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 ›

Mattel is the world's biggest toy-making company, and their Barbie doll one of the world's most iconic. In June, Greenpeace climbed up the side of Mattel's El Segundo headquarters, and unfurled a banner declaring that Barbie's longtime love Ken was dumping his main squeeze because of Mattel's eco-unfriendly packaging practices. It turns out, Mattel listened. more ›

Thanks to detailed sustainability planning and multiple trash-sorting stations at last weekend's Silver Lake Jubilee, the event successfully diverted 90 percent of trash produced at the event from landfills. According to Sustain LA, of the trash generated by dozens of vendors and more than 10,000 attendees, 3,600 pounds of waste was diverted to compost & recycling (over 2,000 pounds to compost alone) leaving 400 pounds of trash to landfill. more ›

Greenpeace's latest scorecard measuring various supermarket chains' commitments to sustainable seafood may come as a surprise. The polesitter is not Whole Foods and certainly not Bristol Farms... it's one of the largest grocery chains in the United States. Safeway, which owns and operates all VONS and Pavilions supermarkets (among others), captured the top spot in Greenpeace's fifth update of its Carting Away the Oceans rankings. more ›

Artist Edith Abeyta is in the process of gathering materials for her latest work titled, “Long Beach Garment Manifestation” - a large scale, site-specific installation. Tomorrow night she is holding a collection extravaganza for this very purpose called "No Love Lost" at The Public School in Chinatown with live music, light refreshments and an interactive performative clothing actions by the Cake and Eat It Collective. Admission is two articles of clothing. more ›

LA’s Dept. of Water and Power has free weekend composting workshops countywide from Malibu to San Dimas. It’s also where you can purchase a compost bin at a huge discount for $40 (a similar model at a gardening center goes for well over twice that price). more ›

The second floor of city hall is home to the snack bar. For years Guilliano’s sold snacks, beverages, breakfast, and lunch to both staff and public alike. But talk around city hall has brought a new issue to the forefront, one that hits closer to home for a lot city councilmembers. more ›

Plans to build a quarter-acre urban farm next to a school near downtown were officially announced by Long Beach officials on Monday. It's the 16th such plot for the oceanside city and is all part of the municipality's move towards sustainability. more ›

A scorecard released today by Greenpeace examines American supermarket chains and to what extent their seafood business is practiced sustainably. more ›

There is no design without action; We design WITH, not FOR; We document, share and measure; We start locally and scale globally, We design systems, not stuff. - From Project H's Mission Statement. We mentioned Project H's Abject Object in last week's PhiLAnthropist Gift Guide. Project H Design is definitely one of coolest organizations we learned about in 2009. And we're quite certain we'll be hearing about it more in 2010, and beyond. more ›

A symposium held at Sci-Arc this last weekend featured winners of a recent locally-focused transit design competition. Adam Christian at his blog, Urban Insights takes note of the 2nd place winners, the Fletcher Studio, who "proposed urban agricultural villages that would convert freeway embankments into terraced hillsides. Affiliated bungalow housing would be built alongside. These developments would be a new source of 'green' jobs, employing farmers on a rotating, seasonal basis." With some 527 miles of freeway, there is about 960 acres of unused land that could be made into workable space. That's a much better iday than these bogus freeway flower advertisements. (Thanks, Streetsblog, Curbed!) more ›

Inspired by a panel we caught at the recent Dwell on Design conference, and some time spent ogling recipes in three beloved cookbooks (The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook, and Fresh From the Farmers' Market) last Thursday we headed over to Glendale to check out their weekly market. Occupying a stretch of Brand Boulevard, the market was focused mostly on multiple tables of fresh locally-sourced produce, and enriched by the presence of folks with breads, nuts, and fresh juices. It's a modest market, but we were able to work our way from one end to the other efficiently, sample some of the best items the growers had to offer, and fill our bag with what wound up being a week's worth of fresh produce (and bread) for less than $20. more ›

This weekend's Dwell on Design at the Convention Center features an extensive amount of activities, offering something for everyone, from mobile food to pre-fab homes, all in the name of sustainable design. more ›

What happens when you travel to Argentina to learn how to play Polo? You start a sustainable and socially conscious shoe company. Of course. more ›

Eight California cities made it onto the 2008 US City Sustainability Rankings from SustainLane, a media network company based in San Francisco. Of the eight, four made it into the top 25 leaving the other four in the bottom 25. And it's no surprise that the bottom 25 list includes Central and Southern California cities with Northern California cities ranking at the top (full list here): more ›

Today at the California Air Resources Board meeting, a historic plan is being presented that may radically cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state by about 30% by 2020. "The state is proposing a slate of changes including a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, requiring renewable sources to power a third of the state's grid and taxing gas guzzling cars. Their approach will become a model for the nation if climate change legislation of some sort passes through Congress and is signed by the next President in 2009 as is widely expected." Wired is at the meeting updating what's happening. (emphasis added) more ›

In an effort to bring solar power to those who will benefit from it but simply can't afford it, a new partnership created between the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners and BP donates one solar panel to a low-income residence for every solar panel purchased by a celebrity. more ›

How we love thee RIDE-Arc. You showed us a good time on a Friday night. You got nerdy on us. You got on sweaty with us. You rode long into the night with us. This past Friday, RIDE-Arc, a monthly event on the first Friday that combines night time bicycle riding with architectural themed tours, led a green tour of sustainable buildings, communities and ideas. The near 3-hour tour that began at City Hall... more ›