June 26 :

Westchester Rides!

Join us for a bike ride and a community solstice celebration!

Instead of talking, we're taking to the streets!  We'll hop on our bicycles at our usual meeting location, take an evening cycling tour through the neighborhood, and end at a nearby spot for a solstice celebration of food and fun.  Rumor has it there might even be solar-cooked food!

Meet in front of the Community Hall at 7pm sharp to get a map.  If you're late, you'll run the risk of missing the crowd as we take off on our ride.

Ongoing Saturdays:

Organic Gardening class series

Organic Gardening class series is offered by the Community Garden and the Environmental Change-Makers.  Classes are free and open to all.

• June 21: Introduction to Organic Gardening:  We’ll talk about building great soil, the network of living organisms which create fertility, how to invite in the “good bugs” and dissuade the bad, snail and slug control, and much, much more!
• July 12, Watering the Garden. How do you get the most from your watering during the peak of summer?
• Aug. 16, Organic Pest Control. Snails, slugs, aphids, cutworms, how do you keep these pests at bay without all those toxic chemicals?
• Coming soon: Composting, Vegetable Rotations, Winter Vegetables, Seedsaving

Classes are held on selected Saturdays, 9-10:30am, at the Community Garden (6700 W. 83rd, corner of Dunbarton & 83rd, Westchester/LA 90045)

• Edible Landscaping resources for Los Angeles www.LegacyLA.net/EdibleLandscape.htm
• Resources about organic gardening http://LegacyLA.net/Transformation/?p=203
• Community Garden webpage http://www.holynativityparish.org/communitygardenhn.php

Ongoing Thursdays:

Yoga and the Environment series

Environmental Change-Makers co-founder Joanne Poyourow is giving a course series at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Marina del Rey.  Topics will include:

• June 5: "The 3R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"
• June 19: "Water Wisdom" - How to be water-wise both indoors and out.  These lessons are important in this drought year, but also in view of global warming and the climate impacts forecast for California.
• July 3 "Greener Gourmet" - We'll talk about local vs organic food, GMOs, the environmental impact of excessive meat consumption, and where to get good food in Los Angeles--all of which can add up to goupument taste!
• July 10 "Power Possibilities" - We'll discuss what you can do to eliminate energy waste and improve efficiency, what "power down" means, and what it will look like as we ventrue into the second half of our planet's oil supply (peak oil).
• July 17 "Transportation Solutions" - We'll cover getting better mpg from your existing vehichle, how to select a greener new vehicle, transitioning to car-free transportation, and relocalization.

To reserve class space, please call Sivananda (310) 822 9642. 

Series $75. 

7-8:30pm, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, 13325 Beach Ave, Marina del Rey

July 24:

Greener House Cleaning

Learn what to use instead of those toxic household chemicals ... solutions for the health of your family and the health of the earth.  We'll talk about brands of cleaners, what is "greener" and why, methods of cleaning, laundry, indoor insect pests, safe disposition of toxics, and more.

Resources:

• Clean and Green, by Annie Berthold-Bond
• Jude's Herbal Home Remedies, Jude C. Williams
• " Non-Toxic Household Products Fact Sheet" from the Tennessee Valley Authority (now only available on ghost sites like this one or this one )
• Washington Toxics Coalition has long been active in eliminating toxins from our landscapes and lifestyles
• "What's Wrong with Using Pesticides?" (pdf) from the Washington Toxics Coalition
  

Aug 28:

Our 3rd Annual 100-mile Potluck

It’s a treasure hunt and a party all rolled into one!

Bring a potluck dish, the ingredients of which were grown or produced within 100 miles of Westchester (a 100-mile radius is basically from Santa Barbara to San Diego).

Details here http://legacyla.net/transformation/?p=241

Sept 14, 20, 25:

"Life After Oil: Designing the Transition"

A series of events exploring the twin opportunities
of peak oil and global warming
in Los Angeles

Peak Oil and climate change--what can we do about them? The solutions are in our neighborhoods and communities. Join us as we explore the Transition Towns concept that is catching on like wildfire in the UK.

• Sunday, Sept. 14, 6-8pm - Movie "The End of Suburbia" followed by community discussion
• Saturday, Sept. 20, 9am-5pm - "Designing the Transition" - a full day conference exploring the Transition concept
• Thursday, Sept 25, 7-9pm - Peak Oil Community Discussion - the first followup event to the Transition conference

See the Conference webpage

Resources:

• a limited number of copies of The Transition Handbook, by Rob Hopkins, will be available at Environmental Change-Makers meetings for about $30 each.  This book will become available in the U.S. through Chelsea Green in Sept 2008.  Get yours now, and understand what the excitement (and the Life After Oil conference) is about!

Oct 23:

Skyrocketting fuel prices ...
lowering carbon emissions ...
eliminating waste ...

No matter which reason drives us to it, the answers are pretty much the same.  "Power down" is the term for changing to lifestyles that demand less energy.  How do we go about it? 

Joanne Poyourow, co-founder of the Environmental Change-Makers will share easy tips, longer term practices, and broad attitude transformations.   Learn how to power down your food, your transportation, your home, and how to be proactive with power down directions at work and in the community.

The Environmental Change-Makers meet the 4th Thursday of every month

7-9 p.m. (unless otherwise noted)

Helen Henderson West Community Hall
Church of the Holy Nativity, Dunbarton at 83rd St., (6700 West 83rd Street) Westchester 90045.  (Map)  (Bus/Light Rail directions)

Environmental Change-Makers meetings are free and open to all.