Green Day Planner: March 2011

Burbank Library Green Pages
March 2011 Calendar

Calendar of Green Events in Burbank and Greater LA. Check out State and National events on the Green Day Planner.

Burbank
Mar 5: FREE Compost Workshop & Bins B. Adult School 10am
Mar 21: COB – Sustainable Task Force
Mar 22: World Water Day
Mar 23: FREE Compost Workshop & Bins Emerson Sch 6:30pm

Local
Mar 6: Topanga – Mountain Restoration w/ Tree People @ 8:45 AM
Mar 10-13: Anaheim – Natural Products Expo West
Mar 10: LA – Responsible Sourcing Summit @ 8 AM
Mar 11-13: Long Beach – Youth Summit: Plastics Are Forever
Mar 12: Long Beach – Sustainable Seafood Day. Aquarium @ 9 AM
Mar 12: Eagle Rock – Street Care w/ Tree People @ 9 AM
Mar 12: Pasadena – Rainwater Harvesting @ 9 AM
Mar 24: Irvine – Profit Plus Planet?
Mar 26: Torrance – Environmental Fair, Madrona Marsh @ 10 AM
Mar 31+: LA – SET 2011

California & National
Mar 3-6: SF – Green Film Festival
Mar 9: SF - CALGreen Seminar
Mar 19-20: SF – Transportation Camp
Mar 3-4: Miami – MiaGreen Expo & Conf
Mar 5-6: NY – Transportation Camp
Mar 8-10: DC – National Bike Summit
Mar 8-11: S Antonio – Water Opportunity show
Mar 22: World Water Day
Mar 30-31: Phil – Globalcon 2011

Green LA Coalition: What to Expect in 2011

What to Expect in 2011
Environmental Initiatives & Events in Southern California

Green LA Coalition’s "What to Expect in 2011" is an overview of the major environmental initiatives and events for 2011 in Southern California.

In Los Angeles, 2011 will be a big year for transportation. In Sacramento, a renewable portfolio standard will take center stage. In Washington, US EPA will take major leaps forward in air quality. Last, we take a look at great new crosscutting programs, like CicLAvia, that are making a big difference.

Topics:
Climate action in Southern California, statewide and in the US.
Transportation
Clean air
Ports of LA and Long Beach
Renewable energy and energy efficiency
Electric vehicles
Rubbish
Green jobs
Water
Municipal elections
Los Angeles River projects are moving ahead
Open space and parks
Ocean protection
Global environmental meetings . . . or how to travel guilt-free
More important facts on climate trends

And a look at some local projects:
~ CicLAvia on April 10, and others in July and October.

~ The City-organized but independent Food Policy Council is doing some amazing work. Building a broad group, they're working to create new markets for regional farmers and opportunities for small food enterprises -- and that's for starters. See the LA City Task Force report.

~ Education and Environment Initiative (EEI) integrates environmental concepts into the standard academic curriculum. It is a joint-project of California Resources Agency, CalEPA, Department of Education and others.

~ Clean Up Green Up is a multi-prong campaign addressing LA's toxic hotspots. LA City Council will soon entertain a motion to create "Green Zones" in three of Los Angeles's most polluted neighborhoods.

Business Watch: Flair Cleaners

Adding green to dry cleaning
Business is urging customers to use biodegradable plastic bags, or no bags at all.
Burbank Leader: February 8, 2011 by Gretchen Meier

Flair Cleaners in Burbank has over the past year successfully asked customers to get their clothes naked — that is without all the plastic wrapping and other packaging.

In an effort to reduce waste, more than 30% of the customers at Flair now ask for their clothes naked, said store manager Ron Roscoe.

Flair Cleaners at 337 N. Pass Ave. already uses biodegradable plastic bags to hang freshly cleaned garments, but it wants customers to ditch plastic completely. Last week the store gave away a free reusable dry-cleaning bag to everyone who came in with two or more items to be cleaned.

Now, the bag’s manufacturer, the Green Garmento, uses Flair Cleaners as a mentor program for other dry cleaners that want to begin replacing plastic bags.

6 6 6 6 6 6 6

The family-owned business began eliminating solvent with carcinogens more than 10 years ago, Roscoe said.

“We already use biodegradable bags, recyclable hangers and paper, and we try to reuse everything we can,” Roscoe said. “We’re trying to do everything we can to keep it green.”

The California Recycling Program has honored Flair with nine consecutive Waste Reduction Awards. READ MORE !

Business Watch: State of Green Business 2011

State of Green Business: 2011

The fourth annual edition of the State of Green Business report continues efforts to measure the environmental impacts of the emerging green economy. GreenBiz.com documents how well -- or poorly -- companies are improving their environmental performance despite the challenges posed by the Great Recession, and begin to note promising signs for a sea change in corporate sustainability efforts.

The free, downloadable report measures the progress of U.S. business and the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlights key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.

This year's report shows a dramatic shift is occurring in mainstream business: Companies are thinking bigger and longer-term about sustainability -- a an analysis of businesses in 2010 shows that even during economically challenging times, many companies invested more in their sustainability activities and made bold new sustainability commitments.

The 2011 report is the centerpiece of GreenBiz.com's State of Green Business Forums. The two-day events will take place:
San Francisco on February 2-3
Chicago on February 9-10
Washington, D.C., February 16-17

E-waste Recycling

ECS Refining Launches Ecollective E-Waste Recycling.

Ecollective (ECS) is a network of drop-off locations throughout the state for consumers and small businesses to recycle old electronics for free. Visiting the website, consumers type in their ZIP Code and are directed to nearby e-waste dropoff points. Directions to the site are included, as well as hours of operation.

The website also includes a list of what can be recycled through the program and the company's recycling procedures, which ensures e-waste is processed domestically and that personal data are destroyed.

About 100 ecollective locations have been established so far, including 17 in Southern California.

Facts about e-waste
~ the fastest growing municipal waste stream in the US
~ 20-50 metric tons of e-waste is thrown away worldwide every year
~ leaves behind lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous waste
~ only 13.6% is recycled

To manufacture 1 computer and monitor, you need:
530 pounds of fossil fuels
48 pounds of chemicals
1.5 tons of water

ecollective sites near 91502:

Andy's Moving and Storage
3464 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208

Santa Clarita Valley Recycling
14658 Raymer St
Van Nuys, CA 91405

New Haven Moving Equipment
13571 Vaughn St, Unit E
San Fernando, CA 91340

Yes We Can E-Waste
521 East 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

A-1 Electronic Recycling Team
2646 South Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007