Category Archives: Green

Get Your Green On at Chalk Gallery & Support Archi’s Acres April 17th

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Sunday, April 17th, from 5 – 8pm, come to Chalk Gallery in Mar Vista to Learn about Archi’s Acres – a hydroponic, organic farm near San Diego where combat veterans are trained and certified to become organic farmers through the Veterans Sustainability Agriculture Training.

Archi’s Acres, established by the Archipleys in 2007, is dedicated to providing transition, training and employment to war veterans in the exploding market of sustainable farming.

Archi's Acres Chalk Gallery Mar Vista April 17th

You can see the Green Machine – an amazing, portable, plug and play  hydroponic growing machine that grows organic greens at twice the rate of a conventional garden.  Save water, energy, time and money.

And you can preview “A Greater Mission”, an inspiring documentary about the Veterans to Farms movement.  Followed by Q&A with director Dulanie Ellis, producer Raymond Singer, Karen and Colin Archipley of Archi’s Acres, VSAT directors and some VSAT graduates.

Archi's Acres Get Your Green On Chalk Gallery Mar Vista April 17th

Organic food from Archi’s Acres will be featured.

This event is endorsed by Veterans for Peace, Walk Your Talk Productions and Cut to the Story Films.

Programs will be held at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30pm. For more information, please contact venicesylvia (at) gmail (dot) com.

Chalk Gallery, 12513 Venice Blvd., Mar Vista 90066

 

 

Announcing The 2011 Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase: April 30, 2011

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The Mar Vista Green Committee has announced the date of this year’s Garden Tour:

The 2011 Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase will be held on Saturday April 30th from 11:00 AM to 4 PM. Would you like to be on the tour this year? Have you seen gardens that you would like to see on the tour this year? Let us know! Contact Jeanne@MarVista.org. To further our goal of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2018, this year the tour will host the American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour and showcase Mar Vista locations that have gone solar as well.

The Greenest Christmas Tree Of All: The Living Christmas Tree

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I love Christmas, and one of my favorite parts of the holiday is the tree. When I was a kid we had a Norfolk Island Pine tree that lived in a pot and every year at Christmastime we brought it inside to decorate.

Norfolk Island Pine in the 1970's on Maui for my family's Christmas Tree

So 70's, right?

This year, as I turn Greener and Greener, I am going to use a Living Christmas Tree in my home.

The Living Christmas Company has great-looking trees that live in pots, so they can live on and be rented again year after year. No cutting. Plus they deliver it to your door and take it away when the season is over. Already it’s awesome.

Monterey Pine from Living Christmas Co. Photo credit Michael Harrington

But then I found out more about their business and it just got better and better.

Turns out, during the “off” season, they store the trees on what are known as brownfields, places that are normally considered urban blight. Storing the trees there reduces the heat sink, beautifies the area, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produces extra oxygen for the neighbors.

Then, when the trees are too tall to sell for home rental anymore, they are put out to pasture as part of an Urban Reforestation Project, which means all sorts of great things like earning Carbon Tax Credits, reducing storm water runoff, increasing property values – oh, and letting the tree get back to growing in the ground again. Plus the whole deal keeps trees out of landfills and off the curbs in January.

So far I can’t find any downside. I highly recommend them. And Merry Christmas!

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{This post is entirely my opinion, and was sponsored by The Living Christmas Company.}

{Photo of the Monterey Pine courtesy of Living Christmas Company; photo credit: Michael Harrington.}

{The Norfolk Island Pine? That was all me.}