The Mar Vista Green Tent

2020 Green Vision Green behavior changes don't just benefit the environment - they improve your health and sense of well being and that of your community as well. Guest presenter Jeanne Kuntz identifies the Simple Seven Steps to  ease into a smaller carbon footprint as you create healthy habits.  Find a group that supports your passion  and get involved!  Food waste, social justice, agriculture reform, soil health, ocean health, water conservation even immigration are all tied to the health of our planet and the future of humanity.   Stop by the Green Tent for a list of organizations to choose from.  Walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible.  You may end up shopping closer to home which is good for the small businesses in your neighborhood and fosters a sense of community, a stress-reducing bonus. Get to know your neighbors.  A recent Los Angeles Times article cited research that indicates people who h...

Sunday, December 29, a t the Green Tent Athens Trash Talk Recycling or Not! / Where does this go?! / Is this Recyclable?!? Can’t tell anymore! We’ve all come across one of these containers full of pictures but the one item in our hand is not on there. After some deductive reasoning you know its not compostable because it's not organic material so you’re caught between Recycling or Landfill. It seems like every day we learn something new about recycling and our waste infrastructure that leaves us guessing if recycling is another case of fake news or not. Well next time you’re caught in the dilemma of separating your recyclables we have some tips and tricks to help you sort properly. Look at the number on your plastic container. Recyclable doesn’t always mean it’s recycled.   Color, size, and cleanliness play a critical role in recycling. Best are #1 bottles, #2 & #5 Clear, white or lightly colored (not dark containers) 4-inch minus rule (anything at or ab...

Sunday, December 22 at the Mar Vista Farmers Market Master Gardeners ’Tis the Sunday before Christmas, and all through the house, Master Gardeners are bringing…. free seeds and plants for you and your garden!   Join the UC/CE LA County Master Gar deners (link)  on Sunday, Dec. 22 from 9 am to 1 pm as they occupy the Green Tent. They’ve lovingly planted greens and peas this month for you to take home and nurture on your own. There’s lots of mixed lettuce (yes, Virginia, you can eat salad in the winter!), arugula seedlings that are just popping their little heads up, and some yummy (everyone’s favorite) sugar snap peas. (Here are some, dressed in Christmas colors!) Come by with gardening questions and don’t forget to share those leftover seedling six packs so they can recycle and reuse them for next month’s Master Gardener booth.  Important alert: The disease known as citrus greening is HERE and it’s being spread backyard to bac...

GET THAT GREY WATER IN THE GROUND! Don't let the winter rains fool you.  We still need every drop of water back in the soil.  Redirecting grey water is an easy way to prevent waste.   What is grey water? It's the "waste" water from your washing machine reused to water your  fruit trees or perennial plants  instead of being sent to the reclamation plant and then out to the ocean. With a greywater system, every time you do a load of laundry you r plants get a good  drink and  you save money as well. As everyone knows, California has experienced an extreme drought for many years and it will most likely continue. Water is probably the most important resource for every living species on our planet.  Learn how to double the usage of your water! Green Tent  guest Art Lee holds workshops that cover  all the information you need to install a grey water system at your house. He's  bringing a mini grey...

sorry- postponed due to rain... BALLONA WETLANDS ...an environmental treasure in our own back yard  White-tailed Kite* You may have heard about the 600+ acres of the Ballona Wetlands   just to the south and west of Mar Vista. But have you visited this wild habitat where so many wildlife species and rare plant populations still thrive?   One imperiled bird species that our former neighbor and beloved Councilmember Bill Rosendahl loved, is the beautiful White Tailed Kite, which needs the upland areas where small mammals live just beneath the surface and provide great meals for the Kite, as well as for Great Blue Herons and several raptors. Image Courtesy of Craig Butler Drop by the  Green Tent  on Sunday, December 8, to learn about the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, which is a fragile mosaic of different habitats: seasonal ponds, wet meadows, salt pannes, sand dunes and prairie grasslands....

Come to the Green Tent tomorrow, December 1, and a create a unique sculpture using Thanksgiving leftovers!!!  Let the fabulous artists from Playhouse Art LA show you how. Cranberry STEM Structures with Playhouse Art What should you do with those leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving?  Turn them into a super-fun STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) project for the kids!  You just need a bag of fresh cranberries (or a leftover handful or two will do) and a bunch of toothpicks, and let the kids become little engineers, building 3-D structures.   For the little ones, you can start small with simple structures, like squares or rectangles, and once they get the hang of it, the sky’s the limit with what they can build.  Older kids will love the challenge of seeing how high and wide they can build their creations.   You can also make it a game by writing shapes, such as houses, letters, buildings, people, ...

Vegan Dishes for Thanksgiving Let nature help with the holiday menu.  Use locally grown seasonal produce. Thanksgiving can be a time of coming together and strengthening bonds.  Sometimes that means setting aside differences and focusing on inclusion.  This often means making sure that there are foods for everyone.  If you are a guest at someone's home, why not offer to make one side dish where you can introduce the other guests to some of your favorite vegan delicacies?  A hearty root vegetable puree or tofu or tempeh stew will be very welcome this as we experience a California winter.  Maybe you can provide a dairy-free dessert ... great for folks who also keep Kosher. But it's not just about the food.  Consider how you will shop and deal with leftovers to shrink your carbon footprint.  Get support year-round from the Zero Waste Chef .  Perhaps the biggest share you can offer is preparing your own heart.  We are living...

Protect Solar Power - Send an Email Today Last week, a group of construction workers at the NYC solar company Bright Power were fired for organizing to form a union.   The workers has been inspired by the vision of the Green New Deal, which would create millions of good, union jobs in their industry, and were in the midst of forming one of the first ever unions at a solar company. What happened at Bright Power is absolutely unacceptable, and shows us why we need bold, comprehensive policies that will expand renewable energy   and   ensure that workers rights are protected. We are teaming up with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to drive as many letters to the Bright Power CEO as we can.   Can you send a letter to Jeffrey Perlman, the CEO of Bright Power, demanding that the company rehire these workers and formally recognize their union? The workers at Bright Power often worked under dangerous conditions -- in hazardous weather, without basic safety protocols in pl...

Sunday, November 24 at the Green Tent: LA County Master Gardeners It may be nearly winter (tell THAT to the 80-degree temps at the beach earlier this week!), but your garden can continue to thrive.  Come by The Green Tent on Sunday, Nov. 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and talk to the LA County Master Gardeners  (link) . While you’re there, pick up a free seedling and free seed packets to motivate you. They’re bringing plants they’ve lovingly grown just for this market. Pick up some sunflowers,  snap peas  (wonderful and crispy, eat pods and all),   a whole lot of lettuce,  kale and chard to keep you in winter greens.  On this rare occasion, they’ll also be bringing some celery seedlings!  And if you happen to have any of those nursery six packs, please recycle them with The Master Gardeners. Please pay close attention if you have citrus trees: “Citrus greening,” AKA the Huang Long Bing (HLB) bacteria, is des...

Join us Wednesday evening, December 4, at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles for an unforgettable screening of the multi-award-winning film  The Biggest Little Farm ! Composer Jeff Beal will be conducting the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra to perform the film's score  live  at the event. Be sure to stay after the movie for a panel discussion featuring Apricot Lane Farms' very own Molly and John Chester plus other special guests.  Click here to purchase your tickets! About The Film: After eviction from their Los Angeles apartment,  The Biggest Little Farm  chronicles Molly and John Chester's eight-year journey to restoring and converting 200 acres of nutrient-deficient land in Ventura County, California, into a renewed farm where crops, animals, and nature coexist. Be a part of the adventure facing California wildfires, drought, the obstacles of farm life, and the beauty of natural powers at Apricot Lane Farms. Watch the trailer: QUICK ...

Sunday, November 17  at the Green Tent Westside Repair Cafe What do you do when you've got something you like but it no longer works?   Throw it out and buy a new one? Stick it in the attic, the basement or under the stairs? Pay to get it fixed? Fix it yourself? Chances are you toss it out. Or maybe you store it away until that magical day when you can figure out what to do with it.... right. There's another solution : bring it to one of the local Westside Repair Cafes.  This Sunday at the Mar Vista Farmer's Market from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. volunteer fixers will be on hand to answer your questions about how it works and how you can participate.  They will also be available to repair  small appliances, electronics and computers.  Need some easy mending done on a piece of clothing? Bring it to the Green Tent! The Westside Repair Cafe is a volunteer-run, community service dedicated to encouraging the repair and reuse of goods rather tha...

Sunday, November 10 at the Green Tent: The Los Angeles Audubon Society Join us this Sunday, November 10 at the   Mar Vista Green Tent   for o u r guest:  Los Angeles Audubon Society. Harlequin Beetle The Los Angeles Audubon Society has taught local school children about the Ballona Wetlands since 1991. Every year, 2500 students have the opportunity to visit this special place and see the plants and animals that make Ballona their home.  According to the  Drawdown  data , coastal wetland ecosystems are one of the top 100 solutions for  reversing Global Warming.  Relative to their land area, they sequester huge amounts of carbon in plants aboveground and in roots and soils below.  Coastal wetlands can store  five times  as much carbon as tropical forests over the long term, mostly in deep wetland soils! A project planned by the State of California will bring serious changes to the existing habitat. ...