Posts Tagged Los Angeles

GREEN FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY OCTOBER 29-30

The nation’s largest green living event comes to Los Angeles Convention Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS: Georgia Malki
Denise Hamler
Phone: 828-333-9403 x 125
202-872-5303
Georgia@sevenstarevents.com
denisehamler@greenamerica.org

Summer Eco-Fashion at Green Festival

LOS ANGELES – The nation’s premier green living event comes to Los Angeles October 29-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This year, Green Festival celebrates a ten year milestone with over one million attendees in eight cities.

This unique experience celebrates positive solutions working in our communities.  It is where people come to meet renowned authors, actors, visionaries and community leaders; shop with hundreds of green businesses; participate in DIY workshops; enjoy live music and local vegan and vegetarian cuisine; and join friends at the organic beer and wine garden.

“In Mayor’s Villaraigosa ongoing commitment to make Los Angeles one of the world’s Greenest Cities,  he is happy to welcome Green Festival  to Los Angeles and looks forward to opening the festival on October 29th, says Romel Pascual, Deputy Mayor of Environment for Los Angles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa.

Ten stages and pavilions will host more than 125 inspirational and educational speakers and teachers, including: Dolores Huerta, Amy Goodman, Tom Hayden, Marianne Williamson, Rev. Lennox Yearwood and the Hip Hop Caucus, John Perkins, Starhawk, Mark Hertsgaard, David Korten, Jeffrey Smith, Jodie Evans and many more.

Spanish language programming will include Latino cooking demonstrations, greening your home and garden, and activities for the whole family at the Green Kid’s Zone.

“We are excited to host the inaugural Green Festival in Los Angeles and bring Angelenos together to learn how to bring sustainability into their lives,” says Jonathan Parfrey, Climate Resolve Executive Director and a commissioner at the Department of Water & Power Board.  ”For those of us who care about Los Angeles and its future, the Green Festival is a place to talk about climate change and how to prepare to adapt.”

With the holiday season just around the corner, Green Festival is the perfect location to support local businesses all in one location.  The Green Marketplace profiles hundreds of green and socially responsible businesses and organizations. Attendees browse everything from green, non-toxic home furnishings to organic clothing to Fair Trade gifts, children’s toys and much more.

“Whether you go to shop, learn, or experience art and music, Green Festival has it all, it is a great place to celebrate what is working in our communities and find the sustainable solutions that fit your lifestyle,” says Denise Hamler, Green Festival Director.

Green Festival offers something for the entire family. Peruse the latest in earth-friendly casual wear and couture in the eco-fashion show. View socially and environmentally impactful film shorts at the Communications Revolution Stage and the Sierra Club Green Cinema. Discover the latest in environmentally responsible construction materials and methods in the Green Building Pavilion. Move and meditate in the Yoga and Movement Pavilion. Empower your inner entrepreneur and find your next green career with Green Business Seminars.

Check out the latest in all-electric and hybrid transportation at the Ford Pavilion and enjoy a test drive right at the Green Festival.  Join Ford in celebrating social and environmental innovation in the community and vote for local individuals and nonprofits to win a $5,000 Ford Community Green Grant.

A joint project of Green America and Global Exchange, Green Festival is a non-profit 501c3 event to explore and build sustainable solutions for successful communities and a healthier environment.

Engage with Green Festivals online at www.GreenFestivals.org.

Connect with Green Festival on Facebook and Twitter @GreenFestival.

Sign up for the Green Festival Newsletter at www.greenfestivals.org/newsletter for program updates and giveaway opportunities.

Become a Green Festival volunteer and get free admission volunteer@greenfestivals.org.

Green Festival Partners make the event possible: Ford, The Los Angeles Times, Sierra Club, Earth Balance and Democracy Now.

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About Green America

Green America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today’s social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility.  www.greenamerica.org

About Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change. www.globalexchange.org

About Seven-Star, Inc.

Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally responsible and socially respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. Events include the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, 2008 Democratic National Convention events, and Green Festivals. Seven-Star is the first event company to win the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 92%.www.sevenstarevents.com

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Angelenos Shocked to Find Their River Looking Like a River

“In many places throughout the world, rivers are the lifeblood of civilization, havens of tranquility which keep rhythm with a higher order of time — but in Los Angeles, it’s more likely to conjure a Nick Cage flick than musings on eternity. For the last 70 years or so, the once free and winding LA river has been largely LA-ified, riddled with pollution and concrete slabs, deemed too dangerous for public enjoyment. But now, thanks to the efforts of local conservationists, the river’s making a comeback as more and more folks are discovering that, even in the concrete jungle, there’s still a bit of real nature to be found.”

Angelenos Shocked to Find Their River Looking Like a River via Stephen Messenger – Treehugger

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Paddle the LA River Kicks Off

“Looking for a new adventure? Well, it’s official. Starting Saturday, August 13th, you can legally kayak the Los Angeles River.

The pilot program, Paddle the LA River, will run from August 13th to September 25, 2011, Saturdays and Sundays only.

The Los Angeles Conservation Corps will offer supervised educational canoe and kayak trips down a 1.5 mile stretch of the Los Angeles River in the San Fernando Valley at the Sepulveda Basin.”

Paddle the LA River Kicks Off via NBC LA

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Launching a new vision of the L.A. River

“The long-awaited Paddle the Los Angeles River pilot program got off to a wobbly start Monday as two dozen civic leaders in hard hats and bulging life vests stepped into kayaks and pushed out through murky ripples in the Sepulveda Basin.

The group of flood control officials and City Councilmen Tony Cardenas and Ed Reyes was chaperoned by experienced kayakers and naturalists on hand to make sure no one tipped over into the treated urban runoff or entangled themselves in the heavy brush laden with shredded clothing and plastic bags that lines the 70-foot-wide channel.

The maiden voyage of the first legal float down the river in seven decades only ventured a few hundred yards from the put-in point at the Balboa Boulevard bridge. But for Reyes, the 30-minute ride past glades of sycamore and oak trees where cormorants and herons roost triggered dreams of a regional recreational zone in the making.”

Launching a new vision of the L.A. River via Louis Sahagun – LA Times

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EPA is sued over smog in Los Angeles Basin

“Environmental and public health groups filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyon Monday, saying the agency has failed to force officials to crack down on smog in the Los Angeles Basin.

The suit contends the EPA missed a May deadline to, in effect, determine whether the ozone level in the region is hazardous to public health. Such a determination could trigger tougher limits on pollution from cars, trucks, ships and refineries.”
EPA is sued over smog in Los Angeles Basin via Ashlie Rodriguez – LA Times

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Vegan Food Trucks Invade Los Angeles

“Food trucks are taking over our cities’ streets, and consumers are rejoicing over the expanding trend. With street food becoming more abundant, it’s exposing us to more culturally diverse eats at cheap prices, and it’s giving us all a chance to branch out and try new foods that “pop up” randomly on our street corners.

While the trend is just hitting cities some cities like Chicago, it’s been going strong in others for some time. In Los Angeles, trendy food trucks have been serving the community for the last few years, and the latest craze in street cuisine is going meatless. Vegetarian and vegan food trucks are invading Los Angeles, and eager consumers are happy to jump on board to support these new businesses. Check out LA’s newest and finest vegan food trucks:”

Vegan Food Trucks Invade Los Angeles via Kimberly Stakal – Health Daily Online

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Tech for Toxics: Clorox, EPA Use Mobile Apps to Share Green Data

“Smartphones are rapidly becoming ubiquitous, and there are ever-increasing ways for individuals to use them to make smarter shopping choices. But how do companies and governments decide the best ways to present their data to the public? Two unrelated news items in the last week highlight two different ways to help people on the move make greener decisions.

First, Clorox last week announced that it had developed at mobile application and website devoted to making it easier to see the chemical makeup of its products — and what those chemicals do.”

Toxics: Clorox, EPA Use Mobile Apps to Share Green Data via Matthew Wheeland – GreenBiz Greener Design

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How the West was lost to wildfires

“Arizona is burning. Texas, too. New Mexico is next. If you need a grim reminder that an already arid West is burning up and blowing away, here it is. As I write this, more than 700 square miles of Arizona and more than 4,300 square miles of Texas have been swept by monster wildfires. Consider those massive columns of acrid smoke drifting eastward as a kind of smoke signal warning us that a globally warming world is not a matter of some future worst-case scenario. It’s happening right here, right now.

Air tankers have been dropping fire retardant on what is being called the Wallow fire in Arizona and firefighting crews have been mobilized from across the West, but the fire remained “zero contained” for most of last week and only 18 percent so early in the new week, too big to touch with mere human tools like hoses, shovels, saws, and bulldozers. Walls of flame 100 feet high rolled over the land like a tsunami from Hades. The heat from such a fire is so intense and immense that it can create small tornadoes of red embers that cannot be knocked down and smothered by water or chemicals. These are not your grandfather’s forest fires.”

How the West was lost to wildfires via Chip Ward – Toms DispatchGrist

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Why CSR Reports Are a Useful Tool for Greening Your Business

“Let’s be honest. Creating an environmentally sustainable business is a challenge. There are several factors that go into the green equation, from water and energy use to ecological impact, but the idea is to start somewhere and, often times, the best way to start is by tracking the sustainability footprint of your own company.

Twelve years ago, Ford Motor Company began releasing its annual sustainability report, designed to both highlight the company’s progress in sustainable practices and also show us where our efforts could be improved. Over the years, we’ve seen significant progress in reducing vehicle emissions, increasing the volume of sustainable and recycled materials used in manufacturing, and putting fuel-efficient vehicles on the road, among other things.”

Why CSR Reports Are a Useful Tool for Greening Your Business via John Viera – Ford – GreenBiz.com

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For young environmental activists, Obama's now the one to pressure

“Reporting from Washington— Not so long ago Barack Obama and his campaign team might have masterminded the kind of conference that is unfolding in downtown Washington, D.C.

Thousands of college students and idealistic young voters came in this weekend to learn organizing techniques aimed at pushing the country toward renewable energy.

But in a measure of how much has changed since the “Yes We Can” spirit of Obama 2008, many in attendance now see him as something of an obstacle.

Frustrated by the pace of clean-energy initiatives, they are planning to use organizing techniques borrowed from the Obama campaign to pressure him to rethink his energy policy.”

For young environmental activists, Obama’s now the one to pressure via Peter Nicholas – LA Times

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