Heart of Green

Solarthon Race is On

The race will be on this weekend to install eight solar electric systems in one day at GRID Alternatives Solarthon 2008.  This will be an amazing event where teams will outfit Habitat for Humanity houses with solar panels, thereby enabling low-income families to experience the brightness of living off the sun.  Be there or be dim.

 

GRID Alternatives
Solarthon 2008

WHEN:
Saturday June 28, 2008
8:30 am - 4:30 pm

WHERE:
Habitat for Humanity East Bay
Please see Solarthon

These events fill up quickly, so if registration becomes full, don't despair. Another installation day will soon be in the air.

PG&E and its Solar Habitat Initiative have graciously stepped up to become the event’s flagship supporter.  The new solar systems will generate over $130,000 in clean renewable power over their expected lifespans, while offsetting 400 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Over 150 volunteers will participate in an uplifting and fun day in the sun for the community and the planet.  If it’s foggy in San Francisco, what better excuse to get out of town, get some rays and celebrate this great energy resource shining down on us every day. Bring a hat, sunscreen, and some friends. Can we do the installations in our bathing suits?  

Learn more about GRID Alternatives and their marvelous work bringing solar and energy efficiency to low-income families throughout California at www.gridalternatives.org

944 Launches in San Francisco

Welcome to San Francisco, 944 Magazine.  944 is one of the fastest growing lifestyle publications in the nation featuring local and national content. And it is beautiful.

944 began in Phoenix six years ago and now has custom books in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Miami, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Orange County. Clearly, they have an affinity for sunny places. They must think San Francisco is sunny because we are in California. 

I know you are dying to know, like I was, what do the digits 944 stand for?  In addition to a nice Porsche, 944 is the address of the building where the magazine first got its start.  We are literal in the Bay Area and have to get to the bottom of things.

Flipping through the pages of 944’s inaugural San Francisco June issue, we see fashion, music, food and wine, art, design, eco-friendly resorts, celebrities, the social scene, and more. 944 seems to be filling a different niche than my other still-beloved SF magazines including 7x7 and San Francisco magazine. 944 is edgy, elegant, and inclusive. By covering all corners of San Francisco, it has the power to bring the city together.

Here are a few exciting things about 944.  It is complimentary at select high-end spots across the city including hotels, boutiques, salons, and restaurants. It is printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC-certified) sustainable paper with 10% recycled content every month, not just in April.  Kudos to 944 for being one of the first magazines in the country to take this important eco-friendly step. It also has an incredibly short lead time (2 days before printing) so the content is up-to-the-minute and true to month.  For example, the Black & White Ball photos from May 31 made it into the June issue. Amazing!

I am thrilled to be a contributing eco-editor for 944 San Francisco. My column is called the Green Spot, which somehow got shortened to g-spot in the first issue. I can’t imagine how.

This Thursday night June 19, 944 will celebrate its official Launch Party at the Bently Reserve in collaboration with Martel and Nabiel and Vintage 415 with performances by the Macy Gray, the Fugees, E! Entertainment Host Catt Sadler, Chris Clouse, DJ Vice, and DJ Solomon. Now that is a line-up, and thank goodness I don't have any 8:00 am meetings on Friday.  www.944.com/sanfrancisco/

In my new role as 944's Eco Editor, I was thrilled to be able to share a few tips for Eco-friendly Gift Ideas on ABC-7's View from the Bay show.  Video

Jurlique Beauty Party

Nature is beautiful so it makes sense to tap into nature to make us beautiful. Case in point is the new Biodynamic Beauty Skin Care by Jurlique, which includes a renewing serum, an eye cream, a skin polisher, and a pampering night cream.  I tried them this week and the results are nothing short of glowing skin. Thank you nature and thank you Jurlique. Their hand creams in Lavender, Rose, and Citrus are also very popular and will transform your hands from brillo pads to silky smooth gloves.

What does biodynamic actually mean?  It is a method of sustainable farming that goes beyond organic and incorporates the cycles of nature, super healthy soil, the calendar, the sun and the moon, and more.

Stop by the Jurlique Biodynamic Beauty Party this Thursday, June 19 from 6 pm - 9 pm at the San Francisco Jurlique store at 2136 Fillmore Street. Enjoy the celebration with chef-prepared organic delicacies, biodynamic wine and the sweetest of all desserts, product samples!  www.jurlique.com

Up The Yangtze

In China, the Yangtze is known simply as “The River.”  I highly recommend seeing the film Up The Yangtze about the infamous Three Gorges Dam in China on the big screen.  The beautiful cinematography is epic.  It will be playing in San Francisco at Landmark Theatres at the Bridge on Geary starting on June 13, 2008 for just one week.

This film by brilliant rising star director Yung Chang surprised me. I expected an environmental documentary about a gargantuan dam and instead got a moving personal, fictional-like account of the young people and families whose lives are transformed by the dam. As the frames play, the water rises. The farewell luxury cruise ships sail. The Chinese teenagers leave home to work. The American tourists act goofy. The peasants are forced to move everything, on their backs.

As Chang said with a smile, “This is the Love Boat meets Apocalypse Now.” The remarkable thing is that Up The Yangtze is a documentary with rare live footage of moments that will never occur again. You feel like the cat on the hut floor, and it is a poignant and priceless place to be.  www.uptheyangtze.com

Global Green Millennium Awards

You are invited to get back to your glamorous green roots and celebrate top environmental leaders at the always a blast and always moving Global Green Millennium Awards this weekend.

Global Green Millennium Awards Show

WHEN:
Saturday June 14, 2008

WHERE:
Fairmont Miramar Hotel
101 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica

FEATURING:

• Celebrity guests
• Organic cocktail reception
• Delicious organic dinner
• Mingling with the green glitterati
• Awards to Lyn Lear, Van Jones, the LA Unified School District, and the South Group

Cocktail Attire or Luxury Eco

RSVP:
Reserve your spot online

GLOBAL GREEN:
Presented annually in Los Angeles, the Millennium Awards recognize and herald those whose lives and livelihood embody Global Green USA's mission of fostering a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure world.  www.globalgreen.org

Sustainable Brands or Bust

Tis green conference season – a quality problem to have!   

This week I will be at the Sustainable Brands 08 conference by Sustainable Life Media in Monterey, home of the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

The SB08 lineup is jam-packed with major brands pushing the green envelope including Keen, Ideo, Autodesk, Earthbound Farm, Yahoo!, eBay, Umbria, Frey Vineyards, World of Good, IBM, OZOcar, HP, Seventh Generation, Lexus, Kimpton, Method, Fetzer, Steelcase, Yolo, Gap, MBDC’s Cradle to Cradle, and many more that I look forward to learning about and reporting on. Stay tuned for the best of Sustainable Brands or bust.  www.sustainablebrands08.com

In other breaking conference news, there is Dwell on Design in LA this week, and don’t miss the Greener by Design conference in Alexandria, VA happening June 12 - 13, 2008.  Hosted by the expert GreenBiz, Global Executive, and Greener World Media gangs, this rendezvous of top eco-focused minds is sure to lead to a brighter green future for all, and some wild new products. Can we make a building that acts like a tree?  What are the full intentions of one’s designs?  After all, our current troubles are mostly a design problem.  As William McDonough always says, redesigning the way we make things is the key to unlocking a sustainable and regenerative future. The result will be nothing short of a new green “industrial” revolution for the millennium. Hope reigns supreme.  Let the battle of the conferences begin. See you at the cocktail hour.