Green News You Can Use

• Front lawns need a lot of water and light to look pretty, but what about a moss lawn? It doesn’t need nearly as much water and grows well in shade so no need to cut down a lot of trees.
• New York State will start purchasing green office products, namely 100% recycled paper for both office use and for publications.
• In an odd turn of events, endangered seals in the Seattle area are eating endangered salmon, which may be even more endangered than the seals. Who do you protect?
• Keeping a portion of ones farmland fallow each year is important to restoring nutrients to the soil and help protect wildlife habitats. With economic pressures, though, farmers are keeping less and less land fallow. What effect is this having?
• Really want to do your part to save the planet? Stop eating red meat and dairy.  A new study shows that cutting red meat and dairy out of your diet has a much larger effect on the environment than eating local produce.
• Do you have something to say about Art and the Environment? Orlo has a call for proposals, submissions and recommendations for their Fall 2008 Contemporary Art Issue for visual artists, curators, gallery directors and writers.
• San Francisco diverts the highest percentage of waste away from landfills, 70%, of any city in the country, but Mayor Newsom thinks they can do even more. And he’s looking to reach 75% by requiring all residents to compost, instead of doing it voluntarily.  Apparently Newsom has some other ideas in mind for the city as well, including stations where you can exchange your dead battery for your electric car with a charged one, negating the need to wait around to charge it, and changing from a payroll tax to a carbon tax.
• Quebec is planning on building 2,004 MW worth of wind farms by 2015, which can be used in tandem with they’re already large hydropower program to generate hydropower more optimally. And if there’s energy left over, export power to the Northeast US.
• LEED’s standards are a good first step, but there is a lot of criticism for the standards, such as why the same standards apply to Las Vegas as New York City, or that the points aren’t necesarily awarded based on difficulty to implement or green impact.
• New York City and the EPA are building up to have the third New York City Green Building Competition.  This year’s theme is Integration.  The due date is May 30th for submissions, so get integrated! (via New York EcoSpaces)

Image from Washington State Department of Ecology

The Weekly Heads Up

Last week we were at the Ecocity World Summit in San Francisco. We heard speakers from all over the world give their ideas and updates on reforming our cities. Jaime Lerner from Curitiba, Brazil as well as speakers from the US, Australia, India, Senegal, China, Egypt, France, Iran, Turkey, Bangladesh, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Korea, Germany, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Nepal, Belgium, Denmark and more.

Two main ideas from the conference were:

Traffic acts like a Gas, not a Liquid: Winning independence from automobiles is not only possible but necessary. While planners are taught to think of traffic as a liquid that will overflow its boundaries if enough room isn’t provided for it, in fact people are discovering it acts more like a gas. Expand the space by building more roads and freeways, and traffic simply expands to fill it. Restrict the space, by making car-free areas downtown, replacing auto lanes with bus lanes, bike-paths and greenways, and traffic is reduced.

Making Cities Permeable to Nature has many Benefits: Eco-grids, green facades, wildlife corridors, integrated agriculture, natural water treatment systems, and increased park space are all proving to be cost effective ways to improve health, reduce pollution and CO2 emissions, control stormwater run-off, foster community, reduce sprawl, decrease energy needs, and improve the quality of life in our cities.

You can start by getting your FREE TREE in NYC this Saturday, May 10. Go to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket at the Brooklyn Prospect Park NW Entrance. First come, first served!

There are clips from the conference here, and an introduction to the summit here. More videos and stories to come!

This week:

Green Drinks at Varnish Wednesday, May 7th for Happy Hour.

University of California Berkeley and Stanford University Present a Conference on Clean Solar Energy. Wednesday, May 7th from noon to 7pm.

Stopwaste.org is having an event on Friday, May 9 in conjunction with Business Council on Climate Change (BC3). For more info: contact bc3@sfgov.org, or Partnership@StopWaste.Org.

Pangea Day: See the World Through Other’s Eyes
Saturday, May 10. Champagne Brunch at 10:00 a.m. Film at 11:00 a.m. Celebration at 3:00 p.m.
Architecture for Humanity. 848 Folsom Street, Second Floor
24 short films, inspiring speakers and musicians. Join us for this worldwide simulcast event and see the world through other’s eyes. Notes: The setting is open and casual, so you are free to come and go as you please. Floor seating, so please bring pillows!!!

Here’s a Cool Project: San Jose 100 Year Climate Clock

The Climate Clock Global Initiative is seeking ideas from artist-led teams to create a major artwork entitled Climate Clock, which will measure changes in greenhouse gas levels, and be the first in a series of global projects calling attention to climate change. Climate Clock will be an instrument of long-term measurement and will collect data for 100 years. The artwork will be located in downtown San Jose, California, Silicon Valley’s city center, and will be a collaboration between an artist-led team composed of artists, international and Silicon Valley engineers and other creative professionals who are working with climate measurement and data visualization. It is anticipated that the budget for the construction of Climate Clock will be between $5 and $15 million, depending upon the scope of the final proposal.

The Deadline is this Friday, May 9, 2008.

Have a great week!

Green News You Can Use

• Foreign born Indians are returning to India with their western university degrees and hopes to instill environmental ethics into the Indian public before its too late.
• Washington D.C. will become first U.S. city to introduce automated bicycle-sharing program. Transportation officials hope the program will reduce stress on transit systems.
• Bidets could be a solution for people in the US to reduce their toilet paper use. While they are very popular in other parts of the world, bidets haven’t caught on here in the states. Treehugger looks at an economical one that can be attached to your to toilet at home without need for a separate unit.
• In one county in Georgia, there is no problem with drought due to the use of a wetland wastewater treatment system in use that eventually discharges water into the drinking water reservoir for the county.
• The New York Times has a discussion surrounding greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel and whether or not biofuels should be pursued to supplement kerosene as a jet fuel.
• Chinese automakers are gearing up to make (relatively) affordable hybrid cars, around $10,000 a pop, which is approximately the going rate for regular automobiles in China. Could these make it to the US?
• Is global warming really happening? The EPA must think so because it is looking at how to manage water supplies with the onset of climate change and a warming planet.
• United Arab Emirates may have one of the largest oil reserves in the world, but they realize that it won’t be around forever, so part of the motivation for building a carbon neutral city is to have a leg up on the alternative energy field in the future.
• Could superconductors help combat global warming? A huge amount of power generated at power plants are lost during the transmission process, but superconductors lose almost no energy and don’t emit EMF, so they could be worth the cost.

Photo of a wastewater treatment wetland in Clayton County, Georgia from NPR.

Green News You Can Use

• Flood forecasters think that this year’s flood season might be worse than normal for the East and the Midwest. They are also urging people to not tamper with their monitoring devices along the rivers, allowing them to try and predict flooding sooner.
• Meltwater in glaciers can get into small cracks and cut through to the base of the ice very quickly, causing glaciers to crack.
• Bush announced his new initiative to address climate change, with the goal of stopping growth in emissions until 2025. Other than that, though, he didn’t have much new to say.
• The latest Freakonomics piece focuses on pay-as-you-drive insurance, a tool that can be used like congestion pricing to reward those who drive less and charge those who drive more. Progressive car insurace is planning on rolling it out this year.
• Rising sea levels may threaten some of Egypt’s ancient landmarks, as well as erode the fertile Nile delta and lead to saltwater contamination of the groundwater.
• Earth Day was last week, so in honor of the holiday, Re-Nest listed twelve activities you can do to celebrate earth. Start your checklist!
• White-nose syndrome has been infecting caves in the northeast, killing bats that live in the caves while hibernating through the winter. Scientists have no clues as to how the disease spreads, but it is sure to affect mosquito populations this summer.
• Europe is building large numbers of coal fired power plants to deal with aging infrastructure, especially in Germany and Italy where nuclear power is forbidden.
• Long-Trail Brewing Company of Vermont is going green by buying methane power produced (locally) by cows. And it completes the circle by providing food for the cows from mash, a byproduct of brewing.
• A bar in San Francisco, Elixir, has achieved the San Francisco Green Business label (which Sherwood has achieved as well), due in large part to their drinks which come from all natural ingredients.
• Hybrid taxis are a big hit in NYC, especially with the rising gas rates.]
• What is the true carbon footprint of your foods?  There are a lot of ways of looking at it, but The New York Times counts up the carbon from wine traveling to NY to show that wine from France has a smaller carbon footprint than wine from California.
• Sweden is trying to make their ports greener.  Will this trend spread?
• Make your ethanol at home with E-Fuel.  For $10,000, you might be able to do it soon.

Photo of Italian kiwis from The New York Times

The Weekly Heads Up

This week the Ecocity World Summit comes to San Francisco!
April 22-26, 2008. San Francisco.
The Ecocity World Summit will feature speakers from around the globe addressing the practice and concepts of ecological cities and towns from the perspectives of people, nature, sustainable development, economies and technologies, incentives and support structures.

The fun begins Monday, Apr 21. 7-9 pm.
Pre-Conference Public Event: World View of Warming and How Cities can Save the Earth

Tuesday, Apr 22. 6:30pm-9:30pm
OPENING RECEPTION for the EcoCities Conference
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Grand Lobby. 701 Mission Street
Hosted by Urban Re:Vision and Architecture for Humanity

3 EARTH DAY EVENTS in New York:
Park Design for the 21st Century
Tuesday, Apr 22. 12:30 to 5 pm
Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place. NYC
Presentations by prominent professionals will illuminate cutting-edge strategies for creating high performance landscapes. New techniques and innovative designs presented will lead to “High Performance Landscape Guidelines,” the third in a trilogy of sustainable design manuals published by the Design Trust and the City of New York. These publications led to the enactment of local laws that encourage high performance construction, and paved the way for the city’s recent sustainability initiatives.

Million Trees New York:
Tuesday, April 22. 6 - 7:30pm Info here.
A member on the advisory council for the PlaNYC initiative, Alex Feleppa is a passionate advocate of the Million Trees Campaign. Alex will provide a complete overview of the campaign with an informative PowerPoint created by the NYC Parks Department.

A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil
Tuesday, Apr 22. 6:30 pm. The First Presbyterian Church, 12 West 12th Street, Manhattan
For the past 40 years the Brazilian city of Curitiba has demonstrated how to convert urban problems into cost-effective solutions. Innovations in transportation, recycling, affordable housing and park design have made Curitiba one of the most livable cities in the world. The film includes interviews with world-renowned mayors Jaime Lerner and Cassio Tanigushi, as well as the other city planners whose imagination and foresight have helped transform Curitiba into a model of urban sustainability.

Sustainable Indoor Mini-Golf Event!
Thursday, April 24. 8:00 pm
706 Mission Street, 4th Floor. San Francisco, CA
The Architectural Foundation of San Francisco proudly presents: UPTOWN PUTT
A nine-hole miniature golf course on the 7th floor of the historic Rochester Big and Tall building, designed and built by BuildSF students, architects and contractors using only GREEN/RECYCLED materials. Share in the fun by inviting your colleagues and friends for a fun-filled evening of food, drink, music, games and just putting around.

Meeting the 2030 Challenge: Tools to Fight Climate Change
Thursday, Apr 24. 6 - 8pm
AIA San Francisco. 130 Sutter Street at Kearny

Heads Up Next Week:

Green News You Can Use

• Are there other ways to make biofuels other than ethanol? Talk of the Nation features a few professors who are researching ways to do this without impairing our food sources, such as making ethanol from corn stalks.
• Charcoal may help improve soil quality more than manure or compost in the long term.
• Starting next week on Earth Day, the New York area MTA will issue 5 million limited-edition green Metro Cards with environmental facts on the back. (via GreenbuildingsNYC)
• China is looking towards green buildings to reduce their energy consumption, now that their energy consumption is exceeding the US.
• A new documentary, King Corn, investigates how corn came to be such a large part of our diet. NPR talks with the filmmakers, and the movie will be screened on PBS this week.
• Congestion pricing in NYC is dead, but officials look towards Paris’s model to revitalize the streets and make it safer for pedestrians. Will NYC see separated bus and bike lanes soon?
• NYC has a major problem with storm water, mainly that the storm water system is combined with the sewer lines, so in large rain events, raw sewage overflows into the surrounding rivers. A new plan for the Gowanus Canal proposes a vegetated buffer to line the canal, creating what the Gowanus Canal Conservancy terms a Sponge Park, helping to store storm water before it enters the canal.
• China is trying to green their coal-fired power plants by capturing the methane at large coal mines and use it for power generation.
• And this Sunday’s NY Times Magazine is the annual is Green Issue, chock full of ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

Image of Sponge Park on the Gowanus Canal by dlandstudio (via Brownstoner)

Planting the Sherwood Forest

In Sherwood’s ongoing office greening effort, a group from the New York office was part of a group of 200 or so volunteers who planted about 3,800 saplings at Kissena Park in Queens. This was just one site of Hands on New York Day, a city-wide volunteer effort organized by New York Cares that utilized the efforts of 8,000 volunteers to clean up parks, schools, and playgrounds across the 5 boroughs. Also, New York Cares was working with Million Trees NYC, a part of the city’s Plan NYC to plant 1 million trees in the next ten years.

We had a great time while beautifying a local park and helping our environment. This was the tangible aspect of our carbon footprint program, and when combined with the offsets we previously purchased, we are happy to say that the New York office has made a successful, whole-hearted effort to offset its carbon emissions from 2007, with respect to travel and office energy use.

The Weekly Heads Up

Turns out bees can recognize human faces. And they certainly know a lot about Bio-Teaming. Learn more about Bees and Beekeeping at Habana Eatery’s Earth-Day Expo this week in NYC!

PlaNYC2030 Post-Bloomberg
Monday, Apr 14. 6:00 pm. New York City, info here.
The Municipal Art Society of New York, as part of its Campaign for Community Based Planning, will present a series of panel discussions to promote community-based planning in New York City.

The series, titled “Creating the City We All Want: A Roadmap,” will be conducted in conjunction with the release of the Fifth Edition of Planning for All New Yorkers: the Atlas of Community-Based Plans, a resource that compiles all community-based plans undertaken in New York City since 1989. This series will explore the potential of neighborhood-led plans to shape equitable development and growth in the city, from the perspective of elected officials, community advocates, and planners

Pacific Film Archive presents: Schindler’s Houses
Tuesday and Wednesday, April 15-16. 7:30 pm. Pacific Film Archive Theater
Director Heinz Emigholz in Person

Emigholz depicts forty buildings by architect Rudolph Schindler, revealing Schindlers singular vision, his acute attention to spatial relations and to the natural environment, and his captivating and idiosyncratic architectural vocabulary. An additional screenings and discussions by Emigholz this week, info here.

Brooklyn Green Drinks
Wednesday, April 16, at ReBar in Brooklyn. 147 Front Street (between Pearl and Jay Streets)

East Bay Green Drinks
Wednesday, Apr 16. Bobby G’s Pizzeria in Berkeley. Info Here.

Panel and Tour: StopWaste
Wednesday, Apr 16th. 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. StopWaste.Org: 1537 Webster Street, Oakland 94612
StopWaste.Org LEED Platinum Building Tour, Sustainable Business Alliance Speaker Event, and Green Business Recognition Ceremony. Panel Details: Green Industry Trends - and How Bay Area Businesses are Making a Difference . Featuring: * Gil Friend - Natural Logic * Patrick MacIntyre - Blue Sky BioFuels
* Gary Gerber - Sun Light & Power * James Hurd Nixon - Sustainable Systems, Inc. * Brian Back - Sustainable Industries

Water Crisis: Investment Opportunities and Emerging Technologies
Thursday, Apr 17. 6:00 - 9:00 pm. Palo Alto. Information Here.
Water scarcity is a global issue, further impacted by climate change. The water industry has been one of the least receptive to innovative processes. Venture Capital Task Force explores the issue. $55 VC Taskforce members, $65 Affiliates, $87 General.

ECCONOVATION: Opening Reception, “Get Fried up!”
Friday, Apr 18, 7-11pm. Info Here.
Econnovation = Ecologic + Economic + Innovation. It is simply a play on words, but it is able to explain succinctly what is necessary for design in the 21st century. Knoend is proud to present a multidisciplinary showcase of innovative sustainable design projects pioneered in the San Francisco Bay Area at the Design Guild SF Gallery. The exhibition’s goal is to inspire our community’s creativity about how everyone — from professional designers to your neighbor on the street — are (at heart) designers, with the imagination to design a more sustainable world.

Participating individuals, companies, and organizations: Adrien Segal, Ahmed Khouja, Chambers Design, Grace Street, Han Pham, Jeremy Faludi, Josh Jakus, Knoend/ReLife Clinic, Leilani Nisperos, Lynda Grose/CCA Fashion Student Designers, Project Frog, Public Architecture, Mike Ricca, Miranda Caroligne, Modern Slant, MK Think, New Leaf Paper, O2 Bay Area, Sustainable Energy Partners, Teacher with a Bus, Valerie Casey/Designer’s Accord.

The show officially opens its doors at 7pm. ‘Teacher With a Bus’ founder Jens-Peter Jungclaussen will be presenting his vegetable-oil fueled bus and speaking on the latest news and controversies on biodiesel and alternative fuels. Delicious finger foods fried in organic olive oil (later to be fuel for the bus) will be served throughout the evening along with cocktails from our sponsor Veev. Knoend will begin taking patients in their ReLife Clinic - a special clinic that designs the next lifecycles for objects. Show-goers are encouraged to bring photographs of personal objects that need a new life.

EARTH DAY EXPO at Habana Eatery in Brooklyn
Saturday and Sunday, Apr 19-20. Two Days of Free Workshops and Events for the Whole Family
The ABC’s of Bees and Beekeeping, Composting Workshops, Electronic Waste Recycling, Recycled Art Show, Green Technology Demonstration: Habana Labs will unveil New York’s first Off-Grid Solar Outlet, and more. Shop Green! Meet local non-profit groups and find out how you can get involved!

Watch Eco-Films: “The Water Under Ground” - In spring of 2006, the Lower East Side Ecology Center partnered with Center for Urban Pedagogy, City-as-School, and REC Youth to explore the Water Underground–the millions of gallons of water that enters the city, gets used in various ways and discharged to local waterways each day. The Water Underground video is a 25-minute student-led exploration of where water comes from, where it goes and what happens along the way.
“Rooftop Bees” - A film by Melissa Lohman Wild -John has an unusual hobby for a longtime resident of New York City. He maintains three beehives on his Brooklyn rooftop. This short doc gives a glimpse into the practice of urban beekeeping and shows how John’s bees are helping to pollinate the Big Apple.

Heads up Next Week: Eco-City World Summit 2008

Green News You Can Use

• New Jersey approves a huge loan program to help people install photovoltaics, covering 40-60% of the installation costs, with the goal of adding 30 MW of solar power over the next 2 years.
• And speaking of solar, Treehugger profiles four ways to generate your own power, enabling you to live off the grid. Treehugger also profiles off the grid living.
• The young and idealistic who also want to make money are flocking to the carbon market.
• A California company has developed a plug-in hybrid, and despite the price, there is a market for it. So why haven’t the major auto companies caught on?
• Manufacturers are making biodegradable plastic bags and plastic bags made from recycled plastic bag material, but that still doesn’t make many environmental groups happy.
• Last week we mentioned the Nationals stadium in DC achieved a LEED certification. The stadium has shuttle busses, lots of public transportation access and valet bike parking, which was so effective that their parking lots weren’t even full on opening day.
• The Pacific Fishery Management Council has voted to ban commercial and sport fishing off the coast of California and most of Oregon, in response to the collapse of the chinook salmon.
• Salmon are the only marine species starting to collapse - scientists are trying to figure out why the northern fur seal population has been dropping over the last decade.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture is being pressured from all sides regarding next steps for its Conservation Reserve Program. Conservationists and environmental groups would like preserved land to remain in the program, but others support cropland increase.
• A bunch of us from the New York office helped out planting trees as part of New York Care’s Hands On New York Day, and in light of that, someone brought this Northeast Community Tree Guide to our awareness.
• A sign of significant progress being made with respect to biking in New York City, a community board in Brooklyn overwhelmingly voted in support of removing on street parking in favor of a buffer protected bike path in an industrial area.
• Do you have a stand alone garage? Maybe you too can turn it in to a green roofed garden. (via City Dirt)
• A new housing development in Connecticut aims to seek LEED certification, despite being huge luxury homes not willing to compromise on appliances or water fixtures. But can huge homes really be considered green? (via Re-nest)
• Two graduate students from Hunter College have released detailed analysis of their NYC Bicycle Parking Survey conducted last fall.
• Green building is good, but preservation is even better. “If 40% of the materials in a new building are recycled, it would take 65 years for a green, energy-efficient new office building to recover the energy lost in demolishing an existing building.”
• A congestion pricing plan failed to pass at the state level in New York by the federal deadline, thereby disqualifying New York City from being eligible for $354 million in federal funding.
• UPenn team wins student design competition to redesign the Cedars neighborhood of Dallas at ULI last week.
• Could urban sprawl improve public health? It does lessen exposure to other peoples diseases by avoiding close quarters as much, and you might be able to sleep better without being woken up by your neighbor’s screaming baby. (via Archinect)
• As mentioned a few weeks ago, a case in California pitting solar panels against redwood trees made it to court. And the solar panels won. The owners of the redwood trees must prune or cut down their trees to ensure that at most 10% of the panels are shaded.
• A number of innovative ideas for transforming New York City’s streets are being proposed, to improve the quality of the streets and plazas and make it easier for people to get around.

Photo of a plug-in hybrid from NPR

The Weekly Heads Up

MOVIE: Sundance Channel presents: “BIG IDEAS FOR A SMALL PLANET”
Monday, Apr 7. 7pm. Sundance Kabuki Theater
1881 Post Street at FillmoreSan Francisco, CA 94115
Episodes FOOD, FASHION and RECYCLE, with Reception and Q&A to follow.

Collaborating for Change: The Open Architecture Network
Wednesday, Apr 9. 5:30 pm. Complete Info Here.
Maria Giudice, CEO and Founder, Hot Studio; Co-author, Web Design Essentials
Scott Mattoon, Chief Architect, Western U.S. Region, Sun Microsystems
Amy Novogratz, Director, TED Prize
Kate Stohr, Co-founder, Architecture for Humanity; Editor, Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises

How can well-designed Web access to open-source architectural plans support sustainable development, help communities rebuild after disaster, and create safer and more innovative structures with partners around the world? Learn how a diverse team of engineers, designers and social activists worked together to create a collaborative design community to help raise living standards around the globe - and allowed a worldwide team to respond to the immediate needs of disaster victims, including the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the recent fires in Southern California.

City Arts and Lectures presents Jeffrey Sachs
Wednesday, Apr 9 8pm. Complete Info here
Jeffrey Sachs is Director of the Earth Institute, where he is also a professor of sustainable development. The unconventional and impassioned economist advocates combining economic development with environmental sustainability. His latest work, Commonwealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, describes the potential road to sustainable and equitable global prosperity while warning of the imminence of global economic collapse.

Design by Dialogue: “Community Prosperity”
Wednesday, April 9. 6-6:30 pm Pot Luck. 6:30-9 Program. Pacific Energy Center, 851 Howard Street
Community Prosperity: with SF State professor Raquel Rivera Pinderhughes.
Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) and The Big One will co-sponsor the Design by Dialogue Series, a 4-part once-a-month Connectivity Series. “The New Me is We” blog. WiserEarth group. RSVP: Sabsmalik12@aol.com

INFORUM’s 21st Century Award: Adam Werbach
Thursday, Apr 10. 6pm check in. 6:30pm program. 7:30 p.m wine. The Commonwealth Club
In 2007, Werbach’s sustainability agency Act Now helped Wal-Mart engage its 1.3 million employees in the Personal Sustainability Project (PSP). In January 2008, Act Now was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi, a hothouse for world-changing ideas with over 7,000 employees in 84 countries. Together they aim to become the sustainability agency of record for the world’s leading corporations. Their purpose: help companies grow their business and preserve the planet through strategy, product and supply-chain innovation, workforce engagement and marketing. The mission: create a consumer revolution for social change.

New York: Real Estate Industry Party
Thursday, Apr 10th. Pre-party cocktails at 6 pm!
At Azul. 1 Tillman Place (In Union Sq.)
Hosted by Aaron McCann. For details call 212.333.7558

UC Berkeley Conference: California and the Future of Environmental Law and Policy.
Thursday & Friday, Apr 10-11. Complete info here.
California’s natural resources, economy, demographics and political system have made it a unique laboratory for environmental policy over the past half century. This conference will bring together leading environmental policymakers, scholars and legal practitioners to address California’s current and future role at the forefront of environmental law and policy development. In the process, speakers will map for conference attendees California’s environmental policy agenda for the coming decades.

Straw Bale Workshop
Friday Apr 11. 7:00 – 9:30 pm. Info here.
Presentation and slide show: Michele Landegger is a natural builder, president of Boa Constructor Building and Design. Michele’s talk will cover:
• Building with Strawbale
• Natural Building Techniques
• Ecological Remodeling

Image of Straw Bale home in Capitola courtesy of Building Naturally