I ♥ cities

Great documentary, watch it when you get the chance.  It's important to remember that no matter what your profession you have the power to shape your city, as the public truly has the largest voice.

Hydraulic Fracturing, boo.

Natural Gas, it sounds like a great energy alternative but in reality it’s just another nonrenewable resource.  Processing natural gas for use is quite labor and resource intensive but the extraction of natural gas is what is most alarming.

Many times natural gas is mined through a process called hydrofracking (fracking, hydraulic fracturing) it can be a dangerous and destructive process.   Hydrofracking requires the use of nearly 600 chemicals (many of them toxic) that can leach into our drinking water, produces hazardous wastewater which can contain radioactive substances and toxic chemicals, depletes local water supplies, and may result in dangerous explosions.

This documentary, Gasland, shows the dangers of Hydraulic Fracturing.

If this is bumming you out.  Please take a minute to visit this site:

Save Our Environment

You can quickly send a letter requesting that a misleading Exxon Mobil ad be taken off the air before it further distorts the public debate around hydrofracking. 

Do what you can to support RENEWABLE energy resources! Thanks. 


Check out this related article: Mark Ruffalo wants you to stand up against hydrofracking

RarelyWrongErin: Fall & Winter

Reposting this from my friend Erin's Blog.

RarelyWrongErin: "You may recall that I told you about the amazing film, Fall & Winter, that my amazing friends are making... Here's the new trailer."

Bike LB or Bike Somewhere

Friday night I worked a booth at the Long Beach Bike Festival.  The Long Beach Bike Festival & Tour of Long Beach continues Saturday so if you are in the area head to Pine Avenue & Shoreline Drive to join in the fun as we continue to make Long Beach the most bicycle friendly city in America.


There was a viewing of the movie Riding Bikes with the Dutch, a film by local cycling advocate Michael Bauch.  You don't have to be in Long Beach to check it out:

Remember, Bike to Work Week is May 16th-20th!  If you can't bike to work, just bike somewhere.


Have fun & be safe.

Potable Water

Blah, blah, blah, we’ve all heard it before… bottled water is not the way to go.

Seriously, I do hope the trend of bottled water is coming to an end.  I still see folks wearing ugg boots with shorts so I'm not overly optimistic.

Check out this documentary, Tapped.  Yikes!

Should dollars really come before people and the environment?  I think not.

Dirt!

Composting.   Just started doing it at home and I'm amazed at our reduction in actual trash.  It is great to reduce our input to the landfill and nice to know that one-day we will have our own nutrient rich compost to add to the garden.


However, there have been a few bumps along the way.  I was at an urban farm recently and asked if they had any earthworms to share, to help speed up the decomposition process of our kitchen scraps.  I was given grubs instead and they are about 20 times more disgusting than an earthworm.  (At least to me, apparently people eat these!)

After filling a few buckets that we had been using we decided to purchase a larger composting container:

Now we have to find a home for our Soilsaver.  The last concern for composting in this urban setting is finding materials with a high carbon content such as leaves or straw, to mix with our high nitrogen kitchen scraps... gardening stores sell straw for a crazy high price but I have found a local tack and feed store where I can get a bale for $7.  I have composting friends in the same situation so I will be able to share the load but still have to get some help to unload it from the car and to find space to store the hay for layering.


So... I was just at an Earth Day event and explaining the above to a woman who runs a composting class... she said I should be vermiposting not composting if I don't have much carbon content to add.  I told her I had considered this but the city (where I bought the Soilsaver for a discounted price) was out of the vermiposting bins.  She said she would get me one and exchange it for the composting container I already received.  I will be replacing the Soilsaver with a Wriggly Wranch soon and instead of hay I will be buying red wigglers!

If you want more on soil watch this excellent film, Dirt! The Movie.  It's well done and will be enjoyed by both kids and adults.

Happy Earth Day!

Composting, one year later

Watch it.

Watch this movie and remember your power as a consumer.  Every dollar you spend is a vote!