Refuse
- Reusable dry cleaning bags are available at most dry cleaners (avoid the plastic bags)
- All grocery stores sell reusable bags;
- Gelson's enters customers with reusable bags in a weekly contest for $25 gift certificate and Ralph's gives a 5 cent credit per bag.
- Use reusable coffee mugs; Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Starbucks will give you a credit if you bring your own mug.
- Use a real coffee cup at Starbucks if you are drinking your coffee there (they provide them if you ask)
Recycle
- Recycle bottles, cans and paper in the blue bins located around town. The contents of these bins, provided by Palisades Cares, is collected by employees of Chrysalis Enterprises.
Water Wise Gardening .
Some key things to do:
- choose natives, Mediterranean plants, or other plants that don't use a lot of water, eg. salvias, sages;
- group plants by water need, water established plants deeply but infrequently, new natives need regular water the first year;
- natives don't need soil amendments; vegetables and non-natives may need amendments such as compost;
- replace your grass with low water needing plants;
- cover area with 2" of mulch to retain water and reduce weeds;
- use rainbarrels or rain chains to keep water from going into the storm drains.
Recommendations:
Mulch: Xerimulch available at Yamaguchi Bonsai on Sawtelle and Sperling's in SF Valley.
Compost: from LA City Recycling-get last Friday of the month in Griffith Park, Whole Foods and Vons, or make your own.
Rainbarrels: Rainbud, located in Mar Vista, www.rainbud.com.
Resources for drought tolerant gardening include: bewaterwise.com, ladwp.com, lastormwater.org, oceanfriendlygardens.org., sunset.com and theodorepayne.org.
Photos of drought tolerant gardens from the Mar Vista Green Garden Tour:
www.marvistagreengardenshowcase.blogspot.com
Green Gardens Group LA, G3LA, and the West Los Angeles Chapter of Surfrider give classes on ocean friendly gardening to homeowners and landscape professionals.
Resources for Businesses
Recycling
-Businesses can get free recycling containers for bottles and cans from the California Department of Conservation at www.bottlesandcans.com;
Food Waste Recycling
- restaurants can compost more than 76% of food waste and save money on trash pickups;
- this program is available from LA City Dept of Sanitation;
- California Recycles consults with restaurants on how to implement this program
- Riviera Country Club participates in LA's food waste recycling program
E-waste Recycling
- California Recycles, www.californiarecycles.com, will pick up from businesses and sells eco-friendly products;
- items can also be dropped off at their facility in West Los Angeles
