Green Options

Are you a busy bee? Maybe you’re better described as fuzzy slippers or a blank canvas.

GE’s new website, What’s Your Lighting Style?, will help you to figure that out. After a fun (if a bit cheesy) eight-question “getting to know you” quiz, you’re given a lighting style for each room in your house. Based on each style, a “tip sheet” tells you how to create just the right atmosphere you want for the room, including furniture, colors, and – of course – lighting. Recommendations include each GE Energy Smart bulb that might be useful in your room, including dimmable bulbs and spotlights.

If it’s true that green jobs will be plentiful in coming years, perhaps it will be due to forward-looking initiatives that persist despite the weak economy. A case in point: the $400 million in design, construction and technology contracts that the Los Angeles Community College District’s trustees recently approved, expected to create about 6,000 jobs.

That’s a lot of jobs for Southern California, a region suffering more than some from weakness in the housing market, in a state facing higher than average unemployment and a massive budget crisis.

What started out as a single event in NYC last year, the Go Green Expo has bloomed into a 4-city extravaganza, kicking off at the LA Convention Center this weekend, January 23-25. In addition to over 200 booths of eco-friendly goods and services, the Expo features:

Interactive seminars and speeches
Film screenings
Eco-fashion show
Demonstrations & hands-on activities

Though gardens seem inherently green (literally, at least) that may not always be the case. From pesticides to over-watering, gardens can be a strain on the environment, as well as your back. But, when created with some consideration towards ecological harmony, gardens provide enjoyment, color and food, without disrupting nature’s delicate balance.

If you’d like to learn more about how to achieve a healthy, natural garden with a minimum of effort, there are plenty of resources right here in LA to assist you.

First up, the City of Santa Monica is offering a series of classes entitled “How to Green Your Garden.” Beginning on January 17th, each class will focus on a different topic, including:

If you’re a fan of all things green, but you’re not willing to go to the hippie dark side, then EcoStiletto may just be for you. From fashion and beauty to green living and kids, EcoStiletto serves it all up with humor and style. And freebies. The online mag is giving away a win a pair of eco-friendly shoes worth at least $500 every month of 2009. January’s vegan hemp boots are positively drool-worthy…but don’t take my word for it, register to win them yourself.

But EcoStiletto isn’t just about pretty things. The company also supports Dress for Success, a non-profit dedicated to promoting the economic advancement of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire and support. EcoStiletto has several fundraisers planned for the charity, beginning with a March 10th event in LA to be hosted by “Gossip Girl” Kelly Rutherford. Additional events in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, New Orleans and San Diego are also planned.

If you’ve been thinking about installing a solar system, 2009 may be the year to take the leap, especially if you live in California.

After a long stalemate in Congress, a renewal of the 30% investment tax credit for solar installations finally passed as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Applicable for both businesses and residential projects, the credit applies through 2016. In addition, a rebate from the California [...]

Though many of us may be enjoying a yuletide fire this time of year, fires of a different sort made news last week.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups secured a big victory last week when the U.S. Court of Appeals decided to regulate pollution spikes from refineries, called “flares”. The decision will affect 21 refineries located in California.

As if you need more reasons to ditch single-use plastic bags, today marks Heal the Bay’s second “Day Without a Bag” in Los Angeles County. The environmental organization is supporting the cause by handing out free reusable shopping bags at locations county-wide.

If you remember, in July the LA City Council announced an all-out ban on the ubiquitous plastic bags, which will take effect in 2010. In LA County, large grocers were threatened with a ban unless they reduced the number of the bags used by 30% by 2010 and by 65% by 2013. Of course, the companies that make plastic bags are fighting the measures, putting forth the argument that stores and consumers will use paper bags instead, which they claim are worse for the environment. I guess that they have missed this whole reusable bag movement, huh?

With Christmas quickly sneaking up on us, the time is now to get to that holiday shopping. This weekend, the Eco Gift Festival returns to Santa Monica for its second year, offering more than just endless booths of sustainable, eco-friendly finds (though those are great, too).

This year, organizers have added a multitude of speakers and musicians, making this event more than just a gift-buying frenzy. Their big “get”? Arianna Huffington, nationally-syndicated columnist, author, radio host, and founder of The Huffington Post, one of the most-read news and blog sites on the internet. Huffington takes the stage at 2pm on Saturday the 13th. Other speakers include fashion designer Linda Loudermilk and John Marshall Roberts, author of “Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries”.

If you’ve ever flown into LAX on a clear day, you have seen the miles of industrial buildings that stretch out into the desert. Edison International has seen it too, and has taken advantage of one of those empty rooftops to install the largest solar panel installation in the state.

Mounted on the roof of a distribution center owned by Prologis in Fontana, 50 miles east of LA, the 600,000 square feet of panels will produce about 2 megawatts, enough electricity to power up to 1,300 homes. The thin-film panels were installed by First Solar. Even better, this is only the first of about 150 similar projects planned for factory and warehouse roofs in SoCal.