Hollywood is undoubtedly a big image-boost for environmental issues. Leonardo DiCaprio's The 11th Hour, which opened in theaters this week, is just the latest celebrity-backed project to thrust the issue of global warming into people's minds.
But to scout around L.A. beach towns like Santa Monica -- the playground of Hollywood hipsters and execs -- you'll find signs that it's more chic to shop and build green than ever before. And that's seemingly beyond the fleet of hybrid Priuses already on the roads in L.A. and Santa Monica.
On the retail front, Venice Beach (like eco-minded Berkeley but with more glam) has a new green building and art store that opened this spring called epOxyGreen. At the site of an old gas station, the shop sells things like electric-powered scooters, lamps made from recycled objects, and organic-cotton T-shirts. It also sells expertise in environmentally friendly interior design and building materials. But epOxyGreen isn't alone in green retail in the area. Even the venerable Fred Segal boutique, favored by starlets, carries the sustainable clothing line from rock star Bono and his wife.
For green building, a powerful influence in the area is Building Green sponsor Global Green. The national environmental organization that has operated one of its two U.S. resource centers from Santa Monica for the last couple of years. There, people can find out how to greenify their home with a low-flow toilet, recycled-glass tiles for the kitchen or an Energy Star clothes washer.
And if residents weren't already aware, they'll find that they can get cash back from the city of Santa Monica for taking these measures. This spring, the city of Santa Monica started offering rebates of up to $245 to residents who were conserving water by buying and installing a low-flow toilet or a qualified irrigation system.
For green-leaning travelers, Santa Monica also touts one of the country's eco-boutique hotels, The Ambrose. The 77-room hotel, which is LEED certified, serves locally grown fare, practices energy conservation and cleans with non-toxic materials.
If Hollywood sets the trend for California, the golden state will soon be the green state.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
green in california
A lot of people often associate green ecology with California but green ecology has been practiced in Texas particularly in Austin since the sixties. I grew up in Austin and back in the sixties the hip and hippies in and around Austin were practicing green living. Stores and restaurants sold green products and organically grown food. In fact the first green chain store in the country came out of Austin,Whole Foods started as a small grocery store in West Austin and we always tried to eat fresh organic foods. Stores sold green products made from recycled items and natural fibers in clothes and household products. The city of Austin has been recycling since the seventies and the city's goverment cars and buses run on clean fuels.The whole city has been picking up recycled cans and paper since the eighties. Going Green is now a hip thing to do,but there are other cities and states other than California and Berkeley. I now live in a suburb of Houston and it has been picking up on trash day cans,carton and paper,as the city of Houston has been since the eighties. If Houston is the LA of Texas then Austin is the Berkeley of Texas and Texas has had green roots since the sixties. In Austin we were aware of the air and water quality years ahead of anyone including Oregon and Washington state. Austin set the trend for Texas and maybe the nation decades before anyone else.