Ojai Valley Green Coalition

California Cash for Appliances program expands!

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:36:15 -0800

The California Cash for Appliances rebates program is adding more choices for Californians to save - high energy efficient dishwashers, freezers, water heaters, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems will soon all be included in California Cash for Appliances PLUS. Consumers have up to 120 days from the purchase date (beginning July 29, 2010) to submit their rebate application by mail. Read details by clicking the link below!

July 2010 E-news

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:43:18 -0800

* Our July Community Presentation: The Film Coal Country * Andy Lipkis Inspirational at Dirt! The Movie * Executive Director Deborah Pendrey on "Facing the Facts about Where Our Energy’s Been Coming From" and “State Measure 94 Becomes Proposition 23” * An Update on the Draft Ojai Light Ordinance * The Progress of the Ojai Creek Restoration * Linda Harmon Interviews Thacher Grad William Logan, Author of Dirt (the Book) Read the .pdf version: http://www.ojaivalleygreencoalition.org/OVGC_Enews_0710_Web.pdf

COAL COUNTRY Film Showing - July 24

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:00:06 -0800

Don't miss the July Community Presentation from the Ojai Valley Green Coalition: Coal Country, Saturday July 24. Coal Country tells of the dramatic struggle around the use of coal, which provides over half the electricity in America. - Watch the film trailer - Download the event flyer - Read the press release

Culinary Club Tasting Social - July 31

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:30:04 -0800

The Culinary Club of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition would like to invite you to their Recipe Swap and Tasting Social on Saturday, July 31, 2pm - 5pm. Join in with your favorite recipe featuring this seasons local, fresh produce - the social will be held on a small urban farm with chickens, veggies, and native plants and trees! - Download the event flyer for details!

Light Pollution in the Ojai Valley

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:10:42 -0800

On May 11, 2010, at the Ojai City Council meeting, during Unscheduled Items, Ojai resident Martin Potter spoke eloquently for three minutes on light pollution. He gave a history of how he has been trying to get the City to enforce their own ordinance for five years! Here is what he said: My name is Martin Potter and I live at 108 East Eucalyptus Street. I’m here tonight to speak about enforcement of the City of Ojai Zoning Regulation which deals with light pollution. Light pollution is the nighttime spill of light upward and outside the boundaries of the property which the light is installed. Light pollution tends to light an otherwise dark sky and interferes with our ability to see the stars, and it is a global problem.

Creek Restoration Workday - June 19

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:22:35 -0800

A final spring Ojai Creek restoration volunteer workday will begin at 9:30 A.M., Saturday, June 19, in Libbey Park to weed and mulch the areas already planted with native vegetation. This project is sponsored by the Watershed Committee of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition in partnership with the Earth Island Institute, the Wetlands Recovery Project, and the Coastal Conservancy of Southern California.

DIRT! Film Showing - June 26

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:45:15 -0800

Dirt! The Movie takes a humorous look into the history and current state of the living organic matter that we come from and will later return to. Join us at a screening sponsored by the Ojai Valley Green Coalition on Saturday, June 26, at the Ojai Theatre. Making a special appearance at the screening will be Andy Lipkis, the founder of TreePeople.

June 2010 E-News

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:27:11 -0800

* Our June Community Presentation: Dirt! The Movie, Saturday, June 26 * Welcome to the New Chair of the Building Committee - A Perfect Fit for the Job! * Come Meet and Greet at Libbey Park Sunday, June 6! * Executive Director Deborah Pendrey: "The State of the Planet Leaves Mulch to be Desired." * November Ballot Initiative Would Overturn AB 32 Read the .pdf version: http://www.ojaivalleygreencoalition.org/OVGC_E-News_0610.pdf

Open Letter to Vons Corporation - Bike Racks Needed

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:02:33 -0800

Ojai Valley Green Coalition recently wrote to Vons Corporation asking them to promote alternative transportation by installing bike racks at their Ojai location.Given the recent efforts by the City of Ojai to install bike racks around the city, plus the many citizen complaints regarding the lack of bike racks and scarcity of parking spaces for cars in the shopping center where Vons is located, we felt it important to initiate a campaign to correct the situation. Download our letter HERE, and please send your own letter in support: Tom Keller Vons Corporation 618 Michillinda Avenue Arcadia, CA 91007

Join me for a Coalition social - June 6

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:04:40 -0800

Ruth Cooper is extending an invitation to a Coalition social on June 6, 3 pm - 4:40 pm, in Libbey Park. Plan to attend to learn about current goings on and meet some of the Coalition's active members!

"Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water" - May 26

Tue, 18 May 2010 11:36:45 -0800

THINKING LIKE A WATERSHED Thinking like a watershed is what Brock Dolman of the WATER Institute would like all of us to start doing. On May 26 he’ll be in Ojai to comment on a 20-minute documentary produced by the Surfrider Foundation called Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water and speak on water issues. Dolman, who is cofounder of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, is a wildlife biologist and a permaculture, erosion control and watershed restoration consultant. He maintains that we’re not in a water crisis; it’s our water-management system that is in crisis. This affects how much water we have in our reservoirs, storage tanks, and groundwater basins. Decision makers have focused on short-term solutions to long-term watershed problems. Members of the audience will receive a free copy of Dolman’s booklet Basins of Relations: A Citizen’s Guide to Protecting and Restoring Our Watersheds. The May 26 presentation (click to download a pdf flyer) will take place at the Chaparral High School Auditorium, 414 E. Ojai Avenue in Ojai, at 7 P.M. A $5 suggested entry donation will include a copy of the Basins of Relations booklet.

"GOING TO SEED" Summer Revival Tour with legendary seedsman Bill McDorman - May 28

Mon, 17 May 2010 13:14:03 -0800

For Immediate Release Contact: Belle Starr, belle@seedstrust.com 928.649.3315, 928.300.7989 May 10, 2010

GOING TO SEED Summer Revival Tour
The Ojai Valley Green Coalition Presents Legendary Seedsman
(Click here for the Going to Seed pdf flyer.) The Ojai Valley Green Coalition presents legendary seedsman Bill McDorman, President of Seeds Trust at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Ojai on Friday, May 28th from 7 – 9 pm. In this unique presentation, Bill will inspire his audience to reconnect with the ancient ritual of seed saving. Being on the cutting edge of sustainability and local food security is moot if a community is not saving seeds adapted to its region.

What Rush Hour Could Look Like: The Glorious Bike Traffic of Utrecht, Holland

Sun, 16 May 2010 14:29:54 -0800

Every Day is Bike-to-Work-Day in Europe! The following video offers a look into the beautiful country of Holland, a place where transit is clean, efficient, and safe. Translation: Everyone rides bikes and uses public transportation. http://www.good.is/post/what-rush-hour-could-look-like-the-glorious-bike-traffic-of-utrecht-holland Thanks to Ojai Trees for sending this video!

State Measure 94 Becomes Proposition 23

Thu, 13 May 2010 11:56:56 -0800

On June 22, a ballot measure that would suspend AB 32, California’s historic climate change law, qualified for the November 2010 ballot. Prop 23, the California Jobs Initiative, would require that AB 32 and its greenhouse gas reduction program be suspended until the unemployment rate in California drops below 5.5 percent for at least four consecutive quarters. This would essentially overturn the landmark law, because since 1976 California’s unemployment rate has rarely dipped that low. This ballot measure would also suspend emission reporting and fee requirements for major polluters. AB 32 serves as a model worldwide, for it has already resulted in the growth of clean technology and given rise to many new jobs. A suspension of this climate change policy would freeze progress on both a national and an international scale. As reported by Margot Roosevelt in the Los Angeles Times on June 23, 2010, the battle over the initiative, launched (and mostly funded) by Texas oil giants Valero and Tesoro, will pit that industry against environmentalists and the state’s clean-tech businesses. Let’s get the facts and then spread the word: http://www.stopdirtyenergyprop.com http://www.suspendab32.org http://www.jobs2010ca.com

A New Look at the Top Ten Reasons for Making Ojai a Bicycle-and-Pedestrian Friendly Community

Thu, 13 May 2010 06:47:00 -0800

May is National Bike Month, and the League of American Bicyclists is partnering with hundreds of cities across the country to promote Bike-to-Work Week from May 17-21 and Bike to-Work Day on Friday, May 21. If you grew up in Ojai fifty years ago, as I did, you’ll remember a time when you could safely walk and bicycle everywhere, even during peak hour traffic times. Ojai was naturally bicycle-and-pedestrian-friendly. Times have changed. According to the most recent (2008) Ojai Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, 6,000 cars a day now travel on Grand Avenue.