Dear EarthTalk I’ve heard of extremely environmentally friendly homes and communities called “Earthships” popping up across the U.S. What are they exactly? Kelsey Kuehn, Kirtland, Ohio An Earthship is a kind of passive solar home — or community of homes — typically made of natural and recycled mater
CITY HALL — Street performers will no longer need a permit to strut their stuff in city parks and on public sidewalks, but will still need City Hall’s permission to work on the city’s three busiest outdoor performance areas: the Third Street Promenade, the Santa Monica Pier and the Transit Mall.
CITY HALL — Santa Monica City Councilman Richard Bloom has been appointed to the California Coastal Commission, a 12-member panel charged with regulating the use of land and water in the state’s coastal zone, including promoting access to public beaches.
CITY HALL — Already known as a leader in environmentally-friendly development regulations, Santa Monica officials are proposing new green building requirements that could make the city one of the strictest places to build single family homes in the nation.
Dear EarthTalk I ride my bike to work along busy urban streets. Should I be worried about inhaling pollutants from vehicle emissions and other sources? J.
Dear EarthTalk: What is “vertical farming” and how is it better for the environment? Jonathan Salzman New York, NY “Vertical farming” is a term coined by Columbia University professor of environmental health and microbiology Dickson Despommier to describe the concept of growing large amounts of food
CITY HALL — More than five years after City Hall began working on a new general plan to guide future development in Santa Monica, the draft Land Use and Circulation Element has been released.
NORTH OF MONTANA — When a recipe calls for fruit or vegetables, Madeleine Grafton has her pick, not in the neighborhood grocery store, but in the backyard of her home where an orchard of orange, fig, apricot, avocado, lime and lemon trees thrive.
Dear EarthTalk What do organizers hope to accomplish at the upcoming (Dec. 7-18, 2009) United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Copenhagen? F.
CITY HALL — The future of the City Yards could hold less noise and odor for its neighbors. Those are the plans for a new Resource Recovery Center that will be located at the southern end of the City Yards off Michigan Avenue, housing a new self-haul facility, buy-back center, expanded transfer stati
Dear EarthTalk Can you enlighten on the environmental impact of the fashion industry? As I understand it, the industry overall is no friend to the environment.
