Calendar of Events
| Our circle of Environmental Change-Makers holds monthly meetings in the Westchester area of Los Angeles. We offer speakers and topics promoting real life actions to bring society (and our city) toward a more Sustainable existence. | |
| Our regular meeting date is the 4th Thursday of each month, however we offer lots of special events and workshops. | |
| Most of our events are free. Donations are welcome, and help us continue our work of environmental outreach. Additionally, Holy Nativity Church encourages you to bring canned food for donation to LAX food pantry. | |
| Our regular meeting place is in the Community Hall of Holy Nativity Church, 6700 W. 83rd, Westchester (LA 90045) (Map) (Bus/Light Rail directions) |
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for similar events in other areas, see the calendar of Transition Los Angeles |
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| Detailed Listing: | |
last updated July 2010 |
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July 17 - Saturday 9-11am Edibles in Containers - a hands-on workshop |
You can grow plenty of food in patio pots, on balconies, and in miscellaneous containers. Learn how in this hands-on workshop. We'll cover dwarf varieties, container sizes, aesthetics, favorite tools, success stories, transplanting, watering tips, and more. As part of the class, we'll plant a "container edibles" garden for the inner courtyard of our meeting site, Holy Nativity Church. You'll learn transplanting techniques hands-on. Please bring your own small trowels or hand tools, and come dressed to garden. We will provide containers, potting soil, plants and seeds. The food grown in Holy Nativity's garden is tended cooperatively and is donated to local food pantries.
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Part of the Organic Vegetable Gardening class series Cost: $5 suggested donation Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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July 17 - Saturday 4-6pm Ballona LETs marketplace and potluck |
The Ballona LETsystem is our local bartering system. Come to our Marketplace event and meet other participants in the LETsystem. Find out what they have to offer, and share what you are offering for trade. The Marketplace event is a great place to arrange trades. It’s also a great time to bring friends and newcomers into the LETSystem because we’ll have people to explain things and do an orientation. Please bring hors d'oeuvres potluck to share. A LETSystem (Local Economic Trading System) is a sophisticated bartering system, and we’re setting one up for the Westchester, del Rey, and Inglewood area. With a LETSystem, you can get the things you need without the need for cash. You can trade goods and services with neighbors by trading credits. Membership is free. More info here. |
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Cost: free. Ballona LETs members will earn a credit for attending. Site: Community Hall of Holy Nativity Church, 6700 W. 83rd, Westchester (LA 90045) |
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July 22 - Thurs. 6-9pm Canning workshop |
July is “prime time” for peaches, plums, and all kinds of summer fruit goodness. Join us for a canning workshop with special guest teacher. You'll go home with recipes! We'll supply jars and fruit and sugar. Please bring your own cutting board, knife, and potholders. If you own a pair of jar lifters, we could use a few extras. RSVP helpful (310) 670-4777 or email |
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Cost: suggested donation $10-$20 to help with instructor fee and cost of supplies Site: Community Hall of Holy Nativity Church, 6700 W. 83rd, Westchester (LA 90045) |
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July 31 - EVENT CANCELED Scavenger Hunt to create an Earthquake Kit |
We all know we gotta have 'em. Maybe you even have one of those fire department lists of the things you should have in your earthquake kit. But who has actually taken the time to assemble their kit? Wouldn't it be a whole lot more fun to do it together? On July 31 we'll do a Scavenger Hunt. We'll gather at 9am, do a count of the number of kits, and create our shopping lists. Then we'll divide into shopping teams, and each team will take a part of the list. After the shopping, we'll gather back at HN to assemble the kits and enjoy a potluck lunch. Older children can participate fully with their parents. If your kids are carseat-age, we'll put you on the logistics team that remains at the site during the shopping portion of the tour.
Please bring:
Note: we will also need a few volunteers to drive the shopping teams.
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Cost: We estimate that each finished kit will cost approximately $30 to $40 Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Hall of Holy Nativity Church, |
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Aug 7 - Saturday 9-11am Seed Saving |
Get ready for our Oct 3 Vegetable/Herb Seed Swap by saving your own seed in your garden this year! You hear about seed saving and how important it is, but how do you actually go about doing it? At this session of our garden series, we'll talk about how to save seed from some of our most common vegetables (and some uncommon ones as well). We'll talk about hybrids and GMOs. You'll learn hands-on how to clean seed from several kinds of vegetables. You'll get to try out small-scale threshing and winnowing. We'll talk about seed storage and learn which vegetables have long viability and which have short. Seed saving resources:
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Part of the Organic Vegetable Gardening class series Cost: $5 suggested donation Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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Aug 21 - Saturday 9am film: "Synergistic Gardening" |
| Emilia Hazelip was a French gardener and teacher who had background in Bill Mollison's Permaculture and the natural farming methods of Masanobu Fukuoka. In this short but delicious film, you'll get a tour of her garden and learn about her intense care for her garden soil. Following the film, we will hold a community discussion about soil building. | |
Part of the Organic Vegetable Gardening class series Cost: $5 suggested donation Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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Aug 26 - Thursday 7pm film: "Rethinking Energy " |
| Covering topics such as renewable energy, cheap oil and the energy gap, this film also brings out issues about the shrinking economy and opportunities for community investment. Film will be followed by community discussion. Resources:
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Cost: $5 suggested donation Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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Sep 4 & 18 - Saturdays 9am - 12 noon Community Garden work days |
We're expanding the Community Garden by an additional 600+ sqft this autumn! In anticipation of our Community Garden Planting Day (10/10/10), on Sept 4 and 18 we'll be doing groundbreaking, soil preparation, and creating rainwater harvesting basins. Come learn hands-on about things like
You can get your lawn removal and double-digging questions answered (although the hard work of grass at the site will be removed prior to these work days). Please bring your own tools -- whatever you might have of the following: round-ended shovel, pitchfork, pick, metal rake. Please come dressed to work. Water and light refreshments will be supplied. |
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Cost: free. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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Sep 11 - Saturday 9am "Cluck Trek" - a tour of urban chicken coops |
Thinking of getting urban chickens? They're lots of fun! Take a peek inside the coops of four or more Westchester-area neighbors, ask questions, and gain ideas for your own home coop. We'll start on the front lawn of Holy Nativity Church, since most of the coops on the tour are within walking distance. Late arrivals won't work for this one folks, since the tour will have already departed. |
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Part of the Organic Vegetable Gardening class series Cost: $5 suggested donation Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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Sept 25 - 8am to 5pm "Life After Oil" mini-conference |
The current economic crisis, our environmental ills, climate change, and peak oil are all interconnected, and they are shaping our future in sweeping and dramatic ways. Life in coming years will be vastly different from what we have now. And in the Transition movement, we believe it could potentially be even better than what we have now ... if we prepare and plan for it. In this one-day mini-conference, we'll help you understand how you can help your community to prepare and plan. You'll gain a big-picture overview of the problems -- very useful for when you go to explain it to other people. You'll participate in experiential exercises which engage our hearts and spirits in this work. You'll learn -- in depth -- about the Transition approach, and with other conference participants, you'll explore how to get it started in your local neighborhood within this vast city. |
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Cost: $35, includes vegetarian salad buffet lunch Advance registration required. Site: Community Hall of Holy Nativity Church, |
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Oct 3 - Sunday afternoon - time t.b.d. Vegetable/Herb Seed Swap -and- Recipe Exchange |
SEED SWAP Bring your vegetable and herb seeds to swap with friends and neighbors. If you have home-saved seed, or half-packets of seed from last year's purchases, bring it along! Please bring junk mail envelopes to carry home your bounty. If you don't have seed to share, come anyway, and take home a sample.
RECIPE EXCHANGE What are your favorite garden-to-table recipes? How do you use L.A. local produce in delicious dishes? Bring 5 copies of a recipe that emphasizes our fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. Folks who bring 5 copies of a recipe get to take home 5 new recipes! (Yes, you may participate more than once: you could bring 5 copies of your pesto recipe AND 5 copies of your cobbler recipe. Then you'd be entitled to take home 10 new recipes! BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS Holy Nativity Parish will hold their annual "Blessing of the Animals" at ##pm on Sunday Oct 3. Bring your dog, cat, chicken, boa, or stuffed animal for an interfaith blessing by Father Peter. Water and refreshments for pets and humans will be provided. Pets and pet owners alike are welcome at the Seed Swap and Recipe Exchange following the blessing. |
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Cost: free Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Hall of Holy Nativity Church, |
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Oct 10 - Sunday afternoon - time t.b.d. Community Garden Planting Day |
Come and help plant the new section of the Community Garden! We'll be planting trees, autumn vegetables, herbs, and beneficial flowers, as well as a small cutting garden. The Community Garden at Holy Nativity is tended cooperatively by local volunteers. The Environmental Change-Makers use it as a teaching garden to teach local people how to grow food (why?). The food grown in the garden is donated to needy local families, mostly via LAX Food Pantry. Since June 2008 we have harvested food each and every week from this garden, and this October we're taking out ANOTHER 600+ sqft of unused lawn and returning it to productivity! The Community Garden Planting Day is part of the Global Work Party coordinated by 350.org:
Other goals of our 10/10/10 work day are: to increase public awareness of the need to grow food -- locally, where the people are; to increase our preparedness for the post-petroleum future; and to bring local community members together, shoulder-to-shoulder, engaged in creating positive solutions. What to bring: Please bring your own shovel, hand trowel, gloves, sunhat/sunscreen. Come dressed to garden. We'll have a party: water, refreshments, and live music from a local band! |
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Cost: free Please bring a can of food to donate to LAX Food Pantry. Site: Community Garden at Holy Nativity Church, |
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| photo credits: vegetables by Robbie Owen-Wahl, UK; Transition Los Angeles logo by Agnes Anderson; sunflower by Lynda Modaff. |
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Transition Los Angeles
Reskilling
is the term for learning again the basic skills necessary for everyday life -- skills like baking bread, growing vegetables, sewing clothing, basic repairs and craftsmanship.
Over the past 50 to 100 years -- a brief period of energy surplus fueled by cheap, plentiful oil -- we have gleefully outsourced these tasks. But as we delve into the second half of our planetary oil supplies, we will no longer have that luxury. We must relearn these skills, and teach them to each other.
At the Environmental Change-Makers, we're relearning these skills, together.
Transition
is a term that refers to the time period we are going through -- a time period when we are transitioning from an energy-intense, high-consumption lifestyle, into something which is much more in line with the available resources of the planet.
Specifically, "Transition" refers to the international Transition movement, a grassroots effort to grow local resilience, our ability to flex and adapt in the face of great change -- the sweeping changes of peak oil and climate change.
The Environmental Change-Makers have been the initiating group for the Transition movement for many areas of Los Angeles. They are a part of Transition Los Angeles.
Read more about the past meetings of the Environmental Change-Makers.