As you may have heard, Los Angeles City Council approved a plan Tuesday to restore the park surrounding City Hall post-Occupy L.A. The approved option calls for 51% less grass and more native, drought-tolerant plants. But what about other green, sustainable ideas like edible gardens? Farmscape, California's largest urban farming operation, has quite a few of these ideas and has been striving to get them heard. more ›

If you're feeling enslaved to the third smoggiest metropolitan area in the country, perhaps you should pack up and move to Santa Monica, a city promising green rights to its residents. more ›

Tonight's happenings offer a variety of experiences, including going green, witnessing a light show, viewing a medley of art mediums, listening to tales of the biggest bitches in relationships and ogling a steamy "trip tease." Get out, get inspired and get back to your computer to tell us how it went. more ›

Clyde Butcher's last stop is L.A.'s Ballona Wetlands, and he's also heading west to celebrate "Visions of America," his black-and-white photography exhibition which opened at The G2 Gallery today. Curated by Jolene Hanson, the collection boasts over 30 of Butcher's most beloved large-format photographs from America's national parks. more ›

We can thank the French for the basis of many of the delicious dishes we know and love, and now Downtown Los Angeles is home to a French import fast-casual cafe where the emphasis is on eating well with fresh and affordable ingredients. more ›

Perhaps taking its cue from environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, Los Angeles City Council has preserved nearly 280 acres of land near the Angeles National Golf Club in Lake View Terrace. Councilmember Paul Krekorian led a land transfer ceremony this morning to publicly celebrate the historic, long-awaited transfer of 277.5 acres of land from the Angeles National Golf Club to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). more ›

L.A.'s proposed ban on single-use shopping bags was postponed by city lawmakers on Friday who have requested further studies be conducted on the ban's economic impact. The requested analysis will help the city determine if they will make the bold move of banning all single-use shopping bags or mirror bans enacted in other cities that ban single-use plastic bags but still offer single-use paper bags for a tiny fee. more ›

As part of the continued effort to ban single-use bags in Los Angeles, Heal the Bay has dubbed Thursday, December 15 "Day Without A Bag." The event is appropriately timed, as L.A. City Council is expected to move forward with a sweeping ban on single-use shopping bags next week. more ›

The question of whether or not L.A. County could champion a large-scale composting system is highly debatable, and some local governments in NorCal are making the green waste management system mandatory. more ›

The Living Christmas Tree Company in Redondo Beach offers a painless online ordering system and delivery service for live trees. It's a bit pricier than buying a cut tree, but it's the principal of caring for the environment. more ›

Beverly Hills is still working away at getting a plastic bag ban in place, and Patch checked in with officials there to see how long it's going to be before a ban is in the bag. more ›

We've all heard the term "greenwashing," prompting us to gather our "green" products and give the labels a discerning double-take. Some products that claim to be eco-friendly are actually eco-aloof, fooling eco-conscious consumers into stocking their shelves with products that are much unhealthier than their labels promise. An infographic based on a 2010 study by Terrachoice shows consumers the tricks of the trade and how to avoid them. more ›

They says one man's misfortune is another man's gain, and this might hold true per a new Department of Recreation and Parks initiative. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a plan last week to inject more green into L.A.'s urban 'hoods by building 50 new "pocket parks" throughout L.A. by March 2012. Of the 50 parks, 10 will spruce up the sites of foreclosed homes. more ›

Local fifth grade photography students are putting their creative skills to good use this November and December, using their art to benefit the environment. The G2 Gallery's Jared Nigro joined forces with Todd Lesner's class at Westminster Avenue Elementary School in Venice to teach Lesner's students the art of the lens. more ›

Environment California released "Gobbling Less Gas for Thanksgiving: How Clean Car Standards Will Cut Oil Use and Save Americans Money" today, a report that says Californians would save roughly $34 million at the gas pump this Thanksgiving alone plus significantly slash oil use if travelers took to the streets with fuel efficient vehicles. more ›

The proposed pilot program to put an off-leash dog beach in Santa Monica has been buried like Fido's favorite bone, after state officials made it clear this week they will not approve the plan. more ›

Hold on to your man boobs, Simon Cowell. Judgment is now glowering upon you and your Verizon "X-Factor" app promo. In the TV spot, Cowell tosses cell phones from the balcony of a Malibu beachfront home, deeming them "rubbish," "junk," "useless," "embarrassing," "pointless" and "whatever" - using the beach as his personal garbage can. Mark Gold, president of Santa Monica's environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay doesn't see the commercial as "whatever." more ›

It was the summer of 2011, a summer of eco-friendliness, of solar power, of green coffee. Besspresso rolled into Silver Lake and is changing the way L.A. makes coffee. Housed in an appropriately colored green van, the mobile, solar-powered specialty coffee business serves up fair trade, organic coffee with organic milk and sugar in 100% compostable cups. more ›

Environmental Health Perspectives published findings from a study by scientists at the University of Wisconsin that reveal shocking relief for wallets from simply switching to two wheels. Focusing on eleven metropolitan cities in the upper Midwest, the study surveyed the economic and health benefits of swapping a car for a bicycle for trips less than five miles in length. more ›

Well done, City Councilman Ed Reyes. It appears as though your recent chitchat with President Barack Obama paid off. The L.A. River has been named one of 100 projects identified in The 50-State Report. Released today, the federal report serves as part of Obama's America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative to establish a conservation and recreation agenda for the 21st century - a promise to future generations. more ›

The Port of Los Angeles boasts the busiest container port in the nation, and new sustainable measures being taken by the world's largest shipping companies will help our port (and world) become a little bit greener. A formal agreement to craft energy efficient vessels, increase use of renewable energy and design ships that can be reused or recycled has been announced by the largest players in the global shipping industry. more ›

San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and New York have all had one (or two) and this weekend it's L.A.'s turn for the Green Festival. What may sound like a crunchy, west-of the-405-Earth-Day-redux is actually a bit of an organic-occupy-wall-street-social justice-in-bougie-hemp-fabric-neighborhood-gathering... at the LA Convention Center. more ›

The Glendale City Council is looking at implementing a plastic bag ban that mirrors the one already in place for unincorporated Los Angeles County. The push to force businesses and shoppers to utilize bags that are more eco-friendly, in particular reusable bags, has been strong in the Los Angeles area for the past few years. more ›

Occupy L.A.'s tent city invasion of the once lush City Hall lawn is under much scrutiny for its devastating effects on the grass. L.A. officials claim that lawn repair could cost the city up to $400,000. The current brownish shade of the greenish two acres is evidence of maintenance neglect. more ›

America's largest green living event is coming to the L.A. Convention Center at the end of October. Green Festival - a project of Green America and Global Exchange - celebrates positive community solutions, local business and a ten year milestone this year. Over 25,000 attendees are expected at this year's fest. more ›

TransparentSea, an awareness campaign highlighting coastal environmental issues, recently embarked on the first phase of their California journey from Santa Barbara to Baja, Mexico. The group focuses on cetaceans - whales and dolphins - and the waters they inhabit. Their current mission traces the southern migration of the California Grey Whale along said route. more ›

Laguna Beach transforms into an outdoor studio every year during the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational. Hosted by the Laguna Art Museum and the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA), the event returns in 2011 to showcase 50 of the nation's top plein air landscape painters. more ›

The Surfrider Foundation and Rusty want you to Rise Above Plastics and join them in celebrating Raptoberfest. Because plastics do not biodegrade but gradually break down into smaller pieces, they harm the environment upon infiltration, killing millions of birds and animals annually. There are numerous things you can do to reduce your plastic footprint, so let Raptoberfest serve as your valuable resource this month. more ›

After today's rainfall, the first significant shower since March, Heal the Bay urges Southlanders to steer clear of the Pacific for the next 72 hours. Swimmers are also advised to avoid contact with storm water that pools or streams along the beach. more ›