Foliage for Free

Who said nothing in LA was free?

If you can believe it, under the guise of saving the City of Los Angeles a little bit of power for those A/C-heavy summers, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is offering up a program called "Trees for a Green LA." The program gives homeowners up to eight (count 'em), eight free trees of varying shapes and sizes for planting on your own property.

Why? Well, according to the LADWP, trees will both shade your home (reducing your power consumption) as well as providing more carbon-dioxide for the environment, thus reducing global warming. As for how -- after attending a one-time only hour long "How-To" class (don't worry, you won't be required to visit a real-estate seminar in Palm Springs) where you'll be taught the skills necessary to plant your free trees -- you pick 'em and they ship 'em.

Based on the location of your home, LADWP will allocate a certain number of free trees for your property, giving you a choice from over 40 different types of species.

For a public works company who normally gets a great deal of negative publicity, LAist thinks this new program is both a nice change of pace and a great value (free!) for LA homeowners. And coupled with their current rebates for Energy Star dishwashers and washing machines -- things in the water and power industry are looking up!