Intro, Week 20 2009

Green Living Workshops

There are 6 workshops currently running. This post is specific to the following workshop:

Monday 1-2 pm at HBO

Please scroll down to view your workshop’s post.

INTRODUCTION

>>Santa Monica Sustainable City Plan
>>Santa Monica Ecological Footprint description
>>Santa Monica Ecological Footprint graphic

Footprint Quizzes
>>Take two of the ecological footprint quizzes below and record the number of acres and earths your lifestyle requires in your LifeStyle Survey.
>>Ecofoot.org
>>Myfootprint.org
>>Earthday.net/footprint

Green Community Groups
>>Sustainable Business Council
>>Net Impact Los Angeles
>>Green Business Networking
>>LA Green Drinks
>>Eco Tuesdays

Green Happenings
>>GreenLAGirl - Siel's personal blog about eco-happenings in the Los Angeles area

>>GoToGreenLA - find all of the sustainable, eco-friendly, environmentally-conscious events taking place in and around Los Angeles

>>YourDailyThread - "ydt is here to help with short & sweet articles on how to live a balanced life in Los Angeles. Topics range from eco-fashion to organic beer, from Hollywood film festivals to Santa Monica community gardens, and more."

Sources of Environmental News
>>Grist.org - has an informative and humorous daily newsletter that will keep you abreast of the latest environmental news

>>Green Inc. New York Times Blog - "How will the pressures of climate change, limited fossil fuel resources and the mainstreaming of "green" consciousness reshape society? Follow the money. From renewable energy policy to carbon markets to dubious eco-advertising, our energy and environment reporters track the high-stakes pursuit of a greener globe."

>>GreenBiz.com - offers more than 8,000 resources, including daily news and feature stories, reports, checklists, case studies, and links to organizations, technical assistance programs, government agencies, and recognition programs.

Are you a Los Angeles resident? Help Bring Sustainable Works to the City of Los Angeles!
>>Get ACTIVE! Write a letter to your City Council Member letting them know you would like Sustainable Works programs to be offered in Los Angeles. To find out more about our programs visit our website. To find your City Council representative visit LACity.org, scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your intersection. The results of the search will provide you with a list of your elected officials. See a sample letter.

Documentaries
>>An Inconvenient Truth - former Vice President Al Gore presents a compelling look at the state of global warming in the fascinating and startling documentary

>>Blue Gold: World Water Wars - "In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth." A great primer on world wide water issues.

>>Blue Vinyl - A Toxic Comedy Look at Vinyl, The World's Second Largest Selling Plastic.With humor, hope and a piece of vinyl siding firmly in hand, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and co-director Daniel B. Gold travel from Helfand’s hometown to America’s vinyl manufacturing capital and beyond in search of answers about the nature of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

>>Burning the Future: Coal in America - Writer/director David Novack examines the explosive conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by emerging “clean coal” energy policies, local activists watch a world blind to the devastation caused by coal's extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, our heroes demonstrate a strength of purpose and character in their improbable fight to arouse the nation's help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life.

>>Food Inc. – "unveils the sometimes dirty politics of the food industry; features experts like Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schloseer (Fast Food Nation)." "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment."

>>Earthlings - "a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers." The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby."

>>FLOW - Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?" Via flowthemovie.com.

>>Fuel - "An insightful portrait of America’s addiction to oil and an uplifting testament to the immediacy of new energy solutions. Director, Josh Tickell, a young activist, shuttles us on a whirlwind journey to track the rising domination of the petrochemical industry and reveals a gamut of available solutions to "repower America" —from vertical farms that occupy skyscrapers to algae facilities that turn wastewater into fuel. Tickell and a surprising array of environmentalists, policy makers, and entertainment notables take us through America’s complicated, often ignominious energy past and illuminate a hopeful, achievable future, where decentralized, sustainable living is not only possible, it’s imperative."

>>King Corn - "King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast food nation."

>>Manufactured Landscapes - a documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams—Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization’s materials and debris.

>>My Father's Garden - "Explores sustainable agriculture and the contrast between chemical and organic farming. An emotionally charged documentary about the use and misuse of technology on the American farm."

>>Shall We Gather at the River - "exposes a huge health and environmental scandal in our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. The health and environmental damage documented in today’s factory farms far exceeds the damage that Upton Sinclair could have imagined a century ago."

>>Super Size Me - "If you have not seen this 30-day eating journey of Morgan Spurlock it is a must. Spurlock’s month long McDonald’s food (gross) fest explores the fast food industry’s influence on the American consumer and how public health is put aside for corporate wealth."

>>The 11th Hour - a documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity.

>>The End of Suburbia - A movie that discusses the dwindling supply of cheap energy in the form of fossil fuels and its effect on society.

>>The Future of Food - "There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America -- a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. The Future of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade."

>>The Power of Community - Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period."

>>The Real Dirt on Farmer John - "If you are still debating if you should join a CSA then you must watch the documentary about John Peterson, a.k.a Farmer John, a midwest farmer whose life parallels the history of American farming in the late 20th century.">>The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard - "From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns."

>>Two Angry Moms - "Do you have kids in school? Do you pack a lunch for them every single day? If not, they probably are buying what the school is serving. If so, you probably want to know what your kids are eating in school. So did Amy Kalafa and Susan Rubin. These moms were fed up that their children were eating highly-processed food filled with additives and preservatives at school."

>>Who Killed The Electric Car? - "A murder mystery, a call to arms and an effective inducement to rage, Who Killed the Electric Car? is the latest and one of the more successful additions to the growing ranks of issue-oriented documentaries." Via The New York Times.