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Researched and compiled by Champion Organic Communications, © 2012. Here are some tips for making your holidays just a little greener: Newspaper wrapping from simplemom.net Use creative “eco-wrap.” Use comics, old maps, sheet music, fabric/wallpaper scraps. Visit local recycler, FabMo, 2423 Old Middlefield Way in Mountain View for high quality designer materials. Use tins and pretty empty food boxes for gift containers. Reuse wrapping paper, or use recycled brown wrapping paper with a sprig of green for a natural look. Last-year’s holiday cards make great tags! Don’t wrap oversized gifts. Hide them and give clues. Make gift-giving into a treasure hunt. Avoid, reuse or recycle foam peanuts. For alternative packaging materials, try shredded paper, popcorn or candy canes. If you end up with foam packaging materials, reuse them, donate them to your local UPS store or recycle them at the Postal Annex Service Center 2310 Homestead Rd in South Los Altos. Give the gift of time or talent. Take someone to a play, concert or movie. Make your own gift certificates. Offer your talents like photography or financial planning. Give your favorite recipe and include ingredients. Help your friends go green. Give planet-conscious gifts like compost bins, can crushers, water timers, programmable thermostats, rain barrels, light timers or bird feeders. Be smart with your holiday lighting. Buy outdoor light strands that are wired in parallel – if one bulb goes bad, the others still work, so you won’t be throwing away entire strands. Or better yet, switch to energy-saving LEDs. Japanese fabric wrapping, “furoshiki,” from thenewecologist.com Keep it simple. One thoughtful gift is better than six wrapped packages of unwanted gifts. Plan “previously-loved” or homemade gift exchanges. Books, a restored piece of furniture or a rebuilt bike can be cherished for many years and by many people. And homemade body care or food items such as jams, cookies and dried fruits are always a welcome gift at the holidays. Stuff stockings with sentiment. Have family members write a note to every other person, saying one thing they really love about that person. Opt out of unwanted mail. Eliminate unwanted junk and catalog mail at www.catalogchoice.org. Compost your leftover food. It’s easy and makes for a great fertilizer! Invest in communities and the environment. For as little as $10 you can invest in a “micro” loan at www.globalgiving.org or www.kiva.org. Consider charitable gift giving to make a difference at www.heifer.org. or purchase a gift at http://www.ethicalocean.com. And donate to local charities and nonprofits ­– may we suggest GreenTown Los Altos? Our sincere thanks to GreenTown volunteers for our 2012 Eco-Wrapping Extravaganza for their time and donations and to our partners, Los Altos Forward, Passerelle Investments, and Thai Silks (silk donations). Have a blessed holiday season!

Last Sunday, December 2, GreenTown Los Altos held its twice yearly RECYCLE Bike Drive.  With the help of a dedicated group of volunteers, more than 50 gently used bikes were donated, cleaned and repaired at Egan and Blach Junior High Schools.  All donated bikes will bring holiday cheer to those less fortunate in our community.  Thanks to GreenTown’s donors, volunteers and co-sponsors, ACTERRA, Chain Reaction Bicycle, Silicon Valley Bike Coalition and Good Karma Bikes, there will be many BIG smiles on the faces of those receiving a donated bike this holiday season. Kathleen Santora, GreenTown ReCYCLE Bike Drive Chair #Environment #ChainReactionBicycle #GreenTownLosAltos #GoodKarmaBikes #recycle #Siliconvalleybikecoalition #volunteer #bike #Acterra #volunteers

Margie Suozzo, GreenTown Los Altos co-founder and outgoing Leadership Chair was a recipient of a Los Altos / Los Altos Hills Community Volunteer Service Award on Friday, December 7, 2012, along with several other deserving community members. Below is the introduction about Margie, prepared and delivered by Acterra Board Member and GreenTown Los Altos volunteer, Laura Teksler. Congratulations, Margie, on this well-deserved award. We appreciate all you do! Margie Suozzo is the kind of woman that makes me feel inadequate. I volunteer at my kids’ school, serve on a nonprofit Board and generally try to give back to my community. But Margie does all that times ten with grace and style. In 2007 she co-founded GreenTown Los Altos and, since then, has been heavily involved in both the leadership and programs for the non-profit. To top that, for the past eighteen months she has volunteered as chair of the Leadership Team, fulfilling duties that had previously been done by a paid Executive Director. During that time she has still stayed active in the programs, for example contributing substantially to the educational outreach component of the Shaped by Water exhibition at the Los Altos History Museum. Even tonight you will find her at First Friday downtown wrapping holiday gifts with sustainable wrapping. But that’s not all. She is also a very active volunteer at Gardner Bullis School. She serves as a docent for the Living Classroom, a program which she incidentally also serves on the Board of Directors for. She has spent several years as a Brownie and Junior Girls Scout Troop leader, fostering an ethic of giving back by having her troop make and donate blankets to children in need. Of course she also serves on the school’s Bike to School Committee and has been active in Los Altos Hills’ work on a bike path to serve the school. Most amazing to me is she does all this while raising three children and still always has a radiant smile on her face. She combines a rare ability to keep the big picture in mind while attending to the details and making those around her feel inspired and appreciated. Everyone I contacted in putting together this nomination said how well deserving Margie is. So on behalf of all those people you have touched, Margie, congratulation on this recognition! #CommunityVolunteerServiceAwards2012 #LauraTekslar #GreenTownLosAltos #LosAltos #LosAltosHills #MargieSuozzo #Acterra

Passerelle Investment Company has been awarded an official Bicycle-Friendly Business by the League of American Bicyclists!  The full League press release is here.  Passerelle are very excited about this award, and are eager to continue helping make Los Altos a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly community!   You can find out more about Passerelle on their website. #Bicyclefriendly #bike #Passerelle

Ever wonder what to do with that still-working-but-no-longer-being-used bike? Here’s a chance to “do good” with those wheels. On December 2, donate your gently used bikes to GreenTown for distribution to local families in need. The reCYCLE Bike Drive will be held from 10am-1pm at Egan and Blach Junior High Schools. The bike drive began in 1997, while Los Altos Hills resident, Kathleen Santora was working with the Community Outreach Program at St. Nicholas School, which her son attended at the time. During the holidays, the program collected and distributed presents for families in need. Noting that many requested bikes, the bike drive was “spun out”, starting a tradition of organizing used bike drives for the needy. Over more than a decade, Santora estimates that the bike drives she organized collected and distributed 600 bikes for community families. To bring the bike drive to the broader community, Santora approached GreenTown Los Altos with a proposal to chair a pilot bike drive last spring. Despite the rain, the event, which was held at Santa Rita last March, brought in 30 bikes of which 9 were distributed to local families. The remainder were delivered to community services agencies. This is the first year that Santora is chairing a holiday bike drive for GreenTown, carrying on the tradition she started at St. Nicholas 15 years ago. Bike Enthusiasts Drive the Event The drive is being organized by a team of bike enthusiasts at GreenTown.  GreenTown’s team is passionate about fostering a shift to more bicycling in our community and hopes to collect and distribute 100 bikes this year. With your help, we want to bring a smile to those who receive our recycled bikes this holiday season. “GreenTown volunteers’ passion about bikes and recycling as means of helping our environment is married to a well-established program to deliver bikes to the needy,” says Santora. “The program dovetails nicely with GreenTown’s goals to use resources wisely, encourage environmentally healthy forms of transportation, reduce car-related pollution and congestion, and build community.” And we all benefit from helping those in need. The GreenTown team’s goal is to get all those gently used bikes collecting dust in our garages into the hands of those in need. Interested in helping out? Bring your “gently used” bikes, Sun. Dec. 2, 10AM-1PM to either Egan or Blach Junior HIgh Schools. Or volunteer that day, washing bikes, filling tires, and repairing bikes. This event is being co-sponsored by Acterra: Action for a Sustainable Earth, Good Karma Bikes and Silicon Valley Bike Exchange.

Some things to think about before choosing a means of transportation for getting to school: 90% of the traffic at a school is from parents dropping off students.  If more students were walking or biking to school rather than being driven, traffic around schools would dramatically drop and make it safer. Studies show students with a half hour of exercise before school are more attentive during school and are able to focus better than students who do not.  If a child has to be driven, perhaps finding a place to be dropped off and walking a few blocks would be better than being dropped off at the front of school (less traffic around too!) The US Dept. of Health recommends children have 60 minutes of exercise a day.  A good portion of that amount can likely be covered when a child walks or bikes to school and back home. Students who have been walking or biking to school from grade K-10 are better drivers when they get their automobile license than those who have not.  The walking/biking students have been learning the ways of the road for many years and understand street patterns when they finally learn to drive. Middle school students start becoming more independent from their parents and want more social time with their peers.  Walking/Biking in groups to and from school helps foster their emotional development. Teaching children safe ways to travel on their own in our neighborhood lasts a life time.  Driving them only lasts a trip. #walkorbiketoschool

By Gary Hedden, Volunteer – GreenTown Los Altos I stepped into Moscone Center in mid November and was overwhelmed.  The exhibit hall seemed to go on forever!  So many people, so many booths – really, it was all too much. GreenBuild sign at Moscone north And then it struck me – they are all interested in our sustainable future. That is so cool. The GreenBuild Show covered everything from building design to product life cycle analysis to energy management tools to the latest and greatest earth friendly materials.  Materials like recycled containers, forest sustainable wood products, glass with a reflective film that birds can see and we can’t, pre-fab net zero homes and efficient toilets.  Lots of toilets. Here are a few of the stops, with links, that caught my eye – out of at least a thousand. Building Design: MBDC – Cradle to Cradle Consulting.  “Practice humility in the face of nature.”  mbdc.com How intelligent is your building?  QAS has software to provide the answer.  qualityattributes.com Quantis.  “…quickly compare your design to a reference building.”  quantis-intl.com UC Berkeley, Center for the Built Environment – “We have developed new tools and methods to measure the performance of buildings…”  cbe.berkeley.edu Energy Management Tools: Checking out toilets Sustainability Dashboards – track your energy use.  green2sustainable.com Modlet.  A simple plug-in wireless control to manage plug loads.  thinkeco.com HVAC controls.  millennialnet.com Integrated facility solutions.  abm.com Sustainably Built Homes: Healthy Buildings Tech Group – located in Napa.  hbtg.com Pre-fab homes.  unityhomes.com Products: Bird protective glass.  ornilux.com Sustainable wood products.  richlite.com Green roofs.  cetco.com Rainwater tanks.  rainharvest.com Efficient toilets.  totousa.com Charge Pro, commercial charger, 30A, 7.2kW@240VAC. semaconnect.com Reference materials: Sustainability Dashboards EDC – “the official magazine for the LEED professional.”  edcmag.com Island Press.  A source for many relevant books, get a 20% discount w/ promotion code 5GBC.  islandpress.org Continuing Education: Pacific Energy Center.  Many free classes, typically one day, offered by PG&E.  pge.com/pec Sustainable Building Advisor Program.  sbaprogram.com Leadership advocacy tools.  emergeleadership.net It was quite a show.  Very inspiring. #buildingdesign #energymanagement #GreenBuildSF #MosconeCenter

Our next GreenTown monthly meeting will be held on December 6, 2012, 7-9pm at Hillview Community Center, 97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos. Source: Mercury News, 9/29/2012 Gary Latshaw, retired physicist and Chair of Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter’s Air Quality Committee shares his insights on toxic air emissions from the Lehigh Southwest Cement Permanente Plant in Cupertino. Gary has been actively involved in defining the Chapter’s position on the expansion of Lehigh Cement’s quarrying operation, pointing out the risks associated with toxic emissions such as mercury, chromium VI and water pollution. Come to the monthly meeting to learn more about Lehigh and it’s impacts on our air and water quality. Want more? See this September 2012 article in the San Jose Mercury News.

Call for Materials Attention ALL of you crafters, scrapbookers, seamstresses, teachers, scout leaders and others who gather materials for noble reasons like recycling, re-purposing and saving $$ while saving the planet.  Let us know if you can contribute any of the following materials for GreenTown’s Eco Wrap-a-Rama! green gift wrapping service (wrapping with reusable, recyclable and compostable materials). What: Eco Wrap-a-Rama! Green gift wrapping service When: Friday, December 7, 6-8pm Where: First Friday headquarters, 359 State Street, Los Altos Photo credit: www.corinnavangerwen.com Please drop off any of the following materials at the next GreenTown meeting, December 6, 7-9pm at Hillview Community Center, Room #17 or by prior arrangement with Barb O’Reilly via waste@GreenTownLosAltos.org. Fabric (purchase or get donated) Scarves, napkins, table runners, fabric remnants, furoshiki, in holiday colors (red and green for Christmas, royal blue and white for Hannukah, plus silver/gold for trim) Notions Raffia, ribbons and bows (no plastic please), rick rack, lace, yarn, buttons, cording, string, twine, feathers Containers Cookie or other tins, metal boxes, cardboard boxes, e.g., shoeboxes or interesting sizes and shapes, ready to wrap, decorative jars, bottles Papers and Old Holiday Cards Brown kraft paper (purchase or get donated), white paper, tissue paper, newspaper (no disaster headlines, please) maps of all kinds, (some are so beautiful you can’t toss them out), shopping bags with nice handles (we can creatively cover store logos), old holiday cards (to decorate packages or be cut up for gift tags), tubes – toilet paper, paper towels & up to poster size. Misc. Items to Decorate Packages Small ornaments, computer discs, corks, decorative jars, bottles, etc. for gift recipes. Natural Items Pine cones, Nandia, Holly, or Pyracantha berries, redwood or cedar boughs, herbs (rosemary, mexican sage, bouqui garni), lemons, limes, pomegranites, persimmons. Packing Fillers (to replace expanded polystyrene peanuts) Used wrapping paper, shredded; unsalted peanuts in their shells; air-popped popcorn; pine boughs.

by Mike Barnes Margie Suozzo, Mike McTighe and Mike Barnes, members of the GreenTown Los Altos leadership team, were pleased to present a check to the officers of the Los Altos High School Green Team this week  in support of their effort to continue use of compostable trays as replacements for expanded polystyrene foam trays in the school cafeteria. Los Altos High School Green Team officers receiving their check This partnership started with a trial period in April, 2011, spearheaded by the Green Team to eliminate the use of foam trays in the cafeteria.  Expanded polystyrene food containers are known to be a major contributor to contamination in our waterways and Bay, so GreenTown Los Altos stepped in to defray the cost difference between foam trays and compostable trays. This partnership developed at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.  With donation support from GreenTown Los Altos,  the Green Team eliminated foam trays from the LAHS cafeteria for the school year.  This latest donation supports the continuation of compostable trays at LAHS cafeteria through the 2012-2013 school year. GreenTown Los Altos commends the Los Altos High School Green Team and their advisor, Sybil Cramer, for their continued efforts to drive sustainability issues on campus. #compostabletray #GreenTownLosAltos #waterwaycontamination

GreenTown asked Los Altos City Council candidates their thoughts on the following four questions related to sustainability. Candidates were asked to respond to each question in 100 words or less. You can find their responses below: What do you consider the greatest environmental challenges facing our community? What will you do to promote sustainability in our community? Describe your vision for a more sustainable downtown. What specific improvements would you support to encourage and enable more residents to walk and bicycle for more trips? The GreenTown team thanks the candidates for their time and commitment to public service. 1. What do you consider the greatest environmental challenges facing our community? Jon Baer Reduction in water usage, reduction in car travel, good ways to increase bicycle and pedestrian safety, access, reduced energy consumption via renewables (domestic hot water, solar photovoltaic for both residential and commercial buildings). Jeannie Bruins The effects of climate change are challenging all communities.  We need to strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiencies, increase landfill diversion, reduce vehicle trips, and improved air and water quality.  We must do this in a way that encourages people to do the right thing so as to provide long-term economic, social and environmental prosperity. Anabel Pelham The greatest environmental challenge for us all is climate change. This is serious business and I have personally seen some of the early impacts in my international travels. More locally, are the related issues of:  air and water pollution, landfill overuse, fossil fuel over use and urban and suburban sprawl. For example, many residents have expressed distress about poor water quality and a lack of public parks and green spaces or “parklets” downtown. I want to work on all of these issues as part of a larger sustainability plan. Jan Pepper First is the high reliance on cars for transportation, even for short trips. Getting people to bike or walk for short trips is a challenge we can meet. We can facilitate this through better and safer bicycle routes throughout town.  Second is decreasing our energy use, through increased energy efficiency and utilization of renewable energy, such as rooftop solar systems. If people know they can save both energy and money, we can get more people interested. Third is reducing water use. As 50% of water use in Los Altos is for outdoor irrigation, we can make a big impact here. Megan Satterlee The greatest environmental challenge facing the state is water.  We are fortunate that Los Altos is already conserving and is ahead of target for a 20% reduction in water use.  For Los Altos, I think the greatest challenge is building a culture that values the environment and makes choices to reduce-reuse-recycle.  Our new garbage contract gave us some additional tools, but we still need to maximize their use.  We also need to continue to find ways to enable more children to walk and bike to school and provide information on the numerous options and solutions. Jerry Sorensen a. Conserve fuel and reduce CO2 emissions by increasing effective intersection capacity. Install an Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) for our signalized intersections. This would network these intersections saving CO2 emissions and reduce fuel consumption by more than 1 million gallons per year. b.   Reduce sprawl.  Using Charette planning techniques develop a community based visioning for our downtown including the Civic Center.  It would be designed to build a consensus that is likely to increase densities and vibrancy downtown.  Together with properly managed parking, form-based codes and Original Green concepts, downtown will return to the vibrant center that it was in the 60’s, reducing emissions and fuel consumption as well. 2. What will you do to promote sustainability in our community? Be specific on what you will push for. Jon Baer More and better pedestrian and bicycle safety and access-initially with school, downtown. Look at requiring more green efficiency in new construction and major remodel (menu of options, reduced water, solar domestic hot water for residential, range of options for commercial properties-solar pv, etc.) Jeannie Bruins Re-evaluate the Planning and Transportation Commission organization Empower and leverage the expertise and passions of our Commissioners– Environmental, Pedestrian & Bicycle, etc. Advance the development of a Climate Action Plan and integrate into our planning documents and practices Implement code/ordinance changes to encourage energy efficient, sustainable developments (all phases–deconstruction, construction, operational) Work collaboratively with experts and organizations such as GreenTown (what we were able to achieve with our garbage contract is a testament to power of collaboration) Vehicle trip reduction – support pilot projects, examine bicycle parking solutions in business districts Awareness and education Anabel Pelham I intend to promote best practices recommendations of 8-80 Cities, Age-Friendly-Cities, New Urbanism, Grand Boulevards Initiative, and Project for Public Places. This means priority given to pedestrians, bicycles, public transport and automobiles in that order. I mean this! I have worked in this area for years and the evidence is clear. I intend to push for a sustainability plan that holds up every development (including infrastructure) against these stated priorities. For example, residents have expressed wishes for continued green building standards, pedestrian malls, quality bike racks and sidewalk repairs and upgrades in neighborhoods. Jan Pepper Engage the enthusiasm and expertise within GreenTown and the Environmental Commission to help develop and implement strategies to meet the city’s environmental goals. Increase bicycling throughout Los Altos by 1) implementing the bicycle transportation plan, 2) adding more conveniently located bike racks in all commercial areas, 3) continuing work on safe routes to school. Tighten the Build It Green requirements for new and remodel residential and commercial construction. Adopt a construction and demolition waste management ordinance. Implement the Single-use Carryout Plastic Bag Ordinance. Complete and implement the Climate Action Plan. Megan Satterlee As a planning commissioner, I recommended the Green Point Rate It system for residential buildings, 15% greater energy efficiency requirements on commercial buildings and LEED certification for City buildings as well an expansion of the City’s tree protection ordinance.  As a Councilmember, I have advocated for an Environmental Element to the General Plan and supported numerous pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements, a garbage contract which has increased our diversion rate to 71% ahead of schedule and more recently a reexamination of our green building ordinances to see if more could be done as well as completing the Climate Action Plan. Jerry Sorensen I will push for the downtown visioning process, and would like to also push it for our other commercial districts. Each of these is an opportunity to create much more environmentally friendly spaces and places. I will scrap the existing civic center plan that focuses on government offices sprawl and parking rather than the community facilities and park spaces. I will push for a conversion to natural gas for our city vehicle fleet. I will push hard for an ITMS system as it has the opportunity to have the greatest environmental impact immediately. A downtown based on great streets, would significantly contribute to the environment using Original Green concepts. Cities are walkable, have significant green space, and parking is public and shared rather than private. 3. Describe your vision for a more sustainable downtown, e.g., would you support mixed-use development, buildings taller than 2-stories, more green space, etc.? Jon Baer I have been part of the task force that recommended increased height limits on the perimeter of downtown, while maintaining lower height limits in the core. I favor mixed use projects and supported zoning changes that made that possible on the perimeter of downtown. I do not favor changes in the downtown core of State and Main Streets that would endanger the pedestrian friendly village feel in those areas. I do support increased green spaces throughout town where feasible as well as innovative ideas such as parklets as we secure more parking for both cars and bicycles. Jeannie Bruins My vision for a more sustainable downtown begins with a “sense of place” that identifies us as an engaged community.  It has an attractive and efficient land use pattern that meets a myriad of needs that modern life generates. Mixed-use developments are encouraged because they offer efficient land uses and can help turn retail and restaurant areas into attractive, vibrant spaces where pedestrian traffic and sidewalk activities can safely flourish.  Green, landscaped space invites you into the downtown and encourages you to stay; spaces that enable community building. Circulation patterns are such that the pedestrian and cyclist feel safe and welcomed.  Bike “parking” is abundant (not just a rack here and there) and walkways are wide and family friendly (baby buggy to wheelchair).  Greater than 2-story buildings are considered when and where they support our vision, goals, objectives and provide substantiated benefit. Anabel Pelham Absolutely! I support mixed-use development, taller and green building design as per the width of the street; and even taller buildings in the Civic Center in particular. I strongly support bike paths, improved sidewalks, bike racks, better street lighting, a shuttle bus and underground parking. I strongly endorse people-friendly city design. Please see my work on Age-Friendly Cities. I am promoting these values and have been for many years. I come at this from the perspective of a social scientist, but the values are the same and the outcomes will be the same and better. Jan Pepper Los Altos can become a leader in environmental sustainability, starting with the Packard Foundation’s net-zero energy building. Downtown we need to add EV charging stations, a plentiful number of bike racks, more recycling and composting, and continue to experiment with pedestrian malls, and parklets as was done on Park(ing) day last month. We already have buildings taller than 2-stories downtown. With active community input, I would support a limited number of tastefully-done 3-story mixed-use buildings, that are designed to reduce bulk, preserve daylight, and are aesthetically compatible with adjacent properties which include public spaces/mini-parks or underground parking. Megan Satterlee My vision is a downtown that serves our residents.  This includes having a grocery store(s), a farmer’s market and retail and restaurant choices we want.  I voted for zoning changes that would increase the opportunity for additional residences or office space.  I support mixed-use development and maintaining a tree canopy and open space. Jerry Sorensen A Great Streets vision for Downtown. Buildings based on form-based codes that relate to the width of the streets. We need to increase our parking capacity, but make that capacity primarily shared public spaces rather than private spaces. We can make our parking plazas far more efficient in terms of their lay-out. We can add up to 300 stalls in the existing system without shrinking the size of the stalls. Currently, we have four drive aisles when we only need three. This would allow us to convert portions of the central plaza system into areas that currently are parking into parks or parklettes, with bike racks. 4. What specific improvements would you support to encourage and enable more residents to walk and bicycle for more trips? Jon Baer All the above plus identification and marking of good/safe routing for people to walk/bike around town. In the short term I think there continues to be huge value in increasing walking and bike usage at our schools. Jeannie Bruins If you want residents to change their behavior in ways to reduce car trips, then you must engage them.  Residents need to have a voice in defining the goals and improvements that affect them.  That said, I would encourage a neighborhood-focused pilot that would allow the residents to explore what it would take for them to walk and/or bike to their neighborhood school, park, and business district (grocery, coffee, ice cream, etc.).  Identify barriers, potential solutions and actions plans.   Focus on short trips, that encourage the next generation, then expand by connecting the web of neighborhood solutions. Anabel Pelham Specifically, best practices recommend safe street crossings, including roundabouts, below grade street crossings, upkeep of sidewalks and street lighting. In addition, protected bike paths and bike racks that can be public art like the arcs. Lets experiment with closing streets and creating pedestrian malls (like during Farmer’s Market).  I love the idea of a park behind Peets Coffee. Lets buy permanent bike valet equipment for events too! It is an intention in policy and planning, an attitude and willingness to make changes and promote walking and biking. I want Los Altos to become a leader and hub for cycling culture. Jan Pepper We need to make it safe to walk and bike in Los Altos: – Adopt and implement the Bicycle Transportation and Pedestrian Master Plans. – Continue to apply for Safe Route to Schools grants to encourage walking and biking to school. – Install many more bike racks in all of our commercial areas. – Continue to fund bicycle safety education. – Explore bike boulevards and “blue bike lanes” to encourage safe cycling from one end of Los Altos to the other. – Create more destinations, public spaces, and experiment with pedestrian malls to encourage walking around the entire downtown area. Megan Satterlee Focusing on safe routes to schools and routes to destinations such as parks, libraries and commercial areas, we can add additional bike and pedestrian features while still keeping our semi-rural character.  We also need to look at adding bike parking at all destinations. Jerry Sorensen Candidate Anabel Pelham, did some great work to identify problems with our downtown. These covered everything from changing the direction of drain grates, to lighting, fixing damaged or uneven pavement, etc. we need to address all of these small issues to make downtown pedestrian and bicycle friendly. I would work to incorporate as many currently private parking stalls into public access stalls to facilitate a park-once strategy.

by Reyna Hulett and Margie Suozzo Girl Scout Gold Award Candidate Reyna Hulett surveys residents about bag use.by Reyna Hulett and Margie Suozzo On Tuesday, October 23, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will make a final determination on its Reusable Bag Ordinance. Los Altos is one of twenty-four cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara County considering adopting this ordinance. The ordinance would prohibit disposable plastic carry-out bags at all retail establishments and mandate a minimum charge of $0.10 for every recycled paper bag or reusable bag provided by the retailer at checkout. To understand reusable bag use in Los Altos, Girl Scout Reyna Hulett worked with GreenTown Los Altos on her Gold Award — the highest award in Girl Scouts — surveying shoppers in Los Altos about their single-use and reusable bag use. Reyna discovered that although more than 90% of shoppers surveyed at Los Altos stores own reusable bags, the percent of shoppers who brought them shopping, averaged a little over 20% and never exceeded 30%. With volunteers from her troop and school, Reyna stationed herself for 2-hour stints outside of Los Altos groceries (8 times), pharmacies (3 times) and downtown retail establishments (3 times) tallying paper, plastic, and reusable bag use. Reyna and her team also asked a random sample of customers additional questions about their bag use to better understand the barriers to bringing your own bag. What’s the big deal with single-use bags? Plastic bags, which account for 80% of bags used at grocery stores and pharmacies that offer them, (and most do, e.g., Safeway, Lucky, Walgreens, and others), don’t biodegrade. They stick around for millennia, littering streets and waterways, and leaching toxins, such as bisphenol A (BPA) and polystyrene oligomers, into the environment. These toxins interfere with hormone regulation in animals and human. Paper bags are preferred by more environmentally-conscious stores, such as Draeger’s and Whole Foods, and account for 75% of bags used at these locations because they are biodegradable and come from a renewable resource, i.e. trees.  But don’t give paper a free pass. The production and transportation of paper bags (particularly paper bags produced from virgin fiber) uses five times as much energy and releases ten times as much greenhouse gas emissions as those of plastic. In contrast to both plastic and paper bag use, reusable bags are durable and long-lasting, which means less litter, pollution, and waste. Why the gap between current bag use and the sustainable ideal? Several shoppers worried about reusable bags being unsanitary.  However, food that is not sold in a sealed container, such as some produce, ought to be washed before its eaten anyway, and if sanitation remains a concern, reusable bags can just be thrown in the wash. Many other shoppers indicated that, while they own reusable bags and know they ought to use them, they’re simply not in the habit; the bags get forgotten at home, in the trunk, or in their other car.  So Reyna worked with volunteers to create reminders – in the form of mini reusable bags and door hangers — for the car and home. Shoppers who were offered the reminders indicated that either the reminders or the interview itself would help them improve their habits in the future. Two final suggestions for cutting back on single-use bags: Reusable bags aren’t just for grocery stores! Take them to pharmacies, toy stores, department stores, and any other retailers. Alternately, just say no.  If you only have a few items, forgo the bag and hand-carry, as 20% of Los Altans are already doing. GreenTown Los Altos has Reyna’s reminders for your home and car as well as reusable bags to give away. You can email info@greentownlosaltos.org or pick them up at an upcoming GreenTown meeting: Wed., Nov. 7 and Thurs., Dec 6, at 7pm at Neutra House, 181 Hillview Ave.