On April 29, the Los Altos Complete Streets Commission proclaimed May as “Bike Month,” kicking off a series of events to promote and celebrate cycling in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Thousands of cyclists pass through our communities each month, enjoying Santa Clara County’s roads and trails. Hundreds of children and teenagers cycle to our schools every day, while recreational cyclists travel north and south along Foothill Expressway and east and west to and from the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. What is it about Los Altos and Los Altos Hills that makes cycling so popular? Perhaps it's our flat streets and bike-friendly routes for commuting, our challenging foothills for recreation, or our near-perfect weather! And once people start cycling, they discover a sense of joy and freedom in the experience. Students quickly learn that one of the fastest–and most fun–ways to get to class is on two wheels. Students at Springer and Santa Rita have now also experienced the joys of riding in a “bike bus” (see sidebar). To share the joy, the City of Los Altos and the Town of Los Altos Hills, together with coalition of community partners, is highlighting a number of events to encourage folks to saddle up and ride during Bike Month: Bike Buses are Coming to Town Springer’s March 6 WoW! Day featured an organized bike bus—the first coordinated bike commute of its kind at the school. It drew 40 participants, with five adults supporting the ride and dozens of students enjoying the journey to school together. The result? Happy kids and a full bike rack! The bike bus returned for Springer’s April 3 and 24 WoW! Days, building even more momentum. And Springer isn’t the only school benefiting. Avid bike commuter and Earth advocate Terry Barton helped spark and organize a bike bus at Santa Rita, as well. Terry worked on a route for the school’s late March WoW! Day focusing on the north side of El Camino. When they arrived at school, bike bus participants were greeted with a bike skills course, lively music, and fun giveaways. Interested in starting a WoW! program or organizing a bike bus at your school? Email us at info@greentownlosaltos.org. May 6 and all month | Bike to school May 6th is National Bike & Roll to School Day 2026, which invites participants to celebrate the joy of active commuting while building a sense of community and school spirit. Many schools are celebrating biking to school with Walk or Wheel (WoW!) encouragement days. WoW! is a project of GreenTown Los Altos, which works with school PTA leads to encourage greener alternatives to the single family car, such as biking, walking, and carpooling, for school commutes. Local school WoW! Days during Bike Month include: May 1 - Covington, Loyola, and Springer Elementary May 6 - Gardner Bullis Elementary May 7 - Bullis Charter School North and South; and May 29 - Oak Avenue Elementary. May 9 | Ride to run The Los Altos Hills Pathways Run/Walk is a great excuse to get on your bike and try out some hills. Go early and run (1st race starts at 9am) or go later and spectate. May 15 | Bike to dinner Downtown Los Altos Bike ‘n Dine is back for the fourth year in a row, from 5-8pm! Bring your bike, friends, and family, and join us for a fun-filled evening of biking, dining, and community-building at the Veteran’s Community Plaza on the corner of State and Main Streets! There will be music, activities for children, and a “bike valet” to safely park your bike while you explore the vibrant downtown area on foot. We'll also share event swag including exclusive dining discounts and offers from downtown restaurants. May 23 | High School Student Bike Tour of Stanford Get to know bike and train routes to Stanford and learn more about university life and programs from local students. For more information on these and other events that promote and celebrate cycling during Bike Month, visit bikelosaltos.com and bikelosaltos.org. Bike Month is organized by a coalition including the City of Los Altos, the Town of Los Altos Hills, GreenTown Los Altos, Safe Routes to Downtown Los Altos, Los Altos Village Association, and the Anne Wojcicki Foundation.

In Fall 2025, over several weeks in October and November, Los Altos School District (LASD) surveyed students about their journey to school using a method developed by GreenTown Los Altos. Classroom teachers conducted a hand-count in which students raised their hands when they heard the transport method that they used that morning (e.g., walk, bike, car, carpool, other). For example, teachers asked: “By a show of hands, when you left your house this morning, how many of you walked to school?" The table below outlines the percent of students who used alternative modes for their school commute, e.g., walk or wheel (WoW!) to school. Modes that qualify for WoW! include walking, biking, scootering, skateboarding, roller blading, or carpooling with students from another family. One caveat with the data is that some days in which students were surveyed coincided with WoW! Days in which students were explicitly encouraged to walk or bike to school. These are indicated with an * or ** in the table below. GreenTown's WoW! program provides support to parent leads at each school. The data from LASD surveys helps GreenTown direct program resources by revealing which schools are effectively promoting alternative transportation and which could use additional support. Table: School Commute: Percentage WoW! vs. Single-Family Car School WoW!  (All Modes) Single-Family Car Loyola* 69.3% 30.7% Gardner Bullis* 60.7% 39.3% Santa Rita ** 58.0% 42.0% Springer** 49.5% 50.5% Almond** 41.1% 58.9% Oak* 39.1% 60.9% Covington 31.3% 68.7% Blach 66.8% 33.2% Egan 56.7% 43.3 * or ** Indicates that the school had a Fall WoW! encouragement event. **Indicates that a majority of classrooms were surveyed on the school's Fall WoW! Day. To learn more about the findings, please click on the PDF below. Please contact Margie Suozzo, GreenTown Los Altos WoW! Lead for questions and comments. info@greentownlosaltos.org .

The GreenTown Green Gardeners list is here thanks to the contributions of GreenTown community members. This list was created in response to multiple requests from people who were seeking a recommended gardener who use electric leaf blowers . These gardeners obey the Los Altos ban on gas leaf blowers. We encourage you to discuss the details with the gardeners for further information in you decision process. If you know a gardener who would like to be on this list, have them contact lindaz@greentownlosaltos.org and submit 2 references. To learn more about why Gas-powered leaf blowers are illegal in over 170 cities across the country and why they are highly polluting, unhealthy, and noisy, visit the GreenTown Don't Blow-It webpage . Green Gardners' List (in no particular order) Andres Hernandez (650) 518-2306 Ernesto Martinez Gardening Care Service ernestogardens@gmail.com AZ Gardening and Landscaping (408) 413-8447 Jaime’s Gardening and Landscaping Jaime Perez (408) 375-8525 4238 Rosenbaum Ave, San Jose 95136 Barriga’s Expert Gardening Arturo Barriga (408) 661-5306 Arturo barriga 022811@gmail.com Curtis Horticulture Stephanie Curtis info@curtishort.com curtishort.com Mario Gaspar 669-238-8870 mgaspar@christemmahorticulture.com Juan Cervantes (650) 390-7310

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SCHOOLS Walk or Wheel (WoW) Clean Transportation BACKGROUND The Walk or Wheel! (WoW!) Program encourages biking, walking and carpooling to school. We've been working with schools since 2009. WoW!ing to school means fewer single passenger car trips, cleaner air, lower carbon emissions and more fun! With kids back in school, we're ready to help ramp up WoW! activity. Will you be our next champion? GreenTown provides support to school volunteers to work with students to embrace, educate and empower them to think “Walk or Wheel!” . BENEFITS Positively impacts kids’ well-being Reduces vehicle miles, pollution and carbon emissions Boosts kids’ confidence and fosters bonding with peers Encourages a healthy, fit lifestyle Reduces local school traffic, improving kids’ safety BICYCLE SAFETY EDUCATION The City of Los Altos is working to build a more sustainable bicycle and pedestrian safety education program in local schools. Visit Los Altos' Safe Routes to School page for more information. Options for good bike safety education include: School Assemblies for Elementary Schools Hands-on Bike Rodeos for 3rd and 4th Graders Drive that Bike Classes for Junior High Raising Safe Cyclists for all Parents Bicycle Safety Brochure for Parents & Students STUDENT TRAVEL MODES GreenTown also works with the Los Altos and Cupertino School Districts and Bullis Charter School to survey Los Altos/Hills’ student travel modes two to three times during the year. Findings include: More students WoW! to school in upper grades: approx. 40% of 6th graders; more than 60% of 7th and 8th graders. Junior High top the charts: approx. 65% of Blach and 45% of Egan students WoW! to school. Elementary Schools with greater WoW! student populations have high parent involvement and active WoW! programs. Fewer students WoW! to/from elementary schools with attendance areas on the other side of a major thoroughfare (e.g., Foothill or El Camino). Blach Intermediate consistently has the highest WoW! rates. WALKING SCHOOL BUS A Walking School Bus is a great way to encourage a healthy and environmentally friendly way of getting to school. This type of program is perfect for younger children who need supervision. It can be easily organized by parents and take place once a week, a couple times a week, or even everyday! Steps for Starting Simple: Families in the same neighborhood decide to walk together to and from school. A route is designed and tested by adults for safety. Don’t forget to record how much time the entire route takes. Refer to the list of maps above to determine the best route for your walking school bus. The group decides how often to walk together. Consistent walking school buses are often the most successful. Create a phone list to ensure that all children have emergency contact numbers. Let the Walking School Bus begin! Get Started with this planning guide! BICYCLE TRAIN Similar to the Walking School Bus concept, a Bicycle Train is a group of neighbors that ride their bikes together to and from school. This program involves more planning and training since children must understand bicycle safety and how to ride on a road. Basic Considerations: Bicycle trains are best suited for older elementary children. We recommend that you start out by providing your children with a basic understanding of the rules of the road and bicycle safety. Practice as a group and have several parents on hand to help demonstrate. Every child must wear a bicycle helmet. Check to make sure that your child’s bicycle is working properly and is an appropriate size. More adult supervision is needed than for Walking School Buses. Consider having one adult for every three to six children. See Bicycling to School Together: A Bike Train Planning Guide for an example of steps to implementing a bicycle train in your neighborhood. We Need You! GreenTown is looking for a new WoW Project Lead! The role provides support to school leads in promoting alternative forms of transportation to school, including biking, walking and carpooling. Please contact us at volunteer@greentownlosaltos.org if you are interested in joining us RESOURCES Los Altos City Safe Routes to School maps Recommended Los Altos City Bike Map Santa Clara County Safe Routes to School resources Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety for Parents and Youth booklet Walk and Bike to School Day Toolkit Email Us For inquiries about the SchoolWoW! program contact us at: bike@greentownlosaltos.org

Say No to thirsty landscapes! LAWN-BE-GONE Conservation THE PROBLEM 57 of California’s 29 counties — including Santa Clara County — are in states of severe to exceptional drought conditions, according to the US Drought Monitor. Essentially, this means most California residents, at the very least, are experiencing water restrictions and shortages, and as drought conditions become more frequent, it’s necessary to lower residential water consumption. BACKGROUND 40-60% of California’s residential water is used for landscaping, which makes replacing lawns with drought-tolerant plants an effective and permanent way to reduce water usage. Choosing native plants can be beneficial because they are not only drought tolerant, but also low maintenance and provide habitats to local wildlife. Unlike lawns, drought-tolerant and native plant landscapes create biodiversity and attract essential birds and other species from the surrounding environment. Native plants also contribute to healthier creeks because they require no fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides: all top polluters to creeks. CASE STUDY For more information on drought-tolerant landscaping, native plants, and rebates, check out our case study, compiled by GreenTown’s 2022 summer interns. MAP of various projects in our neighborhood that demonstrate drought-tolerant landscaping & native plants HOW YOU CAN HELP Visit our projects (see below) to see all the drought-tolerant plants we have used. Consider replacing your lawn with these plants or adding them to your landscaping. Also check out the resources on the right to learn how to create a native plant garden and tips on sustainable gardening! Native plant consultant Nikki Hanson explains the process of planting drought-tolerant native plants at the Woodland Library garden in Los Altos. VISIT OUR PROJECTS 1. Woodland Branch Library Drought-Tolerant Demo Garden Visit the Garden at the library: Location Map The garden was first planted in 2017 by GreenTown as part of a girl scout project. With the help of landscape designer Nikki Hanson (nikki@cal-sisters.com) of California Sisters Landscapes and many volunteers, GreenTown in 2022 cleaned up the grounds, layered new cardboard, layered compost, planted some new plants and made some adjustments to the drip irrigation system. It will get some wood chips and some new labels soon, and be ready for another five years! You can see the plant list on CALSCAPE or download a PDF from the Resources section on the right for additional info about how to care for these plants. 2. Planting the Paseo Visit the installation in the paseo adjacent to Akane restaurant on Third St. GreenTown collaborated with E3 Youth Philanthropy students interested in pursuing an environmental project. The goals of the project were: (i) to create planter boxes featuring drought-tolerant plants; and (ii) to use them to educate residents about reducing landscape water use. The colorful planters are now on display in downtown Los Altos as part of a flower-themed art installation curated by Arts Los Altos. Learn more about the work by The E3 Youth Philanthropy team here. Download a PDF of the list of plant species used in the planter boxes from the Resources section on the right. California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists - Gordon Frankie, Robbin Thorp, Rollin Coville, and Barbara Ertter The California Wildlife Habitat Garden: How to Attract Bees, Butterflies and other Animals - Nancy Bauer Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants - Douglas W. Tallamy Teaming with Nutrients: The Organic Gardener's Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition - Jeff Lowenfels RESOURCES Woodland Library Garden Plant list PDF Plant list on CALSCAPE P Planting the Paseo Plant list PDF What native plants are good your location? By Calflora.org Find out how much water a plant needs in a specific city or search by water need and plant type for plants appropriate to your address Deep dive into understanding native plants through the local chapter of the California Native Plant Society GrassRoots Ecology Las Pilitas Nursery Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency For inquiries about Lawn Be Gone program contact us at: info@greentownlosaltos.org BOOKS