Heal the Bay Blog

If the realization that lawns are inefficient isn’t enough for you to move forward on replacing yours, now there’s even more incentive: cash!

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is currently offering an incentive from $1.50-$2 per square foot for residential customers who install “California friendly” plants and other water-conservation features. Commercial customers may receive $1 per square foot.

Grass is water-thirsty and high-maintenance, which is why LADWP is encouraging residents and businesses to remove their lawns. Forty percent of water use in L.A. occurs outdoors.

And, as we prepare for the dry season, James McDaniel, senior assistant general manager of LADWP’s water system, points out:  “We need to find ways to save precious potable water for indoor uses.”

There are some innovative and appealing ways to enhance a landscape with non-vegetative groundcover or paving materials like decomposed granite, pea gravel, rocks, pebbles, mulch and wood chips. A list of landscaping options is available at bewaterwise.org. 

All customers must pre-apply for a rebate and receive LADWP approval before starting the turf replacement. LADWP will also inspect the lawn before and after the project. To get started, visit LADWP.com/CF. 

Read more about low impact development.

Of all of the things I thought I would do in this job, going to South Korea never crossed my mind. But three shots in the arm, several orientation meetings, and a pretty solid syllabus down, I’m one week out from joining with 150 students from the Pacific American Volunteer Association (PAVA) on a 12-day environmental expedition to learn about how different cultures live around  water.

Around the world and throughout history, cities have had to figure how to live with water and the ecosystems around them. New settlements build irrigation systems to support agriculture, cities engineer flood control systems to manage storm water, and communities celebrate the vitality of water through volunteerism or ritual. Los Angeles has its own very interesting tale to tell with local water, and my work here has been about trying to tell that story to students and our community partners.

One community partner that has responded to our water story in a big way is PAVA, whose students have joined me to explore the Los Angeles River for the past couple of years. Building on that experience, and always in search of a way to connect with their Korean heritage, PAVA came to us this past spring to present the idea of an expedition abroad.

South Korea too has had its share of water problems, from disappearing freshwater sources, to development encroaching upon natural space, to flooding problems in rural and urban areas. But beginning in the late 90’s and continuing today, their government has decided to turn the issue around, investing billions of dollars into revitalization and restoration, and bringing community back to these spaces. And so it is that Korea, among a few other nations, are leaders in this area, reimagining and reinvesting the role that water has in the country in a big way.

And now PAVA will venture to South Korea this summer to continue their watershed journey, undertaking an expedition in search of bringing those hard fought lessons in environmental restoration and revitalization from their mother country back to Los Angeles. As cultural ambassadors, these students will ask questions on their journey about the process and success of the South Korean effort, returning to Los Angeles with answers that might better inform their work and ours. What lessons do we have to learn from our distant neighbors? Check back in when I return to find out!

— Edward Murphy
Heal the Bay’s Watershed Education Manager

Whether your students are kindergartners or prepping for college, Heal the Bay offers education programs tailored just for them.

Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” echoed through Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, as members of the City Council voted 11-1 to finalize the ban on single-use plastic bags in L.A.

We did it!

And by “we,” we mean the countless number of Angelenos who helped make this day possible.

First, Heal the Bay sincerely thanks Councilmember Paul Koretz and his staff, who logged years forging a plastic-bag-free path, first in Sacramento as an assembly member and then here in L.A. as a member of the city council. Koretz authored the bag ban proposal, which will take effect in January 2014.

Among the highlights of Tuesday’s meeting was hearing Koretz debunk claims by the plastic industry “which has put out so much misinformation” about reusable bags.  (Watch video from the hearing. We recommend dragging your cursor to 02:52:30.)

We are also grateful to Councilmember José Huizar and his staff, who as chair of the Energy and Environment Committee, recommended that the full council approve the ban. In his statement before the council, Huizar movingly spoke about taking on plastic bags after noticing how many of them were stuck in the trees along the San Gabriel river while on a bike ride with his kids.

“We’ve seen plastic bags clogging our gutters, polluting our rivers and piling up on our beaches,” Huizar said. “The time for the City of Los Angeles to take action to protect our environment is now. And every big city in the nation can follow our lead.”

The victory at City Hall was a true team effort. The City of LA couldn’t have gone plastic bag free without the invaluable support of dozens of organizations and individuals, including the Surfrider Foundation, the Sierra Club, Seventh Generation Advisors, Environment California, Green Vets, Earthwise Bags, Urban Semillas, Mujeres de la Tierra, NRDC, Echo Park TAP, 5 Gyres, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Food and Water Watch, Pacific Asian Volunteer Association, Compton High School, Dorsey High School, Zola Berger-Schmitz & The Archer School for Girls and her mother Stan Joffe from Earthwise, San Fernando High School, King Drew Medical Magnet, APEX Academy, Santa Monica High School, Ballona Creek Renaissance, WeTAP, the County of Los Angeles, the City of Santa Monica, and many, many others.

Here’s to a plastic bag-free L.A.! 

Among the many reasons we love L.A. are the beautiful spots to enjoy nature and forget city life for a bit. A hearty thank you goes to the Amgen employees and other volunteers who came to the Malibu Lagoon last weekend to restore it by removing weeds.

Congratulations to Eva Varro for opening their new Santa Monica store (pictured left), and thank you for donating a portion of the night’s proceeds to Heal the Bay. 

And, thank you to Whole Foods-Venice and Golden Road Brewery, for sharing your proceeds from the Heal the Bay IPA after Nothin’ But Sand on June 15.