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Our goal of a sustainable community is to offer a life rich in opportunity and an enjoyable daily experience.

A Vision: a place where young couples stay to raise their children, where we reach our destinations such as our offices, homes, shops, by walking, biking, by using local shuttles and MTA; a place which we give back to our children in better condition than we received it from our parents. The vision is a forest of green buildings with a green ground cover of gardens and parks; to quote William McDonough from his book Cradle to Cradle, “Imagine a building like a tree, a city like a forest”.

This is an interesting document from Jane Ellison Usher, President, Los Angeles City Planning Commission   "Do Real Planning: Principles for Land Use Planning in LA" presents 14 points of "Do Real Planning", an initiative to design a better Los Angeles.
(Click Here - PDF)

Portland, Oregon: Portland creates less greenhouse gases than it did 15 years ago, while saving $2 million annually on city energy bills - and attracting new business with its efficiency expertise. Its green-building standards are the toughest in the nation. (Source: Sierra Club)

City of Denver: go to www.greenprintdenver.org. Greenprint Denver is a long-term, citywide initiative to promote the importance of sustainable development and ecologically-friendly practices throughout the community.

In the United States buildings account for:

  • 36% of total energy use/65% of electricity consumption
  • 30% of greenhouse gas emissions
  • 30% of raw materials use
  • 30% of waste output/136 million tons annually
  • 12% of potable water consumption

Encourage all new construction and major renovations to meet the LEED Silver standard of the U.S. Green Building Council, and meet Energy Star Guidelines. Encourage building owners and tenants to be more energy efficient and to reduce, recycle and reuse for economic and environment reasons.

Promote the use of water free urinals which can save 40,000 gallons of water per urinal per year.   Sloan Valve (www.sloanvalve.com), Falcon (www.falconwaterfree.com) and others make this product.

Participate in DWP's Water Conservation Programs (Click Here).

Participate in DWP's rebates and incentives for both residential and commercial customers (http://www.fypower.org/).

Apartment Owners - Find Value in Green Features - With Help From Their Tenants

We need to begin reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions now by 2 percent per year for the next forty years by being more energy efficient.   The benefits are improved air quality, lower energy bills, reducing global issues, and reduced dependence on foreign oil supplies.   Join Sierra Club's "Be Part of the 2% Solution" campaign (Click Here)

"---we probably have a decade to lock into place new regimes of regulation and market incentives. Which happens to be the same do-or-die time frame that a lot of scientists believe we have to start getting gassy modern life back in balance with the Earth's natural systems. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this looks to be the ultimate test of our national character: Do we fat, spoiled 21st-century Americans have the requisite gumption and discipline to be born again, and then do what's necessary to try to keep the planet from going off the rails?" Kurt Andersen, New York Magazine

"--if we can keep warming to 2 degree centigrade through 2100, we might save the coral reefs that are left.   We might also forestall the rest of the ghastly crashes projected for this century (no glaciers, no fish, no Amazon forest, etc.), so it's worth doing everything we can."   "The sooner America gets it, the fewer of our fellow creatures are going to die and the more hospitable and habitable the planet we leave to our children and grandchildren will be."   Alex Shoumatoff, Vanity Fair Magazine

In about 20 years, 2030, we have a convergence of two major issues that will hit us; global warming and peaking of global oil production.  See article “Global Warming Impact Like ‘Nuclear War’”.   To quote from 2005 report by the US Dept. of Energy “Peaking of World Oil Production”; “Waiting until world oil production peaks before taking crash program action leaves the world with significant liquid fuel deficit for more than two decades … the problem of the peaking of world conventional oil production is unlike any yet faced by modern industrial society … without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented.” We need to work toward a greener and justice planet.

U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group III, May 4, 2007: " Changes in lifestyle and behavior patterns can contribute to climate change mitigation across all sectors. Management practices can also have a positive role. (high agreement, medium evidence)

  • Lifestyle changes can reduce GHG emissions. Changes in lifestyles and consumption patterns that emphasize resource conservation can contribute to developing a low-carbon economy that is both equitable and sustainable.
  • Education and training programs can help overcome barriers to the market acceptance of energy efficiency, particularly in combination with other measures.
  • Changes in occupant behavior, cultural patterns and consumer choice and use of technologies can result in considerable reduction in CO2 emissions related to energy use in buildings.
  • Transport Demand Management, which includes urban planning (that can reduce the demand for travel) and provision of information and educational techniques (that can reduce car usage and lead to an efficient driving style) can support GHG mitigation.
  • In industry, management tools that include staff training, reward systems, regular feedback, and documentation of existing practices can help overcome industrial organization barriers, reduce energy use, and GHG emissions."  

A review of the Working Group III report:  Click Here

City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department: Click Here

Stop Global Warming Virtual March: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org. There is no more important cause than the call to action to save our planet. This is a movement about change, as individuals, as a country, and as a global community.

See Leonardo DiCaprio's “The 11th Hour” Movie. "The 11th Hour" is a feature length documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and their impact on the planet. "The 11th Hour" documents the cumulative impact of these actions upon the planet's life systems and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity.  http://www.leonardodicaprio.org/

http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

Participating & Supporting Organizations