Hoping for Help for Tia Chucha's
It’s difficult to conceive of Sylmar as a literary mecca. Home to predominantly working class Latino residents in the northeast San Fernando Valley, Sylmar boasts a plethora of fast food joints and a string of auto repair shops — but bookstores? Sadly, it’s about to lose its only one.
And the shop in peril, Tia Chucha’s Café Cultural, is far more to the community it serves than just a place to browse the printed word — it’s also a colorful art gallery, dynamic performance space, meeting place, after-school program, screening room, gift shop, coffee bar and Internet café. During a recent visit to this “dream of community empowerment,” created in 2001 by three local residents — Trini Rodriguez, her husband, Luis, and brother-in-law, Enrique Sanchez — it was clear that Tia Chucha’s clientele is as wide-ranging as it’s mission. A mom browsed books with her toddler as a longhaired senior navigated the rows in his wheelchair and an art class settled in with sketchpads, all to the plinking of a spiky haired teen performer tuning a guitar.
As in the rest of LA, rents have skyrocketed here behind the Pizza Hut. Luis, a veteran of gang warfare and an eloquent Xicano writer, tried to convince building owners that Tia Chucha’s is a “culturally important, vital institution.” “I think they understood it,” he laments, “but the money just speaks louder.” Now this lovingly-hewn nonprofit is slated to be supplanted by a high-tech laundromat.
A temporary, smaller haven has been found in nearby Lake View Terrace. It won’t hold the crowds of up to 400 that have come for high profile authors like Sandra Cisneros, but if Tia Chucha’s can work out the details, it’s large enough to hold the dream until a better permanent space opens up.
At the second anniversary celebration, one guest wrote, “We need the hope you offer.” To help keep the hope alive, stay abreast of fundraiser events at tiachucha.com, or mail donations to Tia Chucha Centro Cultural, POB 328, San Fernando, CA 91341.
— Abigail Lewis
The Kids Are Alright
Seeking an inspirational alternative to LA’s much-maligned public school system? Muse Elementary, in Malibu’s lovely Las Flores Canyon, is a progressive independent school for Kindergarteners and first graders that takes a holistic approach to early education.
Adhering to the Italian philosophy of Reggio Emilia, which views children as competent, resourceful and inventive learners, Muse follows the kids’ lead, allowing students’ interests to direct the lesson plan. That’s not to say that the little nippers are swinging from the chandeliers, sans adult instruction. On the contrary, Muse teaches the standards like math, science and phonics, art, music, French and Spanish, as well as some more enlightened offerings like regular yoga classes and talks from experts on topics like heart-centered communication and inner awareness.
Muse kids also learn the importance of treading lightly on the earth by tending to an onsite organic garden, eating healthful, organic meals and using natural soaps and recycled paper products. “We’re trying to instill in these children a globally conscious mindset and to teach them to be aware of their environment, as well as being respectful of living things,” says Muse administrator Rebecca Amis, sister of the school’s founder.
Muse has big ambitions for the future, including expanding to include grades K through 5, but to Amis the goal is simple: “We absolutely want to be an inspiration to children,” she avers.
For more information, contact Rebecca Amis at 310.428.0799 or email. Muse Elementary, 3504 Las Flores Canyon, Malibu.
— Jessica Ridenour
Don’t just get mad…get active
If those long dark winter nights had you dreaming of a spring break-style getaway, “voluntourism” — combining vacation with volunteer service — offers a meaningful alternative to boozing it up in Cabo or joining the Hawaiian tourist throngs. Here are a few sample itineraries:
• Thailand’s Andaman coast is still reeling from the 2004 tsunami that leveled its villages and devastated its fragile economy. Join Go Differently on one of its many planned ‘07 excursions where you may clear debris, plant seedlings, teach children or even help tsunami widows craft handmade soaps. godifferently.com
• Globe Aware offers one-week, tax-deductible service vacations in a number of exotic locales. Help construct a community center in a small Brazilian village, teach Peruvian children first aid, English and computer skills, or refurbish dilapidated schools in Vietnam. globeaware.com
• If an overseas voyage is too far or too expensive, stay stateside and lend a hand down in the Big Easy. Relief Spark needs able bodies to gut homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and salvage personal belongings. reliefspark.org
• Prefer to stay closer to home? A drive down to Orange County may feel like vacation for a frazzled Angelino. Help Adopt-A-Park with trail maintenance, plantings and non-native vegetation removal in Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrano. ocparks.com/adoptapark — JR
Worms in the Works
Vermicomposting: Can you dig it?
As part of today’s evolved office culture, employees are often encouraged to bring all sorts of unlikely stuff to work: lava lamps, exercise balls that double as office chairs, pictures of Fido, cacti, even goldfish. But what if your coworker showed up to work tomorrow with a bin full of wriggling worms? Maybe they’re not as retro-hip as your average lava lamp, but modern day worm-o-philes say the real question should be: does your lava lamp compost?
Highly unlikely — and that’s why California’s Integrated Waste Management Board has started encouraging workers in the public and private sector to embrace worms at work. The little wrigglers chew up lunch leftovers and create compost, which employees can then use on office plants or take home to boost their own gardens.
The program seems to be working well at the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, where Keith Thompson, president of Bio Contractors, implements vermicomposting (worm composting) for the environmental programs division.
“It’s a program that’s growing,” explains Thompson. “Some people really liked it and some remain to be convinced. But as it has unfolded, it has been successful at converting skeptics.”
Count Jennifer Ang, LA DPW manager of the Los Angeles County’s Smart Gardening Program, as one of the early believers. At Lang’s office, the worm bin is kept in the lunchroom. “At first some people were grossed out,” she explains, “but really, they’re just cute little worms.”
And the smell? “Oh, there’s no smell,” says Ang, “as long as you don’t put any meat or dairy products in there.”
DIY Worms
Want to start composting with worms? Before you do, take a look at these worm-centric Web sites:
smartgardening.com The Los Angeles Department of Public Works has a useful worm composting information page with step-by-step instructions on how to worm compost at home or at the office.
ciwmb.ca.gov/organics/worms/ The California State Web site offers all kinds of helpful directions and links to help you start worm composting. And, don’t miss “The Adventures of Vermi the Worm,” an animated, interactive game that teaches the benefits and basics of vermicomposting.
wormdigest.org A clearinghouse for any and all worm composting info. Want to know if worms dig beds made of cornhusks? Log into the WormDigest Forum and find out.
Stuff you’ll need:
Worms WonderWorms.com — One of many places where you can order your composting worms online (remember, the guys you dig up in your backyard won’t do the trick).
A place for your worms to live composters.com — Here you can order a wide variety of worm condos, townhouses and towers that will work indoors and out.
Worm Food That’s the easy part. How about those unsavory leftovers from last week’s dinner with Aunt Faye?
And, if you have any trouble with your little friends, Thompson invites newbie vermicomposters to call LA County’s hotline — 1.888.CLEANLA — where a worm expert can help you sort out all the slimy details.
— Stephanie Kinnear
Attack of Knitzilla!
Two knitting needles and a ball of yarn may be the basic equipment for whipping up a cozy hat or scarf, but to Sedda Kreabs, they’re also tools of service. As founder of Knitzilla! — a Silver Lake-based knitting circle that donates a portion of their handiwork to charity — Kreabs has found a fun way to merge the urge to create with community service. “The goal is to help people get involved in their communities,” says Kreabs, “but they don’t have to spend a lot of time doing it.”
Knitzilla!’s current push, the Rad Bad Beanies project, churns out comfy hats for Colo.-based Big City Mountaineers, a non-profit providing mentoring for urban teens via wilderness excursions. Past projects included selling handmade dishcloths for tsunami relief and sending baby blankets to Katrina survivors.
While the majority of the group is in LA, the 200-plus member Knitzilla! receives handcrafted donations from all over the country, and even as far as Hong Kong. “Some people give twenty things and some people don’t have time to give any, and that’s fine,” says Kreabs.
“If everybody gives a little, the world gets a lot.”
Knitzilla! meets Mondays from 6:30 to 9pm at the Coffee Table, 2930 Rowena Ave, LA.
It’s a Bamboo-tiful World
Imagine standing on your bamboo flooring, chopping bamboo shoots on your bamboo cutting board. Give your hands a quick rinse with bamboo soap, dry them with your bamboo hand towel, and call in the bambinos who are playing with their new bamboo skateboards.
With the East’s fastest growing plant quickly sprouting up in homes all over the West, this scenario’s not too far from reality. The latest bamboo craze? The smooth and silky fabric that has environmentalists, clothing designers and fashionistas utterly bamboozled.
Bamboo’s eco-footprint is smaller than a size 5 stiletto. The highly renewable grass, praised for its rapid, several-feet-a-day growth, can be harvested in as little as three years. While bamboo, like hemp, is not yet certified organic, it possesses a natural ability to ward off plant munching pests without the use of toxic pesticides. Once purchased, a well-made bamboo garment will last years in your wardrobe, requires less laundering than other fabrics, and is 100 percent biodegradable.
Not only is bamboo easy on the earth, it’s easy on the… nose? Morris Saintsing of Bamboosa, a company that makes well-cut basics out of the eco-fabric, explained part of the allure for his customers is bamboo’s antimicrobial properties: “You can’t make it stink,” he swears. And believe him, it’s not for lack of trying. “I wore one shirt for seven days in the summer while fishing. I looked like I’d rolled in the mud, but the shirt smelled like it was just out of the dryer.”
The lanky plant wears equally well rolling in the mud or strutting the runway. Loyale Clothing, a New York City-based eco-fashion label, added bamboo textiles to this year’s spring collection. Designer Jenny Hwa is thrilled with the wonder grass. “It has added a level of sophistication to our styles. With bamboo, the luster and drape of the fabric take our dresses and tops to a new level of elegance.”
So how do we go from shoots and leaves to a cute spring frock? Unlike cotton fiber, most bamboo textiles on the market are chemically processed, human-made fibers that are spun into yarn. According to Saintsing, the bamboo is chopped and crushed, and a chemical solvent (either Sodium Hydroxide and Carbon Disulfide, or N-Methylmorpholine-N-Oxide) liquefies the bamboo into a paste. This paste is turned into fibers about 1.5 inches long, which are spun into a yarn. The chemical processing makes bamboo fabric less of an earth angel than the cultivation of the plant. Luckily, modernized facilities provide a closed loop system for these chemicals — they are recycled back into the fiber-making process with little byproduct entering the waste stream.
—Summer Bowen lives in Santa Monica where she runs her online eco-boutique, BTC Elements. She blogs about living and working green at btcelements.com/blog.
Fly the Earth-Friendly Skies
It’s common knowledge that air travel is one of the most environmentally irresponsible choices the average American can make. And up until now, aside from buying offsetting credits to counteract the carbon emissions of each flight, there’s been very little the average high flying greenie can do.
Until now. Airline industry giant Boeing has just introduced the most eco-responsible midsize airliner ever, the 787 Dreamliner, which will begin general-use flying in 2008. To achieve its staggering fuel economy (20 percent less than similar-sized airliners), the Dreamliner utilizes more efficient engines. A completely overhauled electrical system reduces 60 miles of copper wiring per plane, while its new composite material helps it to weigh in at thirty to forty thousand pounds lighter than comparable aircrafts. In another green-minded innovation, Boeing preplanned the complete life cycle of the Dreamliner, devising a strategy to recycle the plane when it’s retired in thirty or forty years.
The end result is a plane that puts out 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than the current aviation requirements demand of today’s smaller 767s. In fact, the Dreamliner exceeds all future regulations set to date by the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection.
This cradle-to-grave strategy is representative of a new kind of forward-thinking corporate philosophy—proof positive that profitable, efficient and environmentally sound don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
— Paul Constant
