After the Los Altos Crier posted a story with some inaccuracies about Reach Codes, GreenTown Los Altos’s Gary Hedden stepped up to write a letter explaining our position. We thought it was worthy of posting so others get the info. “Hello Bruce, I was taken aback by the page five story on reach codes. The bright red banner proclaiming 74.3% oppose reach codes was both dramatically eye catching and dramatically misleading. I attended the June Environmental Commission meeting when more recent survey results were discussed, and although there was opposition to the proposed reach codes, it was not even the majority view. There was actually pretty strong support for some flavor of expanded reach codes. Here is a screen shot of the relevant survey results. The survey allowed for multiple entries, making it hard to interpret, but the “no” vote is 27.3%, not 74.3%, a number that came from an earlier and very different survey. I hope you will offer an explanation in next week’s newspaper. That wide variability in survey results also deserves some comment. A speaker named Lam at the Chamber of Commerce meeting Wednesday mentioned that a lot of comments are showing up on Nextdoor, and I got the impression that he follows it fairly closely. Nextdoor is a terrible source of information however. It is easily and often manipulated. Lam called for an election to let people decide on reach codes. Chris Jordan wisely pointed out that special elections are expensive, so let the council do their job. If people are getting their news from Nextdoor because they don’t trust the city council, or the Environmental Commission, or even the Town Crier, heaven forbid, then I can see why there is such a wide split in the community on this issue (and so many others). You might also explore why there is such strong opposition to the gas ban in the first place. There is an anti-science part of the population that doesn’t believe in the risk of climate change. Some of these folks probably don’t believe in the medical science that would have everyone wearing a face mask. This is often wrapped up in the frustration called government overreach. I am always curious about that, what overreach should we take away? The Libertarian Party would abolish the income tax for example, but getting back to reach codes, would these folks abolish Title 24? It has been around since 1978 and the building efficiency created by it has saved Californians a lot of money on their energy bills over the years. Also worth exploring, a lot of folks don’t realize that there have been huge improvements in electric appliances over the years. We now have induction cooktops that are easier to control than gas, and cleaner. We have heat pump technology that is super efficient and cost effective over the long haul. The panel discussion by LAR got into this with Tom Kabot presenting the case for reach codes. The two opponents did not have a good answer for him and talked about other things. My two cents, Gary Hedden"

Fires, fires, everywhere. And lately, they’re hitting closer to home which has made us all more appreciative of clean air. (Learn more about the link between climate change and air quality here). So what do you need to know to keep you and your family safe? Read more here. The most important aspect of air quality during the pandemic is fine particulate matter, e.g., PM 2.5 (particulate matter of 2.5 microns or smaller). These particles have been associated with increased risk of death from coronavirus (Harvard Univ., April 2020) and can penetrate deep into the lungs and even impact cardiovascular health, so you want to minimize your exposure. The best way to do that is to: (i) know what your air quality is (and it changes frequently these days), (ii) clean it up if it’s not up to snuff, and (iii) know where you can go for better air. Tricky during these times, for sure. Figure out your air quality CalFire – to learn where the fires are and their level of containment. The PG&E Fire Detection Satellite Map is an excellent map, too, but takes a while to load so only use it if you have patience! AirNow and PurpleAir – to discover air quality in your area. AirNow tends to be more accurate but with fewer local sensors. PurpleAir’s sensors are simpler and more abundant but weren’t really designed to measure particles from wood smoke. However, you can select a correction factor on PurpleAir to more accurately reflect current air quality. (This article explains discrepancies between AirNow and PurpleAir and how to adjust PurpleAir to get a more accurate and more local AQI). If you read that last bit, you’re already a real data geek, so you may want to: Check out Windy to see which way the wind is blowing and help you predict what your air will be like tomorrow; and Measure your own air quality with a portable air quality monitoring device. Some are reviewed here. We use the Temtop M2000C love it! Clean up your air C|NET did a recent review of some good air purifiers. We love our Honeywell and also have a quieter, lower profile Medify that we like. And if your power goes out, get out of Dodge (well, not really) But seriously, most newer cars have excellent air filtration. Close the windows and choose “recirculation” on the ventilation system and see and feel the air quality improve. Or better yet, measure it. We’ve seen PM 2.5 go from unhealthy to healthy in no time! Backup power can help, too, though we haven’t looked deeply enough into this to provide a solid recommendation. If you’ve done the research, let us know your thoughts here.

by Wendy Tanz Nil Zacharias, co-founder of One Green Planet and weekly podcast #eatfortheplanet, explained to a full-house the dangers of continuing to grow and process animals for food. Our water, land and air are all being destroyed by the animal food-based industry. We’re pushing our planetary boundaries! The advent of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of population and technology helped create the unchecked capitalism of today. More. Faster. We’re extracting our resources faster than these resources can replenish themselves. Sonar technology is now used to locate fish, not fishermen. Cows are kept lactating by constant artificial insemination. Cattle are fed only the food that will make them huge until their legs can’t hold them. More animals, grown fast, in small spaces. Treated with antibiotics and cut out the visible infections. Ready for the market, big and fast! Twenty-three percent (23%) of our water goes to animals while people go without water. More than fifty percent (50%) of our land is used for our food animals, land that could grow food. Trees absorb our greenhouse emissions, but our forests are being removed to provide more land to grow more animals that will need more water to clean, hydrate and grow more food for these animals. It’s a wasteful growing cycle. For context, it takes 2,000 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of milk. When consumed by food animals, what do 100 calories of grain provide? 40 calories of milk; 12 calories of chicken; or 3 calories of beef. Those same grains could be directly feeding people instead! And, don’t forget…where there’s life, there’s poop! Three hundred and sixty nine tons (369) annually, releasing more gases into the air than the entire transportation sector,  and funneled into our waterways heating our waters, killing our coral reefs, ultimately destroying the balance of our ocean waters, turning our oceans into poop. The good news: Today many investors and meat companies are getting into the plant-based industry, the necessary wave of the future.  Billions are being invested. If consumers don’t buy animal products, the animal business will have to change! Mr. Zacharias points to what we can do NOW: Start somewhere….Cut your carbon footprint in half. Buy local. Organic. Eat vegan 1 day a week, the weekend, only at home…JUST START! Oh, and read Eat for the Planet, by Nil Zacharias. He explains it well!

~by Margie Suozzo I had the great pleasure of meeting Jo, our new intern, in early October. She will be working with the Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention Team for 4, 2-week blocks throughout the school year. She just finished her first block and was excited to get going. Jo shares a bit of her story of the factors that contributed to her passion for protecting the environment: Well, we’re happy you did Jo. Our first two weeks were a rousing success! The Waste Reduction Team looks forward to working together the rest of the year!

Please join GreenTown in welcoming the following three new board members. Connie Miller As a Bay Area native and Los Altos resident who has spent her entire life enjoying the abundance of nature our region offers, Connie sees the urgent need to act boldly to create a sustainable and thriving environment for our children. All actions start with one person and grow into a collective wave of change. Connie believes Los Altos and Los Altos Hills are perfectly poised, with their educated residents, affluence and regional influence, to be the leaders of change and leave a lasting positive legacy for our planet. Through GreenTown Los Altos programs, education and policy influence, Connie hopes to be a resource for and inspire positive environmental change in others. Donna Staton Donna Staton is a semi-retired pediatrician, now working in global child health. She moved to the Bay Area a few years ago and lives in Los Altos Hills with her husband. With a background in environmental science as well as medicine, she hopes to get involved in advocacy work focused on reducing the production and use of plastics due to their negative environmental and health effects. Suresh Venkatraman Suresh’s daughters’ engagement in environmental causes were a major influence to join GreenTown. Youth all over the world are asking us, the current stewards, to do everything we can to reverse our effect on the planet’s environments and climate. Actions by individuals, communities, and governments must all come together to accomplish this monumental but achievable task. Suresh is passionate that we become acutely conscious of our consumption – from energy to products, from how they are manufactured, packaged to how they are disposed of – and make decisions and take actions to minimize our footprint. After working for many years in Silicon Valley’s high-tech industry, Suresh looks forward to being on the board and exploring how technology can be better used in the green world.

Rising star environmental advocates, Addy Kopp, Ezri Rohatgi and Mia Ravishankar were sixth graders at Loyola, concerned about the environment and wanted to do something about it. Out of this concern they formed a club called Nature and Conservation for Kids (NACK). Now, at Blach in 7th grade, they recently addressed both the Los Altos School District Board (LASD) and the Los Altos City Council to ask for help to protect the health of students by reducing health harming toxics from unnecessary vehicle idling. Cars Are A Pollution Disaster Addy told the School Board and Council that vehicle exhaust contains toxins that can cause heart and lung diseases (especially asthma) and cancer. Children breathe faster than adults so are especially susceptible to these toxins. One recent study showed that between 2010 and 2015, about four million children in 194 countries developed asthma each year due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution the main pollutant from vehicle exhaust.  As for C02, if everyone in the U.S. stopped idling for five minutes a day it would be equivalent to taking five hundred thousand cars off the road and saving 1.6 Million tons of CO2. Mia described how idling wastes a lot of gas and money. In fact, in California vehicles idling while parked emit roughly three million tons of carbon dioxide a year and burn roughly 300 million gallons of fuel. At $3.50 per gallon that’s over $1 billion and a lot of wasted money. And newer cars do not need to idle. She said the EPA found “hot spots” of toxins around schools at pick up time and discussed a program that the EPA developed to help schools reduce idling. Los Altos High School implemented much of the program last year and found idling was reduced 80%. Getting Started With A Mini-Campaign Ezri said that while the full program implementation would be great, it is a considerable effort.  Consequently, they proposed a mini-campaign that they believe will be effective with minimal effort. They asked for signs and communications. The signs should be installed where parents tend to idle while waiting for their students, namely pick-up areas, parking lots, and public streets leading to the pick-up areas. Ezri also asked City Council to install signs on Main and State Streets and in City parking lots. She said, “This would help not only children visiting public areas but people of all ages.  Think of diners sitting at a sidewalk cafe, coffee drinkers at Peet’s, Starbucks or Redberry, and children eating at TinPot or Baskin and Robbins ice cream while cars spew pollutants right beside them. This can seriously impact people’s health.” Communications to educate Los Altos residents about idling through normal channels such as school administration and City newsletters would also be helpful. The LASD School Board put anti-idling on the Oct 28th agenda and NACK was there to present a solution to make it easy for the district to implement a mini-campaign. They provided the district a sign design, sample newsletters along with letters to parents. The School Board directed the Superintendent to pursue implementation of their plan. The City already has a supply of signs from an initial installation last year and GreenTown is offering to pay for additional signs as well as the signs for the LASD. NACK was well received by both the School Board and City Council. In fact, the audience members at the City Council and School Board meetings applauded them upon completion of their talk.

~by Gary Hedden Bruce Nilles lives in Oakland and he listens to the teenagers who tell us we don’t have 30 years to solve the climate change crisis. Then he looks around and he realizes that his biggest greenhouse gas contribution comes from his own house! Bruce Nilles speaking about the electrification of homes It’s his appliances, his furnace, and his hot water heater. But the good news is he realizes he can fix all of that, and we don’t need the federal or state government to do it for us. We can do it ourselves locally and the technology does not have to be invented. All-electric is the answer and the sooner the better. Bruce is the Director of Building Electrification with the Rocky Mountain Institute, so he knows something about making the switch from gas to all-electric, but we aren’t making the switch fast enough. At the recent Electrification Expo in Palo Alto, he told us we are adding new gas customers every day, every hour. We are going in the wrong direction. Natural gas is 90% methane, a potent GHG, and half of the ‘use’ is from leaks. Leaks at the wellhead, leaks in the lines and leaks in the homes where we live. That is bad enough but there are health risks from burning it. The stove in your kitchen produces NOx when gas burns and the levels in homes have been measured at 400 ppb. That sounds small but the EPA recommends that it not exceed 100 ppb. That matters to our children. The asthma levels for children in homes with natural gas vs. children in all-electric homes is 42% higher. Bruce Nilles with a map showing patterns of fuel use in the US Your gas oven and gas cooktop are bad for the planet and bad for us. Some cities like Berkeley, San Jose, Menlo Park are banning new hookups with natural gas. They are practicing local control. My final point is that the ban should be a complete ban. A hybrid model that allows some use of natural gas slows down the switch. Once our code requires all-electric for new construction, architects, designers, builders, and city staff will adapt, make it work and the change will become easier. Many parts of the country are already largely all-electric, so we know it can be done. Retrofits will be difficult and expensive, but we can and should start making the switch with new construction.

by Gary Hedden GreenTown had a great September bike ride to see the sights of Historic Los Altos. Bike group at the museum There were a couple of firsts this year – a pedicab with three happy riders and a young lad happily riding a scooter, not a bike! Three happy pedicab riders We had several homeowners come out and give us tours of their properties. We saw the Magic Murals Home up close and personal, trains at the Bleibler House, chickens and bees at the Dracena Lane Cottage and a beautifully restored carriage house at the Denny House. It was a very personal experience to see the homes and hear the stories first hand from the owners’ perspective. Looking at the Magic Murals Looking for bees We’ll be back next year – and we might just add a few more things.

Los Altos Has Been Busy Roundup, a widely used glyphosate herbicide. Source: Flickr Several communities in our area have, or are considering, banning harmful herbicides and pesticides. Here in Los Altos, the Los Altos Parks and Recreation Commission, at its August meeting, recommended a ban in city parks on all synthetic herbicides (including glyphosate-containing Roundup) and pesticides in a vote of 6-1. The Environmental Commission was then asked by the Parks Commission to weigh in on expanding the proposed ban Citywide. A ban on herbicides like Roundup may result in negative aesthetic impacts — such as a few more weeds and landscape maintenance costs are likely to increase somewhat since alternatives, like pulling weeds by hand, tend to be more labor intensive. Still, a few more weeds never hurt anyone and we can’t say the same for glyphosate! LASD is Out Ahead Thank you LASD! Sign sighted at a school campus. Source: Jill Woodford. This year, based on the experience of several communities in Colorado and Southern California, Los Altos School District (LASD) converted to using a steam contraption to keep the weeds at bay. So far so good. A few more weeds perhaps, but signage helps alert the neighbors that there has been a change. The district’s maintenance staff has even demonstrated their steam machine to City staff. Let Your Opinion Be Heard If you’re concerned about the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides in Los Altos, let the Environmental Commission and City Council know what you think.  Contact Callie Niday (cniday@losaltosca.gov), staff liaison to the Environmental Commission. Let City Council know by emailing council@losaltosca.gov and send a note of gratitude to the Parks and Recreation Commission, via their staff liaison, Donna Legge (dlegge@losaltosca.gov). And as always, email us at info@GreenTownLosAtos.org if you have any questions. Sample Letter Los Altos resident and GreenTown volunteer, Jill Woodford, had concerns and here’s what she said (note this has been modified slightly for length): Hello Ms. Niday, Los Altos City Council, and the Environmental Commission – I am writing to urge the City Council to pass an ordinance banning glyphosate-containing herbicides from use in all Los Altos City Parks and public spaces. It is clear from mounting evidence that it is harmful to people and animals. The chemical should only be allowed in special circumstances where several other less toxic methods have been tried, and have failed. The specifics of the policy would be outlined in a detailed pest management policy to remove any ambiguity. San Francisco only allows glyphosate-containing products to be used in special circumstances as it one of only a few chemicals categorized as “most limited” due to health concerns. The City has “[d]ecreased the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, within the City by 96% since 2010″. You will find other inspiring facts about their pest management policy here. Berkeley has banned harmful chemical herbicides and pesticides indicating that “The use of chemicals shall be considered as a last resort…Except for the control of a pest which threatens the public health or where hazard and exposure to people, wildlife or the environment is expected to be minimal, any pesticide determined to have evidence of causation of cancer, birth defects, mutations, or other severe chronic health effects is banned from use.” As a resident, parent, and pet owner, I urge you to take a precautionary stance on this issue. Thank you! Jill Woodford

GreenTown’s 45 Volunteers Helped! GreenTown volunteers sorting through collected waste at the Sept. 21 National Coastal Cleanup Day. Source: Linda Ziff As part of National Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 21, GreenTown Los Altos organized about 45 volunteers to clean Permanente Creek at Heritage Oaks Park in Los Altos. The event began as cub scouts, girl scouts, teens and adults gathered around the Enviroscape watershed model to learn about sources of water pollution. With eyes wide and hands waving to volunteer, children added pollution to our model. Drops of oil (soy sauce) were placed behind the cars and motor boats. Poop (chocolate sprinkles) was placed next to pets. The lawns got a dose of colored sprinkles, representing pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers. And then the rain came. Armed with spray bottles of water, the kids made a downpour.  We observed how pollution enters and pollutes the waterways. Poor fish and turtle! Next, everyone donned gloves, grabbed bags, buckets and trash grabbers. We scoured the creek banks for trash.  (We were surprised that there was water in the creek bed, so we kept to the banks.) Some volunteers found a half-buried tire, along with 2 shovels and a rake, which they put to use digging out the tire. It weighed 10 pounds! Everyone brought their finds back to a sorting area where we sorted and weighed each category. We collected over 12 pounds of waste (landfill) and 1 pound of compost. For recycling, we had 4 pounds of  plastic, almost 3 pounds of metal, more than 9 pounds of glass and a pound of paper.  Our more unusual items were the tire, garden tools and a dead skunk in a plastic bag. (Ewwwww!) In Santa Clara County, cleanups are coordinated by Valley Water in September, in conjunction with National Coastal Cleanup Day, and in May, in conjunction with National River Cleanup Day. Since 2011, when GreenTown Los Altos adopted this section of Permanente Creek, we have conducted biannual cleanups. Preliminary reports from Valley Water noted a record-breaking 1946 volunteers cleaning 51.7 miles of waterways throughout the county on Sat. They collected 51, 260 pounds of trash, which includes 4,403 pounds of recyclables. (updated results appear on cleanacreek.org). In addition to educating about and preventing water pollution, one of GreenTown’s goals with creek cleanup is to encourage children to enjoy natural environments. They may play in the park, but usually don’t get near the creek or into the natural landscape. Yesterday, I was delighted to have one little girl tell me, “I had a dream that I fell asleep in a tree.” I asked her how she felt about that, and she responded, “I was soooooo happy!” As I was putting the Enviroscape away, another young person asked “Are we going to do that again?” I told her I was putting it away and asked, “Did you like it?”  She responded,  “I LOVED it!!!” Mission accomplished. We’re looking for a volunteer to spearhead our next creek cleanup in May. Email us at info@GreenTownLosAltos.org if you’re interested!

~by Margie Suozzo September 16 marked the one-day only showing of Game Changers, a documentary about the “bill of goods” we’ve been sold by the meat and dairy industry about the nutritional benefits of an omnivore diet for athletic performance. I was there and I can tell you, the movie’s producers, including luminaries such as James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jackie Chan, make a convincing case that it is simply not true. The benefits of a plant-based diet on our gut microbiome and vascular system far outweigh that of a meat and dairy focused diet. And all evidence points to the fact that we, as humans, were designed to eat plants. The film follows James Wilks, a combat instructor for the US military and former UFC fighter, who endured a bad injury and set out to research the optimal diet for recovery. This investigation led him on a journey of discovery that a plant-based diet was not only the best medicine to support his recovery, but also the diet of many uber athletes, ranging from the Roman gladiators, a woman’s running champion and a champion track cyclist to the strongest man in the world. I’ve been a “flexible” vegan for more than a year now and came away with a clearer sense of the nutritional benefits of a plant-based diet. The movie is now availableto pre-order on i-tunes. It’s anticipated to hit the digital world on 10/1. Don’t miss it!

~by Gary Hedden Sea level rise has already started and the “likely” projection is 10 inches by 2050. Two speakers addressed this challenge Sept. 16 at the Los Altos Library. The first, Violet Saena, grew up on Samoa and knows first hand the impact on small island nations like Samoa and Kiribati. Samoa has mountains, but the atolls of Kiribati are flat coral reef islands. Ten inches is a lot to them. Just in case, they bought 5000 acres in Fiji, but they really don’t want to move. They are proud of their land and their culture. Violet now manages Acterra’s Resilient Communities Program in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park. The effort is called adaptation and the goal is to move beyond research and pilots to doing something. That includes big projects like dikes to hold back the water and small projects like cooling centers to protect people without air conditioning when we have periods of extreme heat. The second speaker, Dr. Anna Michalak, is a Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University. She gave us a quick lesson on the science of climate change, and it’s real folks. We have had CO2 levels between 180-280 ppm for the past 800,000 years. Now it is over 400 and the planet is warming up. One interesting fact, sea-level rise isn’t just from melting glaciers. That accounts for 52% of it. Another 38% comes simply from the warmer oceans expanding in volume. Sea level rise is ominous of course, but the biggest damage comes from extreme weather events – cyclones and hurricanes. She told us about the things we can and should be doing to move away from burning fossil fuels, but the pace isn’t fast enough. Executive director Kris Jensen, speaker Violet Saena, and Dr. Anna Michalak Speaker Violet Saena Dr. Anna Michalak