Encouraging those who love Santa Monica

The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Environmental Affairs Committee met on Wednesday (Feb. 3), and some interesting information was presented. I’m on the committee, reprsenting Green Building Solutions, Inc., a Chamber member.

Sustainable Works (http://sustainableworks.org) coordinates Santa Monica’s Green Business Certification program and their residential greening program, as part of their mission to foster a climate of sustainability. They work with businesses to make feasible recommendations, and some businesses may be certified as green businesses. The residential program includes a free Green Living workshop that meets once a week for six weeks, and teaches Santa Monica residents about concepts of sustainability. See http://sustainableworks.org/resident.html.

I didn’t know that Santa Monica is working on a single use bag ordnance; the city already encourages use of reusable bags in various ways. Several cities have been working together on the required Environmental Impact Report, which should be completed by the end of this month.

And the City bans use of Styrofoam cups, although the police won’t come get you

CVS has a “GreenBagTag™” program: get a tag on your reusable bag, swipe it every time you buy at CVS, and $1 will be credited to you at every fourth use.

The Committee is working on adding a list of books on “green” topics to the monthly newsletter, and starting a series of talks on environmentally oriented subjects that would be recorded and put onto the Chamber website for the public to enjoy at their leisure.

Lots of good stuff going on through the Chamber Environmental Affairs committee. We did a beach cleanup last fall, and a cleaning of Main Street is coming up April 3 from 8AM to 12 PM; to participate, just show up.

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