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Hope. That was one of the main messages of a GreenTown-sponsored talk on “Ocean Plastics: Circular Economy and Green Chemistry Solutions” on Wed., Jan 23 at the Los Altos Library. Julie Noblitt, a long-time advocate for reducing plastic waste, and the Energy and Climate Director of Acterra, a Palo-Alto based regional environmental organization, presented facts on plastic waste, the dire state of the oceans, and offered a glimmer of hope. The crux of Julie’s talk was to highlight, not only what we can do as individuals to address the problem of rampant plastic waste, but what companies and creative entrepreneurs are doing to help mitigate the problem. Yes, she’s 14. But Cambria Bartlett feels strongly about the future of oceans given the looming plastic crisis and has joined the organization “Heirs to Our Oceans” to help combat the issue. In addition, Cambria Bartlett, a 14 year-old youth advocate active with the organization Heir to Our Oceans spoke about the work of their organization in educating people and policymakers about sustainable alternatives. If you don’t know about them, you should. The problem: Nearly 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year. Only about 10 percent is recycled in any meaningful way. 8 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans every year. Unless we act now to reduce plastic waste generation, this rate is expected to triple by 2050! The solutions: Julie highlighted a few big solutions that she is watching evolve. Good alternatives to plastic More and more bioplastics, plant-based plastics and edible/degradable substitutes are becoming available. Examples include styrofoam substitutes made out of mushrooms, from Ecovative and straws made out of marine-edible seaweed, from Loliware. In addition, we can return to paper for some uses. For example, good quality paper straws are now available from Aardvark and other manufacturers. Dealing with existing plastics Let’s talk about our clothing – 40 percent of clothing is plastic. When these plastics are washed, microfibers are released into our waterways. The CoraBall, can be thrown in with the laundry to collect these fibers before they go out in the wash water and into our waterways. Adidas has found an answer, teaming with Parley, to create shoes and jerseys made of plastics collected from the ocean. Julie also described her own journey in reducing plastic in her life. She started with declining single-use plastics, such as bags and water bottles, and reducing any packaging waste that she could by considering packaging before she purchases and by bringing her own containers, e.g., reusable water bottles, coffee mugs, and takeout containers. Her last ziploc bags were purchased about 10 years ago; she continues to wash and reuse them–a sorry testament to their staying-power in the environment. The good news is reducing package waste is getting easier with zero waste stores cropping up. Sprouts Market (locally) and Rainbow Market (San Francisco) carry a wide range of bulk or package-free items. In addition to reducing your personal waste, you can make your voice heard. Let legislators know that you are concerned about the impacts of single-use plastics on the planet. Advocate for policies that support waste reduction at the source. Legislation that works, includes bag and styrofoam bans–currently in effect here in Los Altos–and extended producer responsibility, that require companies to take-back packaging that comes with things sold in their stores. GreenTown has been working to combat plastic pollution in our community. Through our Skip the Straw initiative, we encourage local restaurants to offer straws only on request and offer paper (not plastic) straws, when requested. GreenTown volunteers got a boost in January 2019, when state legislation went into effect requiring dine-in restaurants to offer straws only on request (though they can offer plastic straws). The committee’s focus shifted to informing restaurants about the new legislation and offering paper straw alternatives for restauranteurs to test. Thus far, Tom’s Depot, Pompeii Restaurant, Cafe Vitale, Amber India (for some drinks), and the Drive-Up Coffee Shop are offering straws on request and/or offering only paper straws. In addition, we have new recommendations for recycling thin plastics at store drop-off locations (such as at Safeway, Lucky and Draegers) to avoid these items going to the landfill and we are working on identifying the best markets for a zero-waste. Additional resources and ideas mentioned at the talk Zerowastechef.com, lots of tips from a local chef and zero waste advocate Zerow.org, a zero waste blog by Sunnyvale resident, Tim Oey Bring your used dental products (empty floss and toothpaste containers) to a recycling drop-off  in Sunnyvale Make recyclable bags available at Farmers Market Write to suppliers to suggest packaging changes Be an active shareholder Advocate for laws that require manufacturers to take packaging back Attend the Mar 19 Oceans Day in Sacramento Support companies like Loliware The GreenTown Waste Reduction Team has information to help you go plastic-free as well as ways to get involved. For more info, email us.

Join the fun. Reserve your spot here! Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7-8:30pm Our Online Auction Is Live Now! What's in store for you? FUN! Great Music! From local artists and environmentalists: Tami Mulcahy and The Song Gardeners. Kinship! With neighbors who love and care for our planet. Like you do! Inspiring Stories! From youth environmental leaders. A Transformative Talk! With Kristie Middleton, author of MeatLess: Transform the Way You Eat and Live--One Meal at a Time and VP Business Development at Rebellyous Foods. Celebration! Honoring GreenTown's work and this year's Environmental Hero, Margie Suozzo. What's in it for us? FUNDING for our local projects. Your support for this event helps us maintain and grow our programs. By purchasing your ticket to next Tuesday evening's event and by supporting our ONLINE and LIVE auctions you ensure that we can continue to protect and enhance our local environment and contribute to global environmental sustainability. Browse the ONLINE AUCTION CATALOG Now! Note that FRIDAY is the last day to purchase awesome GOODY BAGS with your ticket. One of our GreenTown board members has been hard at work creating these bags to make your evening extra special. Get your event ticket here. Student tickets available starting at $10. SPONSORS: This wouldn't be possible without support from our AMAZING sponsors! Silicon Valley Clean Energy |  Mission Trail Waste Systems | Zoom Media | Connie Miller | Present | Los Altos Community Investments  Info@GreenTownLosAltos.org

The GreenTown Los Altos Waste Team recently held a screening of the newly released film The Story of Plastic and hosted a Zoom discussion on what we can do locally and beyond to reduce plastic use and waste. Joining the panel for discussion were: Louie Pellegrini, President, Mission Trail Waste System Emiko Ancheta, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Los Altos Joanne Brasch, Project Manager, California Product Stewardship Council Nick Lapis, Director of Advocacy, Californians Against Waste The documentary is an amazing account of how we arrived at the plastic crisis we face today. Yes, we have a dire situation of plastic litter and ocean pollution, but it’s much more than that. Missed the film? Learn how you can watch it, or host a screening HERE. The film explains how plastic pollution is truly an environmental injustice impacting all of us—some more than others. Fossil fuel extraction and plastic production result in environmental degradation and damaging health effects to those living nearby, typically communities of color and low socioeconomic means. Moreover, we are now flooded with plastic waste that is not biodegradable—it only breaks down into smaller and smaller particles over centuries to end up in our water, air and food. Add to these social and environmental injustices an economic injustice: those producing, selling and profiting from inexpensive plastic packaging (think single-use plastic) don’t have to pay for addressing these injustices. WE, the taxpayers, and our local governments must pay for environmental clean-ups, household trash collection and hauling to expensive sorting facilities–and it turns out most plastic is NOT recyclable. Everyone’s health suffers when our environments are polluted in ways that lead to unhealthy oceans, contaminated drinking water and food tainted with plastic chemicals. Fortunately, California has a plan to tackle this challenging crisis, and YOU can help! Efforts are underway to include on our November ballot a measure to reduce plastic waste. Thank you to all who signed the petition to add this!!! If successful, the Plastics Free California Initiative will be voted on this fall. More info HERE. We’ll know soon, so stay tuned! The California State Legislature is working on The California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act (AB1080 and SB 54). Though inactive now due to COVID-19, it is anticipated that work to pass this legislation will resume as soon as possible. Be ready to advocate! Watch a short video about the effort HERE and check out this factsheet from the California Product Stewardship Council HERE. Did you see that GTLA is promoting Plastic Free July? Have fun this month practicing how to live a more plastic free life. Be part of the solution! See our post in the July Newsletter. It’s easy to sign up HERE. Volunteer! We’d love you to join GreenTown’s Waste Reduction Team! Just email us at info@greentownlosaltos.org.

I asked my daughter this question back in the summer of 2011 as we stood in the bathroom tissue aisle at Safeway. Surrounded by a sea of rolls in various incarnations—single-ply, double-ply, extra-soft, quilted, patterned, recycled—we couldn’t find what we wanted. You see, my daughter and I were on a quest. Concerned with the plastic pollution devastating our oceans, we had decided to live plastic-free. In that toilet paper aisle, it dawned on me just how difficult that might be. The plastic problem: Between the 1950s and the present, approximately 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced worldwide and only 9% of that has been recycled. Every minute, the equivalent of a truckload of plastic enters our oceans. If we do not drastically reduce our plastic consumption, by 2050, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by weight. Micro-plastics are everywhere: in our water, our air, our fish and even human stool. Can’t we simply recycle our way out of this mess? With China no longer buying much of our scrap plastic, according to Bloomberg, “By 2030, an estimated 111 million metric tons of used plastic will need to be buried or recycled somewhere else—or not manufactured at all.” Better to refuse plastic at its source before it can become waste. But how? Once you decide to kick the plastic, you’ll notice it everywhere—because it is everywhere. Don’t be discouraged. Start small. Make a change. Adjust to the new routine. Make another change. And then another. After we had successfully broken up with plastic, we then went zero-waste. Although everyone’s definition of zero-waste will differ, I think we can agree that we all want the same thing—to both conserve resources and to prevent waste from entering landfills, incinerators and the oceans. In reality, you never actually reduce your waste to zero. Because unless you move off the grid to a farm and grow your own food and plant the hemp to grow the fibers to weave the cloth to sew your clothes, you will contribute to the waste stream via the supply chain. The final goods you buy—such as staples from bulk bins—may be free of packaging but they arrived at the store in packaging. The staff doesn’t grow your oats out in the parking lot after all. The term “zero waste” represents a goal, something to strive for, like straight A+’s in every class you took in college. Yes, it is possible. But remember the saying, “C’s get degrees.” You don’t have to do zero waste perfectly to make a big difference. And as you’ll discover on your journey, you’ll reap all sorts of personal benefits as you tread more lightly on the planet. Anne Marie Bonneau wrote this as a guest blogger for GreenTown Los Altos. She lives in Mountain View and writes the blog The Zero-Waste Chef . You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @zerowastechef.

by Samantha Enos Three years ago, my family of five decided to go vegan after watching a few documentaries on food. It was a challenge at first with three kids (ages 2 to 7 at the time) but now I’ve developed a list of some of my family’s favorite recipes. I want to share it with you as a starting point for those who want the best health for their families and our planet. Enjoy! Breakfast/baked goods Banana pancakes (thebigmansworld.com). Note: throw in a few pieces of previously cooked beets for a pink pancake Berry scuffins (dreenaburton.com) Banana bread/muffins (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) Cinnamon french toast (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) Almond granola (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) Super eggy vegan tofu scramble (lovingitvegan.com) Avocado toast (plant-based4health.com) Gluten-free (GF) yeasted breads (glutenfreebakingacademy.com).  Note: no recipes on this site, but for those that want GF breads, the course is very complete. Snacks New mama glo bars (ohsheglows.com). Note: Although they were designed to be great for new moms, my kids love these, especially with chocolate chips. Caramel corn (dreenaburton.com) Chickpea nibbles (Plant-Powered Families cookbook).  Note: these are great, but for my kids there is an even better recipe in author, Dreena Burton’s, Plant-Powered Snacks ebook (scroll down on web page for ebooks) Polenta croutons (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) Vanilla chia pudding (simple-veganista.com). Note: I use ½ almond and ½ coconut milk. Kids love it! Top with berries. Seedy sourdough crackers (scratch-eats.com). Note: these use sourdough, which is a bit time-consuming, but simple to make.  Check out Fresh is Real for a starter recipe with brown rice flour for the GF version. Main meals Chickpea/buckwheat nuggets(yumUniverse.com) with a side of ranch (thevegancorner.com). Note: these nuggets have a few steps, so a bit more advanced, but my kids love them! ( Zucchini fritters (dreenaburton.com) No-tuna salad sandwich (forksoverknives.com) Potato salad (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) 20-min Vegan alfredo or Best garlic alfredo (thevegan8.com). Both great! Minestrone soup (Forks over Knives cookbook) Lentils ragu (thevegancorner.com).  Note: use this under mashed potatoes for a shepherd’s pie or over pasta as two meal options. I double this recipe and freeze left-overs for another meal. Nutty burgers (dreenaburton.com) Supergreen pesto pasta (Pantry to Plate cookbook) Broccoli risotto (vegandad.blogspot.com) Creamy tomato barley risotto (ohsheglows.com).  Note: not GF, but easily modified to rice. Sauces/dressings Tzatziki sauce (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) Ranch (thevegancorner.com) Lemon tahini dressing (cleanfooddirtygirl.com) Mozzarella (thevegancorner.com).  Note: made with tofu and tapioca, this one melts and is perfect for pizzas Desserts Nanaimo bars(dreenaburton.com).  These are more time consuming, but the recipe can be doubled, cut into small squares and frozen for keeping. Orange chocolate pudding (dreenaburton.com).  Note: this recipe uses avocado, which sometimes can leave an aftertaste. The use of orange juice and zest removes this taste beautifully. Crazy brownies (dreenaburton.com) with chocolate ganache (Plant-Powered Families cookbook) or chocolate sweets frosting (see chocolate cake below) Chocolate sweet potato cake with chocolate sweets frosting (dreenaburton.com) Vanilla chocolate chip cookies (Plant Powered Families cookbook) Rice krispies (dreenaburton.com) Vanilla cake, paired with strawberry buttercream frosting (thevegan8.com).  Note: This frosting is one of the few I found that uses no oil / butter / shortening, and we love it. 1-bowl vegan GF vanilla cake (minimalistbaker.com) Drinks Creamy horchata (Thug Kitchen cookbook) Additional notes Most, if not all, recipes above are GF or can easily be modified Plant-Powered Families book is written by Dreena Burton, so many recipes on the book are also available on her website dreenaburton.com.  Most of her recipes use no oil or refined sugars or flours. The website Fork and Beans has a great guide for GF flours Some of these recipes use aquafaba, which is nothing more that the chickpea cooking water (or the water in the can of chickpeas). I freeze it in ice cube trays whenever I have left-overs, so I always have them available to use. The book, Pantry to Plate, offers basic recipe structures and how to make variations.  Great for learning. Resources Vegan food web resources used in this guide (in alphabetical order) include: The Big Man’s World Clean Food Dirty Girl DreenaBurton.com (author of Plant-Powered Families) Fresh is Real Forks over Knives Loving It Vegan Minimalist Baker Oh She Glows Simple Veganista The Vegan 8 (8 ingredient vegan recipes) The Vegan Corner Vegan Dad YumUniverse Other good vegan food blogs include: Ceara’s Kitchen Lazy Cat Kitchen Sweet Simple Vegan Vegan Richa (Indian foods)

GreenTown has teamed with Silicon Valley Bike Exchange (SVBE) and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) to provide essential workers with essential transportation (bicycles). The #BikeMatchSV program is inspired by New York’s Transportation Alternatives’ Initiative. How can you help? Donate gently used bicycles. If it’s in perfect working order, we’ll match you with a recipient. If it needs a bit of work? No problem, that’s what SVBE and GTLA do! We’ll refurbish the bike and give it new life. We’ll make an appointment for your drop-off. Email info@greenTownLosAltos.org or fill out the #BikeMatchSV form here. Donate your time. Take home a homework bicycle! Using safe social distancing practices, we can arrange for you to pick up a bike, fix it at home, and even supply you with parts you need to fix it! Don’t be afraid to take a bike home. If you are challenged by a repair issue, GreenTown’s resident expert, Paul, can provide guidance to you by phone or video chat, or refer you to videos that can help you complete the job for #BikeMatchSV! Donate $$. So we can buy parts, helmets and locks for folks who receive one of our #BikeMatchSV bikes. The average bike we refurbish requires $40 in parts. To receive a bike, donate or volunteer to help fix a bike, fill out the #BikeMatchSV form here. And please share this program broadly to anyone you think may be in need of a bike, have bikes to spare, or are able bike fixers. Questions? Email info@GreenTownLosAltos.org. And by the way, apparently, bikes are the new toilet paper!

The bike competition Cycle September finished with a strong push by the GreenTown Los Altos Bike Team. We finished in 15th place out of 187 Bay Area teams. Pretty impressive considering that we never did a ride with the full team. The event was organized by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes bicycling in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties and has an overarching goal to see that 10% of trips are taken by bike by 2025. The GreenTown team helped achieve that goal with all the rides we took and all the miles we rode. A high five to Jimmy Gao, Arnold Ambiel and David Gong with a combined total of almost 1000 miles. If you look in the background you’ll see lots of kids on bikes at Bay Lands. That’s a wonderful sight! Especially now. Despite the recent miserable air quality, Gary Hedden rode on 27 different days and Jimmy on 23. Other team members were Willem De Lange, Don Weiden, Denis Koush, Jana Schlansker and Scott Vanderlip. Thanks team, for a job well done! ~ Gary Hedden

Have you been cooking a lot during the pandemic? Tired of the same old, same old? We’ve got some new recipes to spice up your life, just in time for Fall! What’s Cookin’? Instant Pot Cauliflower and Butternut Squash Curry Sorta Classic Pot Pie These recipes are from two of our favorite cookbook authors: Angela Liddon, author of the Oh She Glows cookbook and more. Visit her blog here. Isa Chandra Moskovitz, author of Vegan with a Vengeance and other cookbooks. You can find more of her recipes here. And for Dessert? Perhaps you want to try chocolate mousse? Check out Isabelle Cnudde’s video of a vegan chocolate mousse. Isabelle is a volunteer with GreenTown’s Eating Green team and founder of Clorofil in South Los Altos, a micro sanctuary for rescued animals. (You may also want to check out her new game Rescued). And if you’re done with video, as many of us are, you can try a similar chocolate mousse recipe here, from the blog Chocolate Covered Katie. Let us know if you have questions about what to cook for dinner and beyond at info@greentownlosaltos.org.

This year’s National Drive Electric Week is from Sep 26-Oct 4, 2020.  In recognition, GreenTown is hosting an informational webinar Oct. 6 at 7pm (REGISTER HERE). Participants will get an overview of the key reasons to drive electric, hear from local electric vehicle (EV) owners, and be able to engage with them about their experiences. One of GreenTown’s strategic objectives is to eliminate fossil fuels in transportation by encouraging electrification and other modes of transportation (walking, biking etc.).  This webinar is one of GreenTown’s Go Electric! program events that advances this objective through public advocacy and education. Locally focused events like this provide a forum for the community to share concern over environmental issues, learn more, and collectively take action. Increasing the Percentage of EVs in Los Altos/Los Altos Hills Although Los Altos/Los Altos Hills has one of the highest rates of EV adoption in California, only about 8% of the vehicles registered are EVs according to the 2019 data published by the DMV. We envision everyone in our community considering buying an EV when they are in the market for their next vehicle. GreenTown would like to ensure that people can get educated as to why EVs are an excellent choice for the environment, learn about the latest product offerings, and get first hand information about EV owners’ experience. Outline of Event Normally GreenTown would host such an event in person, but given the state due to the pandemic, the webinar is a great format to educate and engage with the community.  Here is what’s in store for the webinar: Introduction (15 mins): Overview of GTLA and its Transportation objectives Poll attendees about their current vehicles and intentions regarding EV Featured Speaker: Main Talk (30 mins) – Janelle London will discuss the motivation for EVs and the latest developments (30 mins) Janelle London is the Co-Executive Director of Coltura. She is vice chair of the Environmental Quality Commission for the city of Menlo Park, advises Peninsula Clean Energy and Green  Ninja, and has taught a course called Energy, the Environment and Chocolate. She has presented to audiences of thousands, and published the first op ed in California calling for a phaseout of gasoline-powered vehicles. Janelle is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley Law School. EV Driver Testimonials: Panel Discussion (25 mins) Wrap-up You won’t want to miss it! To REGISTER, click HERE. Hope to see you online.

We had another great Lawn Be Gone Bike Ride on Saturday, April 13. We saw some yards without a blade of grass and lots of green and colorful plants. It can be done, and one yard had a ‘meadow lawn’ that had not been mowed in two years and it looked great. We started at the Living Classroom garden at Oak School. Caroline Chan told us that their program has been educating students since 2008 with garden-based lessons in science, math and social studies. The kids look forward to it and whenever a volunteer with a brown Living Classroom visor shows up, they cheer. An added benefit for the community are the descriptive signs that have been provided with each plant and tree. It’s a big help for anyone planning their own yard. One homeowner was especially proud of her collection of succulents. They are so easy she said as she plucked and handed out pieces to every rider to take home for their own personal collection. Long-time GreenTown supporters Barbara and Kevin O’Reilly enjoyed showing off their many plants, and in a brief diversion, Kevin proudly showed how well their newly installed permeable concrete driveway quickly made the water disappear into the ground. They didn’t have any puddles this year despite the heavy rainfall.

On National River Cleanup Day, May 19, 2018, GreenTown Los Altos gathered a group of volunteers at Heritage Oaks Park to remove debris from Permanente Creek and the adjacent diversion channel. We were part of a countywide effort of 1274 volunteers at 44 sites sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Although our section of the creek and channel appeared to be quite clean, we removed 20 pounds of trash that will not make its way to San Francisco Bay. In addition, we collected and sorted : 5 lb. recyclable plastics 16 lb. recyclable glass 3 lb. recyclable aluminum 5 lb. wood 5 lb compost 60 lb. scrap metal including a 40-lb. antenna …and 50 tennis balls. Preliminary results from all sites are 44,768 pounds of trash removed and 1,1985 pounds of recyclables. This was about 12,000 pounds more trash than last year. (cleanacreek.org)

Master Arborist Dave Muffly told a packed room at the Los Altos Library about the importance of planting resilient trees, trees that will do well now, and continue to do well in a future shaped by climate change. He started his talk describing his experience as chief arborist at Apple Park, the new Apple campus in Cupertino. Dave shared how Steve Jobs wanted to incorporate an apricot orchard as part of the campus to reflect the region’s history as the Valley of Heart’s Delight. He described how the final orchard, while incorporating apricots, included 31 varieties of fruit that would ripen throughout the seasons, rather than all at once. Dave went on to describe how the rest of the campus was planted with evergreen varieties indicative of those found throughout California. One more thing, we need to plant a lot of trees. Trees take up carbon dioxide and to meet the climate change challenge Dave wants to plant one billion trees in California by 2030! Unfortunately, we are losing trees at an alarming rate. In 2018 we lost 18 million from warming, drought, insects, and fires. We have a lot of work to do. What should we plant? He thinks oaks are part of the answer, but the ones that do well here now, Coast Live Oak, Blue Oak, and Valley Oak don’t thrive with the higher humidity predicted by several climate change models. Dave’s answer is to look to areas that are already warmer and wetter, to the south and east. He thinks Shreve Oak, Island Oak, Engelman Oak, and Southern Live Oak might work. In addition to planting some pilot projects with these varieties, he and others are growing them in nurseries around the state selecting those that do well and resist things like mildew. Dave is always on the lookout for oa ks and other trees that are good candidates for resilience. One of his favorite spots is Mt. Lemmon, north of Tucson, Arizona. As you climb this mountain you’ll find bands of discrete ecosystems. It is a laboratory for tree selection where he has found Mexican Blue Oak, Silverleaf Oak, and Chisos Red Oak doing well. There is a lot of interesting information on his website, https://www.oaktopia.org/, including his billion tree challenge and soon, notes from his talk. Check it out. Asked what we can do, he said to get the city to hire an arborist, replace trees that are dying, plant the resilient trees from his tree list, and remove the dead trees from our forests. GreenTown wants to help. One billion is a stretch, but maybe we can shoot for 500? Let us know if you want to help.