 bags per household a year. Government figures show that only about 5% are recycled.”

In conversations about plastic grocery bags I have sometimes heard dog owners complain that they need plastic grocery bags to clean up after their dogs. Consumers can buy plastic quart and gallon size bags at many dollar stores for that purpose.  They can also buy dog clean up bags from many pet supply stores.

Petco Waste Clean Up Bags – 100 for $8.47

Kyjen Pooch Pick Up – 100 for $4.81


Leave a comment »

eWaste Recycling

November 11, 2010 · Filed under cáncer, Environmental Justice, Environmental Movement, Green Economy, Green Living, Recycling · Tagged , , , , ,

by Karoline Steavenson

eWaste is comprised of old, unwanted, non-functioning televisions, radios, CD players, amplifiers, computers, game consoles, car rechargers, cellphones, cellphone rechargers, USB cables, floppy disc readers, cameras, and many other electronics that are a part of nearly every life now.

Old electronics can be recycled easily.(Photo from http://commons.wikimedia.org)

Often these old TVs, cables and other eWaste items wind up in the dumpster.  That’s not where they belong. The batteries and other electronics in these items harm the environment even if they don’t work.

Broken or unwanted electronics can be dropped off at an eWaste collection center or picked up by a private eWaste business.

The City of Los Angeles has several permanent collection centers.

EWC Recyclers and All Green Electronics Recycling are two local businesses that pick up some large items from residential clients for no charge, or consumers can drop off their eWaste at one of their local offices. They also pick up larger loads from businesses for a fee.

Consumers can also give their broken electronics to Goodwill Industries Thrift Stores. They have an eWaste recycling program too.

The components and metals in electronics can be harvested and reused. (Photo from http://www.ocgoodwill-ewaste.org/ )

Leave a comment »

Los Angeles Needs More Shade Trees

November 2, 2010 · Filed under Energy conservation, Environmental Movement, Green Living, Water Conservation · Tagged , ,

by Karoline Steavenson

When you fly to various other cities around the country you’ll see a variety of habitats from the air. Over the Midwest you’ll see a quilt of farmland broken up by groves of woods, rivers, ponds and lakes. Over the Southwest you’ll see barrenness, like this photograph of New Mexico from 35,000 feet:

Photo of a southern section of New Mexico.

 

But when you fly over Los Angeles you’ll see a desert that humanity has tried to turn into something other than desert for over 100 years.

L.A. doesn’t get much natural rainfall, so many years ago developer and entrepreneur William Mulholland designed a way to divert water from the Owens Valley, far north of L.A., and bring it here.  Without this water the city never would have been able to grow into the metropolis it is now. The aqueduct system that brings us water from the north was also expanded in the 1970s.

In spite of all this trouble to bring water to L.A., the city is still low on trees in my opinon. Many species of trees are some of the most water efficient plants homeowners and cities can invest in. Here is evidence of how the city and county needs more trees:

Los Angeles County from the air.

 

 

There are thousands upon thousands of rooftops lying bare to the heat of the sun. Trees branches offer shade and that shade over homes and yards slows the evaporation of water from the ground and cools off homes. But look at all the naked rooftops in L.A.

A portion of the L.A. River.

 

 

Many areas  beside the L.A. River are barren and bereft of trees. The cement developers used to encase the river prevents flooding. That helped real estate developers build homes and businesses up against the river, but it also took away all the natural opportunities trees had to drop seeds and have them grow beside this water source.

We could remedy this. Those of us who live here now could tell our leaders we want the L.A. River to be repopulated with trees. They’d have to be planted by humans and managed by humans, but it could be done. The L.A. River could be surrounded by trees.

Downtown is also low on trees.

 

 

If you’ve spent any time downtown and you love trees, you will notice that many areas of the city center are treeless. There are plans on the table to build a large park downtown. There are even plans to build a giant park by putting a roof on the 101 freeway and covering it with sod.

But a simple, inexpensive, enduring-for-generations fix to the barrenness of downtown would be to plant trees now. Even if the city had to build an irrigation system for these city trees that would surely cost far less than trying to build a park on top of the 101 freeway.

Trees can save our lives because they create oxygen. As the carbon dioxide levels in our air increase thanks to our use of fossil fuels to power cars, trucks, other vehicles, and create electricity,  trees and the oxygen they make can help offset those CO2 levels.

We made this environmental mess.  We also have the power to clean it up.

Comments (2) »

Medical Supply Recycling

October 28, 2010 · Filed under Medical Care, Non-Profit Organizations, Recycling · Tagged , ,

by Karoline Steavenson

When my son was in high school he ran on the cross country and track teams and developed a stress fracture in one of his leg bones; the tibia to be exact.

Stress fractures are tiny, hairlike cracks in the bone. They are a fairly common injury in professional and amateur athletes alike.

My son had to wear a cast for a few weeks and after the doctor removed the cast he had to wear a splint that looked like an open boot. It looked a lot like this:

Splint Walking Boot

 

After he was all healed up I did not throw the boot in the trash. First of all, I worried he might get another stress fracture and we’d need this boot again. Thankfully that did not happen.

Secondly, I knew from the construction of this piece of medical equipment that it must have cost the insurance company a lot of money. So far, while looking for this picture online, I’ve found prices ranging from $40 to over $150 for boots like this.

As this boot waited in the back of a closet for one job or another, I heard about medical supply recycling.

It is well known that many areas of the world have no medical care or only the bare minimum of medical services. Many charities and individuals travel to these nations to offer care. They are funded by a variety of organizations. Part of that funding goes into buying medical equipment.

Medical supply recycling programs collect donations of viable equipment that many of us take for granted, like crutches or my son’s boot, and redistribute those items to nations in need. Recycling those supplies that can be safely reused makes sense and saves charities money.

In my case I found an organization in California that could use this boot, boxed it up, paid a few dollars for shipping, and sent it to them. I emailed them in advance so I could confirm that they wanted it.

The American Medical Association has a list of medical supply recyclers here.


 

Leave a comment »

Who Knows Where the Stuff Goes?

October 20, 2010 · Filed under Environmental Justice, Environmental Movement, Green Living, Green Products, Recycling · Tagged , , , , ,

by Karoline Steavenson

If you have not watched the 20 minute video called “The Story of Stuff” by now please take a break and watch it as soon as you can. It was created by Annie Leonard.

The Story of Stuff

The message of “The Story of Stuff” is that our whole world is based on a linear model of consumption. The wealthy people of the world, and that’s most Americans, Europeans and other members of developed societies, buy things. Lots of things. Some of these things they need, but some they don’t need.

When citizens of wealthy nations finish using their stuff, or when they simply get bored with it and long for a change, they throw it out. A small percentage of it gets recycled. Most of it winds up in landfills or in the oceans.

Since most of it is not recycled what we have is a linear system that ends with billions of piles of toxic chemicals encased in trash, or billions of pounds of toxic gases released when the trash is incinerated. Leonard points out that each of us who consumes stuff has a responsibility and opportunity to end this wasteful, linear system every time we recycle.

Here are some creative ways businesses, non-profits and individuals are recycling our stuff:

Trashy Bags – The sight of tens of thousands of plastic water and ice cream bags in Ghana inspired Stuart Gold to start a business in which he and his employees fuse the bags together and sew them into handbags, backpacks, and other types of satchels.

Clothes Made From Scrap – Clothes made from recycled fabric.

Patagonia Recycled Fleece – Patagonia sells a line of clothing made from recycled plastic bottles.

Clothing Swaps – Let’s face it ladies, from a young age we have been taught to love new clothes. While we could give our old, gently worn items to thrift stores, charities, friends or family members, there is another way. MeetUp.com has several local clothing swap clubs listed on their website or you could plan a clothing swap of your own. Give away some clothes and take some clothes new to you and every one leaves happy! Beside the satisfaction of knowing you gave new life to some perfectly good clothes, you can also experience the thrill of shopping for free.

If you have some old clothes that none of your friends want, charities don’t need, or are too worn out for anyone, take them to The Goodwill or The Salvation Army. They specialize in sorting clothing. They send the rag clothing off to be recycled.

Leonard has made a few other videos entitled “The Story of Bottled Water”, “The Story of Cosmetics” and coming soon, “The Story of Electronics”.

The media often confronts us with the fact that we are all part of a global economy now. We are part of a global trash problem too.

Leave a comment »

Gadgets to Save Electricity

October 14, 2010 · Filed under Energy conservation, Environmental Justice, Green Economy, Green Living, Green Products · Tagged , , , ,

by Karoline Steavenson

Our electricity in Los Angeles comes from a variety of sources. According to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power 50 percent comes from  burning coal, 25 percent from natural gas, 11 percent from hydro-power, 12 percent from nuclear power and the rest comes from renewable sources like wind and solar.

One way to help clean up the environment and save  natural resources is to reduce our use of electricity. This has the wonderful side benefit of lowering our power bills too.

Most of us don’t know this, but when we turn off our TVs, cable boxes, DVRs, Tivos, printers and other electronics, they are still pulling in electricity. Many electronics go into stand-by mode when they are turned off and continue to use one percent to 15 percent of their power. Consumer Reports magazine estimates the average household wastes about $110 a year on stand-by power.

That means all night long while we’re sleeping and all day long while we’re out at school or work, our electronics are still somewhat on.

It would be very inconvenient to run around unplugging all our stuff every time we don’t need to use it. These gadgets do that for us.

 

Conserve Energy Surge Strip - It's like a regular surge strip except it comes with a remote control. When you leave the room turn off everything plugged into it with the remote.

 

 

The TV Trickle Switch - Plug one end into the wall. Plug the other two sockets into your TV and cable box, DVR, Tivo or DVD player. When you turn off the TV the device cuts off all stand-by power to both plugs.

 

 

 

Bye Bye Stand By - Plug these gadgets into the wall then plug your power sucking electronics into them. A press of the remote buttons operates the power kill feature.

 

Battery power is another source of electricity.  Although batteries may not seem like a big deal, isn’t it a hassle to have to remember to buy them for simple things like flashlights?  When batteries are not disposed of properly they leak acid and heavy metals into the soil of landfills or worse, lakes and rivers. No one wants that.

The LED flashlight is one handy way to reduce our use of batteries. They are just as bright or brighter than incandescent flashlights and since they use far less power, the batteries do not need to be replaced as often.

 

An LED flashlight.

 

 

An LED super bright flashlight.

 

 

 

Many of these products can be found at local home improvement stores or at online shopping websites.

Comments (1) »

Rain Water Collection

October 6, 2010 · Filed under Energy conservation, Environmental Movement, Green Economy, Green Living, Green Products, Water Conservation · Tagged , , , , , ,

By Karoline Steavenson, 10/6/10

Today it is raining. That made me think of all that water pouring from the sky and draining away into our gutters, the Los Angeles River, and ultimately out to sea.

Later this month homeowners will get bills from the Department of Water and Power for water – water which came to our yards for free from the sky but which homeowners usually let drain away to the sea.

So here’s an idea for all of you who own homes and even condos with small yards: when it rains, harvest the rain and use it to water the grass and plants.

There are many water harvesting systems out there. They range in cost from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Some websites even show people how to build them themselves if they are handy.

The systems capture water in large tanks after it travels through downspouts. A hose bib faucet is attached to the tank to disperse the water for irrigation.

This model simply catches the rainwater directly from a downspout. (From rainharvest.com)

Related links: Build Your Own Collection System , Lower Priced System , This Site Has a Demonstration , This Site Says About 50 percent of a Home’s Water Use is for Outdoors .

 

One of many rain barrel styles. This one has an overflow hose for when the barrel is full. But you could also run that overflow tube into another barrel.(From rainharvest.com)

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment »

Not Everyone Throws Their Trash in the Bins at the Beach

September 29, 2010 · Filed under Green Economy, Recycling · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

By Karoline Steavenson

One of the basics of becoming eco-conscious is learning what to do with your trash. We know the recyclables go in the recycling bins, the non-recyclables go in the trash cans, and if you want money for your cans and plastic bottles you can cash those in at a recycling center.

Simple, right? Everyone can throw away their trash.

But for whatever reason some people who visit the beach don’t know where their trash belongs. One blogger has proof of this.

Tony Barboza of the Los Angeles Times reported on this issue recently when he wrote a story about Sara Bayles, a one woman eco-warrior, writer and ceramics teacher.  Bayles gave herself the task of collecting trash on a regular basis at Santa Monica beach, weighing it, photographing it, and writing about it on her blog, The Daily Ocean.

So far she has collected over 639 pounds of trash in only 158 days. That’s just one person, working alone, for about 20 minutes a day.

In one blog posting Bayles wrote that once, while she was cleaning, she watched a sea gull swallow a cigarette lighter before she could grab it.

Bayles has found other bloggers and activists who are also cleaning up beaches and writing about it. Here are a few of their blogs:

Beached Art

Our Daily Ocean

Washed Ashore

Pluck Fastic

Leave a comment »

Several Stores Offer Cash Back for Reusable Bags

September 23, 2010 · Filed under Energy conservation, Green Economy, Green Living, Green Products, Non-Profit Organizations, Recycling · Tagged , , , ,

By Karoline Steavenson

In order to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags, some stores are offering small incentives of cash or points to shoppers who use their own bags for purchases.

Target Stores gives shoppers $.05 off their total purchase for each reusable bag. Whole Foods gives $.05 to $.10 back for each bag used for a purchase. Safeway reportedly gives $.03 back. CVS gives shoppers receive $1.00 in Extra Care Points for every four visits in which they use their own bags. Ralph’s shoppers get five Ralphs Rewards Points for every reusable bag they use when they shop there.

 

This bag says it all. (Photo credit: newdream.org)

 

The bags do not have to be purchased at the stores mentioned. They can have any logo on them.

Some non-profit organizations host events at which they give away reusable shopping bags. Heal the Bay sponsored a county wide event last year on Dec. 17.  Several grocery stores all over L.A. County gave away free bags. Hopefully, Heal the Bay will be able to sponsor a similar event this year.

 

Teach the kids to go green this Halloween. (Photo credit: http://green.thefuntimesguide.com)

 

Halloween is just around the corner.

Why not let the kids decorate a cloth grocery bag for the day which they can later use to help carry the groceries?

Leave a comment »

A Growing Trend in Eco-Consciousness: Using Backyards to Grow Food

September 16, 2010 · Filed under Biofuel, Environmental Movement, Green Living, Organic Produce, Water Conservation · Tagged , , , , , , ,

By Karoline Steavenson

When the Obamas moved into the White House one of the first things Mrs. Obama did to set an example for children about eating healthy was plant a garden on the front lawn.

 

Students from the Bancroft School help Mrs. Obama plant the White House garden. (Photo credit: whitehouse.org)

 

The New York Times has reported in several articles this year that urban gardening is becomingly increasingly popular all over the nation. Some people grow their own food because they want to eat organic produce, and some do it to save money in hard times. Whatever the reason, gardening at the very least is good exercise and with a little practice and expertise, can save families money on food in the long run.

One local man who has turned urban gardening into an art form and a business is Jules Dervaes.

 

Urban gardening expert Jules Dervaes. (Photo credit: julesdervaes.com)

 

He and his three children transformed the backyard of his Pasadena home into a mini-farm that produces so much organic produce that he sells the excess to local restaurants.

He takes the urban gardening expertise he learned over decades and teaches others how to do the same. He and his children maintain many educational websites devoted to the topic. They also made a short film about how to start and maintain an urban garden.

Beware: after watching the Dervaes film you may find yourself inspired to tear out your lawn and let the soil beneath it do something useful for a change.

Comments (1) »

« Previous entries
Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.