When it comes to green events, Los Angeles certainly has a long list to fill the yearly calendar. Looking for a piece of artwork that speaks to global warming? You’ll find it. Want to learn about California’s drought-tolerant native plants? No problem. Are you searching for the latest environmentally friendly products? There’s no need to venture past the county line.
It’s all right here in Los Angeles. And, when it comes to deciding what to wear to one of these gatherings, nothing looks more stunning than a little black dress (made from hemp perhaps?) against a backdrop of green.
2010 Green Events
Audubon Center at Debs Park Tour Free and open to the public Tuesday – Saturday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Just north of Downtown LA is the Audubon Center at Debs Park, one of the most environmentally savvy structures in the country. The city’s first building to function “off the grid,” it has received a platinum LEED rating — the highest possible — from the U.S. Green Building Council. Most first Saturdays guides offer tours of how this all comes together. You can also enjoy guided bird watching tours and learn firsthand about local feathered friends. www.audubondebspark.org
Eco-Home Tours Located in the Los Feliz neighborhood near Griffith Park, Eco-Home offers tours of their craftsman-style bungalow and gardens. The home is a living research center focusing on ecological living in an urban environment. Tours are offered bi-monthly throughout the year. www.ecohome.org
LA Green Drinks Green Drinks allows for anyone concerned about environmental issues to get together over a drink. West Side 1st-Thurs, South Bay 2nd-Thurs, Pasadena 2nd Wednesday, Hollywood/Silverlake 3rd Thurs, Downtown 4th Wednesday and Valley 4th Thurs. Green Drinks events are very simple, informal, unstructured, and self organizing. They bring together the huge LA environmental community and have fun doing it. http://lagreendrinks.blogspot.com
Sustainable Seafood Day Mar. 6 The Aquarium of the Pacific invites the public to learn how to help our oceans one bit at a time at its sixth annual Sustainable Seafood Day featuring its Seafood for the Future program. Learn all about cooking environmentally friendly seafood dishes and how your seafood consumption choice can help save our seas. www.aquariumofpacific.org
31st Annual Los Angeles Environmental Education Fair Mar. 13 Experience a greener tomorrow, today at the Los Angeles Country Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Over 60 organizations will present hands-on activities, ready-to-use lesson plans, field trip and assembly ideas, and other useful resources for school and home environmental projects. Live entertainment with music, hands-on art projects, and storytelling will make this a fun-filled day for all. Visit wild animals, pick-up a free pine seedling, participate in environmental challenges, and take an "Eco-Tour" to some of the unique areas of the Arboretum. http://www.laeef.org
Going Green Film Festival Apr. 2 – 4 The Going Green Film Festival, a unique, first-of-its-kind film festival promoting environmental awareness, green productions, will run the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills.
Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour The Theodore Payne Foundation offers an annual garden tour of home gardens throughout the Los Angeles area every year in early April. Payne was a noted horticulturist whose love of Southern California botanicals dates back to his arrival here in 1893. www.theodorepayne.org
Earth Day Celebration at Descanso Gardens Apr. 17 Sing the praises of Mother Earth where the glory of spring—from sweet-smelling lilacs to magnificent roses—will be in full-bloom—and everyone is invited for a day of learning and fun! “Green” displays will feature compost tea making, organic gardening, seed preservation and more. Additionally, families will enjoy a variety of entertainment and a fresh array of local organic foods. www.descansogardens.org
Earth Day on the Promenade Apr. 17 The City of Santa Monica and Earth Day LA is bringing back “Earth Day on the Promenade.” The day long festival will fill three blocks of the Third Street Promenade. Among the many highlights: Earth-friendly exhibitors featuring energy-efficient and all-natural products, delicious organic treats, solar-powered stage, music, and animals and fun for the whole family! http://earthdayonthepromenade.org/
Earth Day Celebration Apr. 24 – 25 Learn what you can do to help our ocean planet at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s ninth annual Earth Day Celebration. Join the Aquarium for a weekend of family fun celebrating Earth Day while learning simple, everyday tips to protect our environment. Visit booths from various earth-friendly organizations and participate in hands-on learning demonstrations for people of all ages. www.aquariumofpacific.org/
Children’s Earth Day Apr. 25 A wild day of earth education and celebration at the biggest and best Earth Day for families at STAR Ecostation. Enjoy live performances, celebrity guests, crafts, food, games and much, much more at this tropically themed outdoor festival. Other exciting and educational events throughout the year include World Ocean Day and Enchanted Hallow’s Eve. www.ecostation.org
Annual Home Remodeling & Decorating Show & Eco-Expo Held in April and June is the Annual Home Remodeling & Decorating Show & Eco-Expo at the solar-powered LA Convention Center. This event has evolved into a major showcase for green-friendly product-makers eager to introduce their new wares to the public. www.thehomeshow.com
World Fest Marching to its own beat is World Fest at Woodley Park in Encino, which celebrates Earth Day in early May instead of late April — and does so with a bang. This solar-powered celebration of the environment includes live entertainment and celebrity speakers, Kids’ World and a beer/wine garden. www.worldfestevents.com
Taste of the World Festival, Jun. 11 – 13, Taste of the World Festival celebrates and embraces companies that seek to provide environmental solutions for communities, businesses and individuals alike. As a sponsor of the Green Pavilion, your company will have a high visibility profile throughout the Festival and will allow others to display new ideas and solutions for a cleaner, greener World. www.tasteoftheworldfestival.com
Venice Eco-Fest The carbon-neutral Venice Eco-Fest, held in early July at Venice Beach, is teeming with eco-friendly product booths as well as an eclectic element you’d expect at Venice: live entertainment (on sun-powered stages) and fabulous food. www.earthdayla.org
Shakespeare at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum The greenest place in LA to see Shakespeare plays is at Topanga Canyon’s Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, an outdoor sanctuary filled with plants, flowers and trees. This summer’s season features Hamlet, The Three Musketeers, A Midsummer Night's Dream and two others, TBA. www.theatricum.org
The LA County Fair Sept. 4 – Oct. 3 The annual LA County Fair includes a “Going Green” component at Pomona Fairplex. Last year’s, “Going Green” booth included themed interactive exhibits and workshops on rainforests and the habitats in each layer of the forest; how rainforests protect and enrich our environment; interactive exhibits on how to reuse, recycle and renew our resources. www.lacountyfair.com
The Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival Sept. 17 – 19 This year the festival will not only be turning lobsters red with a green cooker fueled by biodiesel, but will also be implementing biodiesel in their generators and ATVs. Now in its 12th year, the festival is best known for its World Famous Discount Lobster Meals, still being served at the 2005 price of only $17.00. 2010's entertainment features top stars, as well as activities for kids. http://www.lobsterfest.com/
“Moompetam” Sept. 18 The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific presents “Moompetam,” an annual celebration of coastal Native Americans. This festival reflects on how local indigenous groups worshipped Mother Earth with song, dance, crafts and storytelling. www.aquariumofpacific.org
Coastal Cleanup Day Sept. 25 Hosted by Heal the Bay and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors and bringing out over 14,000 volunteers, Coastal Cleanup Day is one of the largest volunteer day projects on the planet. Volunteers in Los Angeles County typically collect tens of thousands of pounds of trash and recyclables during a three-hour period. By filling out the trash “data cards” during the cleanup, volunteers are helping identify and stop polluters in the future. www.healthebay.org
Fall Equinox The Wright Organic Resource Center, overseen by Frank Lloyd’s architect grandson, celebrates the fall equinox with dinner and music. The setting, in the breathtaking Malibu Hills, showcases sustainable home gardening. The center also celebrates the other equinox and the two solstices. www.elwright.net/wrightway
Los Angeles Auto Show Nov. 19 – 28 There's no better place to announce the 2011 Green Car of the Year® than at the Los Angeles Auto Show hosted at the environmentally friendly LA Convention Center where Green Car Journal will reveal the winner of this prestigious award. www.laautoshow.com/
