Samina Cabral

About five years ago the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) dumped 400,000 black “shade balls” into the Ivanhoe Reservoir. The reservoir is one of the two concrete basins that are collectively known as the Silver Lake Reservoir in the Los Angeles neighborhood that bears the same name-Silver Lake.

The shade balls are similar to the type you would find in the ball pit of a Chuck E. Cheese’s (hollow and plastic) except obviously far less colorful and their purpose is for science not merriment.

They were placed in the water to act as a relatively inexpensive and safe floating barrier to prevent a chemical reaction between bromate and chlorine caused when California’s perpetual sunlight hits the water. This particular pairing could cause cancer if the bromate was allowed to reach high levels.

While there was only a slim chance Los Angeles residents could get cancer from the water officials decided to go with the balls while the Headworks Reservoir- an underground reservoir that will replace the existing basins for potable water- is being built.

Lately there hasn’t been a lot of happy news coming out of Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles if you follow Lakers basketball. Don’t lie and tell me you’re a Clippers fan the other basketball team that plays there. No one is a Clippers fan. But the good news is the next time Jack Nicholson gets up (Adam Sandler not available at all games) and walks out in disgust he can throw his trash away sustainably thanks to new recycling stations designed by GreenDrop!

“Partnering with GreenDrop allows Staples Center to incorporate a convenient waste-diversion system that patrons can easily utilize without increasing operational costs,” explained Lee Zeidman the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Staples Center. “We evaluated other containers, but GreenDrop was the best option for the arena’s recycling needs.”

The GreenDrop is the best option for sports arenas because the containers were designed in part by a sports arena. They were even designed to have advertising slapped on them. In Los Angeles this means ads for Smart Water, Pechanga Resort & Casino, and Carl’s Jr.

In June of last year the Coca-Cola Company’s Philippines division created a living billboard advertisement along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue near Forbes Park in Makati, one of the cities located within the Metro Manila region. The billboard was comprised of over three thousand carbon dioxide consuming Fukien tea plants.

It also features a white silhouette of a Coca-Cola bottle amidst the tea plants and was created through a partnership between the beverage giant and the World Wildlife Fund or the World Wide Fund for Nature as its known outside the US and Canada. The billboard is 60 x 60 feet and contains a grand total of 3,600 plants housed in recycled Coca-Cola Company beverage bottles.

Anthony Gao, a consulting botanist on the project, told the Philippine Star each plant had the capability to absorb 13 pounds of carbon dioxide on average for a combined absorption total of 46,800 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. I haven’t found any news that the billboard has been removed so I am going to assume it’s still going strong.

The first Los Angeles Mobile Arts Festival (LA-MAF) started today at the Santa Monica Art Studios a 22,000 square foot building of repurposed space because it was once a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport.

LA-MAF will feature a selection of work created by more than 200 mobile artists from 30 countries who utilize mobile devices, technology, and apps to create artwork.

In the festival’s main room, called Arena 1, the CODA iPad® Art Car will be featured. The electric vehicle (EV) was wrapped with a digital finger painting originally created on an iPad® by Italian-based artist Matthew Watkins.

Today after a lengthy discussion the Los Angeles City Council voted to banish single-use plastic bags. They have inched ever closer to enacting a policy that has been on the agenda for years -three according to this Los Angeles Times editorial.

We have been following the council’s progress on the issue since December of last year.  Since then smaller chunks of southern California and cities further up the west coast have passed ordinances but Los Angeles held off because in the words of Councilwoman Jan Perry they needed to go into this with “eyes wide open.”

Today the EPA released their annual top 25 metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings.

Three California cities are in the top ten with Los Angeles ranked 1st, San Francisco at 3rd, and Riverside is ranked 9th. According to the EPA, Los Angeles has been in the top spot since 2008.

California has a total of six cities on the list with Sacramento (12th), San Diego (19th), and San Jose (21st) making the Golden State the host with the most.

How do Energy Star buildings differ from buildings that carry LEED certification?

We have been following the Los Angeles City Council and their struggle to pass an ordinance banning single use plastic bags and charging a fee for paper bags for months now- since December to be precise.

Earlier this week during a three hour Energy & Environment Committee meeting the ban was revisited as the requested fiscal and community reports pertaining to a bag ban were given. This meeting also included a presentation of the proposed fiscal budget for the Department of Water and Power for the upcoming year by its commissioners.  

The City of Claremont (nickname: “The City of Trees and PhDs”) has been awarded Silver level status by the California Green Communities (CGC) program for their work toward sustainability. Claremont is only one of four cities that have reached Silver status; the others are Monrovia, Riverside, and Santa Clarita.  Seven other cities including Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Ventura are using the program’s criteria to better their towns and earn recognition.

"Our City takes its commitment to sustainability seriously," said Mayor Sam Pedroza.  "It is a priority for the City Council and it is a consideration in every project and program we provide. Achieving the Silver level status validates the tremendous work this community has done."

Suzy Amis Cameron knows the right clothes are needed to walk the red carpet. She has had to walk several red carpets as the wife of James Cameron, award-winning director of blockbuster hits like Avatar and Titanic.

In 2009 she founded Red Carpet Green Dress to raise awareness about sustainability and environmental stewardship through design. 

The organization recently announced the winner of their annual gown design contest, Miami’s Valentina Delfino, whose dress concept will be worn by actress Missi Pyle on tonight’s red carpet at the 84th Annual Academy Awards. Pyle is not nominated for an Oscar herself but is part of the cast of the heavily nominated film The Artist.

Today is January 16th, 2012 so it’s been thirty days since Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry of the Energy & Environment committee asked that further information regarding a city-wide plastic bag ban/paper bag fee be brought for review. There are no meetings scheduled today, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day but perhaps we will hear something this week?

Plastic bags come with a warning on them: TO AVOID DANGER OF SUFFOCATION, KEEP THIS PLASTIC BAG AWAY FROM BABIES AND CHILDREN. DO NOT USE THIS BAG IN CRIBS, BEDS, CARRIAGES, AND PLAYPENS.

What they should also have printed on them is: TO AVOID DANGER OF POLLUTION DO NOT USE THIS

BAG EVER. KEEP THIS PLASTIC BAG AWAY FROM SEA TURTLES AND FISH. 

Plastic bags are bad for the environment because they break down slowly in a process called photodegrading which means they never really go away. The tiny bits sit around contaminating everything they come in contact with their toxins. Marine life mistakenly ingest plastic bags and bits thinking it’s food. The Pacific Garbage Patch is estimated to consist mostly of plastics.