May 2007 | On Our Radar
If You Build It, They Will Green
If you’ve ever thought about adding environmentally friendly elements to your home then you’ll love the 4th annual AltBuild Expo in Santa Monica. This year’s event promises over 100 exhibitors, highlighting green options from building materials and energy conservation to interior design and household products. AltBuild will also host seminars on subjects like solar energy & eco-friendly paint as well as workshops for irrigation systems & green roofs.
If seeing is believing, then sign up for the Sunday Green Homes Tour and examine all these technologies in action. “We are very pleased to be hosting this show when the world is starting to focus on these vital issues,” says Christine Dzilvelis, producer of AltBuild. “We are very particular who exhibits at the show. Our intent is to bring the very latest in green cutting edge applications and technologies to the public. From low cost home projects to high cost commercial endeavors, we will be showing a range of possibilities, including an expanded Green Homes Tour. We are certain that this will be the best AltBuild yet.”
AltBuild 2007 will take place May 18th & 19th in Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. Admission is FREE. Visit altbuildexpo.com.
— Damien Somerset
Status Bags For Book Worms
For years you’ve held on to your beloved hardcovers and old textbooks, not out of need, but out of an inability to toss those dog-eared, highlighted and underlined tomes in the trash.
Well here’s a bright idea — and one of the most adorable and creative book recycling methods we’ve seen: Send them to Caitlin Phillips, who’ll give them new life in the form of a purse.
Caitlin — whose motto is “a second chance for well-loved books” — crafts the handbags by using the front and back covers as the purse’s sides and the book’s binding as the bottom. She then adds fabric and a beaded strap and — presto! — she’s saved the book from its near-doomed existence at the bottom of that trunk in your attic.
If you love the concept, but still can’t bear to part with En Espanol! Spanish Level I, consider the stellar selection on Caitlin’s website, including classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, childhood favorites like Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Tolling Bell, and even the Bible. Browse the bags ($90 and up) at rebound-designs.com. — Jenny Rough
Don’t just get mad…get active
Ah, your misspent youth. Remember when you sent a baseball rocketing through Old Lady Johnson’s bedroom window? Or how about that totally awesome kegger you hosted while your folks were out of town? With Mother’s Day right around the corner (May 13th), isn’t it about time you showed the woman who gave you life what a mature and responsible citizen you’ve grown up to be? Make mama proud by joining in one of these volunteer opportunities:
Beamentor.org Your mother always said skateboarding and playing video games were a waste of time and brain cells, but those skills might come in handy acting as a mentor to at-risk youth.
Mealsonwheelswest.org Bet you never thought that pizza delivery job you had in high school would be considered valuable job training. Put those pie distribution skills to use delivering food to homebound individuals.
Animalavengers.com Is mom harping on you to start a family already? Tell her you’ve decided to be a foster parent — to a homeless dog or cat.
Treepeople.org Nothing says “I love you (and I’d like for the air you breathe to be as clean as possible)” like dedicating a coupla trees to dear ol’ mother through Tree People’s Gift of Life program.
— Jessica Ridenour
Worth Repeating
“Out of 168 countries surveyed by Jody Heymann, who teaches at both the Harvard School of Public Health and McGill University, the US is one of only five without mandatory paid maternity leave — along with Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.”
—Writer E.J. Graff decrying inaccurate media depiction of mothers “choosing” to exit the workforce; in reality, cultural and corporate restrictions make mothers’ work lives impossible (Columbia Journalism Review, Jan/Feb 2007).
“I cannot support a [mission] that leads to corruption, human right abuses and liars. I am sullied — no more. I didn’t volunteer to support corrupt, money-grubbing contractors, nor work for commanders only interested in themselves. I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored.”
—Suicide note of Col. Ted Westhusing, West Point teacher and father of three, who volunteered for what he thought was a noble cause in Iraq (Texas Observer, 3/16).
“So what is the ethical response to global warming? Christians must start by acknowledging their complicity. The vast majority of our resource consumption does nothing to glorify God. In fact, it does just the opposite.”
—J. Matthew Sleeth, MD, responding to conservative Christians’ attempts to stop the National Association of Evangelicals from speaking out on global warming (Truthout.org, 3/11).
A Family Affair
Get Your Green Groove On at the Do LaB’s Lightning in a Bottle
“Something we learned a long time ago from our parents is that ‘a party is what you make it,’” says Dede Flemming, one quarter of LA-based events and arts collective the Do LaB. “Environment and event production are two things that we are very passionate about, and this was the perfect opportunity for us to blend them together.” He’s talking about Lightning In A Bottle, the annual eco-friendly music and arts festival he runs with his brothers Josh and Jesse, and show producer Dream Rockwell. This Mother’s Day weekend, May 11-13th, the Do LaB celebrates its fourth year in the ancient oak forest outside of Santa Barbara.
Usually events of this stripe leave venues liberally seasoned with trash — especially discarded water bottles (ever seen the ground at Coachella after a hot day?) — and nasty environmental footprints, with everything from waste water runoff to electric and fossil-fuel bills as high as some of the kids who end up in the chill tent. Lighting In A Bottle aims to change all that.
“A big ol’ party can be green in many ways,” notes Flemming. “We are teaming up with Energy Efficiency Solar to build a large solar panel installation onsite that will be pumping energy into the electrical grid over a 7-day period to offset our energy usage. We’ll also be utilizing biodiesel generators for the remainder of the event’s energy needs.” They’re funneling funds from ticket costs towards purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset travel by staff and talent; all food vendors will use biodegradable utensils and plates; and rather than selling those ubiquitous litter objects — water bottles — Do LaB encourages festival-goers to bring their own bottles to refilling stations. Green-education workshops will be held throughout the weekend.
The family-friendly festival will feature a colorful cavalcade of nouveau circus-arts troupes (including the French cabaret-style vaudeville of Vau de Vire Society and Lucent Dossier), bombastic electro-drumming, fire-spinning collective the Mutaytor, stilt-walkers, aerialists and more; musical acts range from Kid Beyond to Bassnectar and avant-anarchist marching band March Fourth. Tribal, psy-trance, and global electro-glitch acts will fill three stages with over forty acts for three days and nights.
And what better place to have an environmentally-sound, eco-educational experience than in the middle of an elysian woodland, surrounded by art and music? “We like to call it a ‘magical forest adventure,’” Flemming explains. “Random performances spring up out of every corner, art projects hang from trees, and beautiful music flows through the air. Our stages are not just stages, they are large scale art pieces.” Art and music with an environmental conscience: Coachella, take notes.— Lucinda Michele Knapp
![[Send]](http://wholelifetimes.com/sendlink/send.gif){kind=small}
Recommend this page to a friend
Top Ten pages recommended to friends:
