LA City Hall: Green Energy Compromise

On the morning of March 30th I met up with Sophie Korn, ACE LA Educator, at the LA City Hall to express our opinion and support for the LA City Council to vote for the funding of renewable energy through a rate hike from the Department of Water and Power. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed the concerned citizens about the Green Energy Compromise. I have seen Mayor Villaraigosa in the news, on TV and in print, but seeing him in person made me feel like I was a real citizen of the Los Angeles County who was going to be affected by his decisions. I realized then that we are all in this together. We have to work together in order to bring change.

After the mayor gave his empowering speech, I was met immediately by a cameraman for the mayor's office. He liked my "clean energy" sign and wanted some footage of it so he asked me, Sophie Korn, and Jenny Binstock from Greenpeace to stand in front of the camera.

You are more than welcome to watch the whole video, but my friends and I are at 1:33 on the video.

He then pulled me aside and asked to interview me. He asked me why I was there. I responded with something like: I am here because I support the funding of renewable energy. Even if the prices of water and energy services have to rise, now is the time to invest in renewable energy. We need to stop our dependency on fossil fuels such as coal. I'm here because LA needs to start being powered by clean energy.

We then found our way into the City Hall, unable to get inside of chamber with the city council because the numbers were so many. We anxiously waited in an overflow room to listen in on what was going on in the chamber. It was so exhilarating to be involved in policy. As an activist it was good for me to have this experience and see a little bit of how our government works. After waiting for about an hour, the crowd started to die down and the officers were opening the actual chamber for us to go in. I was able to go inside the chamber where citizens could make comments and address the LA City Council. Jenny Binstock from Greenpeace was nice enough to give me her comment card. She thought that it would be good for the council to hear from a high school aged student. I agreed with her and got ready to turn in my comment card, but just as I was about to hand it to the officer he said that they had just closed all comment cards. Too many had been submitted. I was relieved and disappointed at the same time. I wanted my voice to be heard.

It was quite an unforgettable experience. I felt so empowered that I was one of the youngest activists there. The Green Compromise passed which means that in the future a percentage of LA will be powered by renewable energy! I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to witness LA take a step towards a sustainable future.

This is just the beginning. We are going to be doing this again and again. I encourage everyone to become a responsible citizen. Let your city council know what is important to you. Help bring change. You can do it.

ACE Goes to L.A. City Hall for Clean Green Energy from ACE Space on Vimeo

My dear friend Sophie, an ACE Educator for LA made this great video ^^ . Please excuse my awkwardness in front of the camera, I was getting nervous. haha

Mom and I took the Metro back home.

It was only 5 or so blocks from the City Hall. It cost less than $3 for the two of us to travel back home via public transportation. I loved it! Riding the Metro is so fun to me. When I ride it I know that I am saving carbon emissions. My bike is getting fixed right now, so I will be able to ride that around town rather than driving. :)

Also- there is some good news!

Metro is building an extension to Arcadia!! Awesome. :)

http://www.acespace.org/blog/2010/04/raise-your-voice-for-renewables/

Earth Hour

So I realize that this post is late, but I thought I would tell you about it anyways. All around the world there was an event called Earth Hour, when everyone in the world is encouraged to turn off their lights for one hour.
I had some friends over. We turned off all the lights, lit some candles, went outside and had a bonfire (yes I do realize that fires cause pollution, but my friends weren't sure what to do with the lights off in the house). We had a good time! We just chilled outside with blankets and enjoyed looking up at the night sky.

For those of you who missed this great event, I encourage you to have your own Earth Hour event. Turn your lights off for an hour and bond with your family and friends by getting to know each other! It's interesting to step away from technology for an hour to realize how plugged in our life really is.

Turn your lights off!

Is Tap Water Really All That Bad?

Check This Out: Solar Panels in Spain

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/04/solucar.solar.farm/index.html

Ace Leadership Training March 6, 2010

On Saturday morning of March 6 I woke up and drove to Sacred Heart High School in Lincoln Heights. I was invited to my second ACE leadership training. I had a great time. I met 20 youth who all have a desire to make this world a better place.

During this training we learned how to organize and follow through a campaign to help reduce our impact on the environment. Everyone had such great ideas!
We also learned how to make seed "bombs" or seed balls with LA Guerilla Gardening.
You take 5 parts clay

3 parts dry organic compost

Add some seeds that are native to your ecosystem. We chose california poppy, lavender, and wildflower seeds. We added water to the bowl and mixed them up. Then we rolled them into balls and let them dry in the sun. Seed "bombs" can be thrown any place there is deserted land that needs some beautification. They do not need to be buried. When the rain comes they will sprout. I have 5 balls that I have yet to throw anywhere. I think I will put on in front of the Library. There is an area that is really ugly because it is just dirt.

I was the only youth there who had been to a previous training. I helped out Sophie with a presentation. : )

Sophie presented the ACE assembly with her partner Ethan. They are both educators of the Los Angeles area. After the presentation she came to our Science and Environment Club's Board meeting. She helped us start an ACE action team which I am the ambassador of. She really knows how to get kids excited and motivated.


ACE has this campaign going called DOT: Do One Thing to help reduce your impact on the environment. My DOT is to have a no waste lunch. I now use washable lunch containers instead of plastic bags that I end up throwing away after every use. I also compost the fruit that I don't finish. I should have a cloth napkin, but I have yet to start using one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0sqzgV05GE


I had a great time that day. I look forward to the environmental projects that I will take part in these coming years.

My DOT

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Watch this video. I met Michael (on the left) at the latest ACE training (which btw I still need to blog about).



Don't just wear green!... Live green!!

You can start this week by unplugging your electronics at night. Your cell phone, camera battery, and laptop do not need to be charged while you are sleeping! Overcharging batteries leads to poor quality battery life. You will save energy, money, and the life of your battery by unplugging electronics at night.

Important!!: I now have two blogs.

From now on this blog is going to be devoted to environmental activism. I don't want to mix up my readers who are only interested in reading about eco-friendly tips and news on the environment with my social happenings.

Family and friends: please go to inlifessmallandsimplemoments.blogspot.com to read about things that don't directly have to do with the environment. :)