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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.

If you haven’t been to the Sweet Shop on Los Altos Avenue, what are you waiting for? With its relaxing atmosphere for enjoying delectable sweet treats, coffee or lunch, its profits going to local schools and sustainable practices paying homage to our environment, it’s more than worth stopping by. Owners Stacy and Pete Sullivan established the Sweet Shop as a community-gathering place [Stacy also wanted to continue the tradition of a candy shop from when she was a child, the building housed a mini mart, she frequented for treats on the way home from school], but built it with a strong environmental ethic. Everything — from the building and landscape design to packaging and product sourcing — is done with an eye toward sustainability in key areas of building and landscaping; compostables; and local sourcing of ingredients. Building and Landscape Design Permeable concrete, parking area, absorbing rainwater from roof and paving, as well as oils from cars. This limits runoff onto the street and eventually into our creeks and the bay, minimizing silt and pollutants into the bay. All other storm water drainage is piped to drywells on the site, to reduce off-site runoff. Solar panels on the building’s roof generate much of the Sweet Shop’s electricity demand, reducing its environmental impact. Two operable skylights provide natural lighting and ventilation as much as much as possible. When built in 2007, fluorescent ambient lighting was used throughout the shop, according to Pete they are now moving towards LED lighting. Water is purified by Source One for all appliances, assuring customers the cleanest water possible in all products. Customer bathroom includes a Toto leading edge low-water EMAX flushing toilet, again conserving water. An electrical hand dryer eliminates paper waste. Wall and floor tiles are made of recycled materials and naturally renewable materials made primarily from silica sand, an abundant natural resource. Landscaped garden includes mostly drought resistant plants. The irrigation system is architected to save water with a combination of drip and low volume spray heads plus ground moisture sensors, applying water only when the soil is dry and plants need irrigation. The courtyard fountain provides the appearance of “natural pond” with sculptural frogs, birds and a hippopotamus to convey a message that nature is to be appreciated. The owners hope this sparks a subconscious interest from our younger generation to learn more about the more natural world. Glass candy jars ensure non toxicity to the raw candy. Jar lids are handmade locally. Compostable Packaging All disposable cups, plates, napkins, straws, candy bags and spoons are biodegradable and/or compostable made with potato, sugar or corn. Locally Sourced Ingredients Manager, Sandra Colunga, sources as many products as possible from local and organic sources. Sweet Shop coffee is roasted in Santa Cruz Most chocolates are from San Francisco Baked goods come from Los Gatos and San Mateo Milk and milk products are sourced from Petaluma in Sonoma County. In addition coffee grounds from the shop are offered free to customers, for use in their gardens or compost bins, as well as for acid loving plants in their courtyard garden. A trip to the Sweet Shop is an enjoyable family outing, where everyone gets a sweet deal.

by Gary Hedden Event Organizer Member of GreenTown Los Altos Leadership Team Led by GreenTown Los Altos, 75 bike riders of all ages joined in the inaugural Historic Bike Tour of Los Altos, Saturday, Sept. 29.  Held in honour of the city’s 60th Anniversary and co-sponsored by the city and the History Museum, the riders visited old farmhouses, historic mansions and modern new “history-in-the-making” structures like the Packard Foundation Building. (Click any of the photos below to see the larger image). Riders were split into three groups and led by Gary Hedden, Jim Thurber and Margie Suozzo.  The groups heard lots of good stories – how the Neutra House was saved from destruction, the tale of the missing Canary Island Palm at the Farnsworth Farm House and how Redwood Grove was saved from development by a single vote. One of the highlights of the tour was the visit to the Marini House and the chance to see the beautiful gardens that extend across Adobe Creek.  There were lots of stories about the early owners, wealthy bankers, railroad and oil executives, who lived in San Francisco and had summer property in Los Altos.  We still have important families, only the brands have changed.  Now it’s Adobe, Apple, Facebook and Google. The tour finished with lunch at the Bleibler House, a house built in 1913 by Herman Bleibler and still occupied by his grandson, Armond King.  Lunch was great with sandwiches from Le Boulanger, apples from De Martini, other treats from Andronico’s, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and even home baked cookies.  As if that wasn’t enough, there were also raffle prizes from two of the bike shops in town, Bicycle Outfitter and Chain Reaction. We heard from many of the riders – lots of positive feedback: Amy Franzblau:  “It was wonderful, we learned so much.” Mary Gospe:  “It was a history lesson on wheels.” Chris Keller:  “The kids loved it.  We’d definitely do it again and bring other families.” Lee Hartley:  “It’s the best family day we’ve had in a while.” Liz Chapman:  “It is cool that so many people are game to explore by bike.” Melissa Stafford:  “I liked the section where we just rode through a neighborhood for a mile or so.” Randy Rhody:  “I appreciated the large show of support for cycling in our city.” Jim Fenton:  “We discovered new places that we didn’t even know existed.” Richard Fohrenbach:  “Nicely organized, paced and sponsored.” Peg Champion summed it up well:  “A magnificent day to ride and learn some history – Happy Birthday, Los Altos!” GreenTown has no specific plans to host the trip next year, but with 21 people left on the waiting list, there appears to be plenty of interest. No matter what, the volunteers this year were great. Lots of GreenTown folks – Margie Suozzo (ride leader), Karen Janowski (registration and sweeper), John and Maddy McBirney (registration and lunch), Pat Hedden (registration and lunch), Linda Ziff (lunch), Barb and Kevin O’Reilly (lunch and raffle), Arnold and Suzanne Ambiel (bike valet), and Joel Bartlett (photographer).  Lots of other folks too – Marie and Dave Backs (registration and bike valet), Nancy and Ron Ellickson (registration, bike mechanic and lunch), Jim Thurber (ride leader), Willem deLange (sweeper), Chris Hlavka (sweeper), Laura Bajuk (lemonade), Peg Champion, Kathleen Santora, and Julie Rose (pick ups and deliveries) and most importantly Armond and Marjorie King (generous lunch site hosts).  How about those wonderful t-shirts – thanks to Maddy McBirney, Matt McDonald and Mike Barnes.  Finally, a big thank you to the historians who helped with the script – Don McDonald, Laura Bajuk, Lisa Robinson, and Stefanie Midlock. #bike #GreenTownLosAltos #LosAltos60th #LosAltosHistory

The amount of energy (and garbage) associated with the twice-yearly Permanente Creek clean up, never ceases to amaze our entire GreenTown team. And though it’s a messy job, it’s also incredibly rewarding to know you’re helping keep the Permanente Creek trash from heading out to the Bay. Our GreenTown creek cleanup is one of many throughout Santa Clara County. And with this haul, both the county and our local results are impressive. The GreenTown team of 15 energetic volunteers cleaned about 3/4 mile along Permanente between the Diversion Channel and St. Francis H.S. and sorted out: 108 pounds recycled/repurposed material 22 plastic bags Lots of styrofoam bits Smoking related items – 47 cigarette butts, mostly with plastic tubes attached; 8 cans chewing tobacco, 1 lighter 6 straws 35+ food wrappers. The team left 98 pounds of tiles, wood, scrap metal and trash to be picked up by Cal Water crews; scrap metal will be recycled. GreenTown volunteers took home 78 pounds of plastic (62 bottles), glass (22 bottles) and aluminum (21 cans) and other items with chasing arrows to recycle in their home bins, keeping them out of the landfill. Santa Clara County Cleanups Collectively, (no pun intended), according to Santa Clara Water District Volunteer Coordinator, Kate Slama, the county wide data speaks volumes: Number of Volunteers: 1,643 Distance Cleaned: 73.67 miles of creeks and shoreline Pounds of Trash: 35,423 Pounds of Recyclables: 9,388,  37.7% Unusual Items: life-size Santa Claus lawn decoration; old fashioned can opener, toy dinosaur, fireworks mortar launcher, crawdad trap, voodoo doll, skateboard, blonde wig, clean one dollar bills, propane tank, manikin head, 1962 dodge convertible, hibachi, TV tray, checkbook, dentures, sign on wheels, DVD player, bookcase, yoga mat, mini toilet, dog collar (without the dog), exercise ball, flag pole Proving Trash Can Be a Treasure According to Barbara O’Reilly, lead for the GreenTown volunteers, “We repurposed our biggest item by weight, which was a 30 pound bicycle, that will be part of an upcoming GreenTown November bike drive” (see photo), which shows one person’s garbage is another’s treasure. #CoastalCleanupDay #PermanenteCreekCleanup

If you haven’t had a chance to see the new net zero energy, LEED Platinum Packard Foundation Headquarters at 343 Second Street, now is the time! The foundation is offering tours of its facilities on Wednesday afternoons this Fall. Entrance of the Packard Foundation Building It is an incredible building and an inspiration for our community.  The building was designed as a net zero energy building — meaning it produces as much energy as it consumes – and if it performs as designed, it will be only one of three buildings in the country certified as net zero energy. HUGE! Check it out. Sign up for a Fall tour  here. To find out more about the Packard Foundation Headquarters, see GreenTown’s previous posts: LEED Platinum Packard Foundation Building: An Inspiration Packard Foundation Headquarters: Leading By Example #watersavings #Californianativeplants #LEED #droughttolerantplants #waterconservation #LEEDPlatinum

By Charley Pow, Volunteer – GreenTown Los Altos Like many areas of California, our annual rainfall of 15 inches doesn’t meet our water needs.   Half or more of our residential water is used for landscaping.  Addressing this need, the landscaping at the new LEED Platinum Packard building shows how to conserve water and reduce storm runoff through: drought-tolerant plants; a rooftop garden; and no lawns. Interior courtyard with trees, bunchgrass, and patio seating These landscaping features add to the many environmental features discussed in a June GreenTown post on the new Packard Foundation building. So what did the Packard Foundation plant?  Their landscaping relies on commonly-used California native shrubs, grasses, and trees. Shrubs like Carmel creeper ceanothus, ‘Louis Edmunds’ manzanita, douglas iris, Catalina perfume currant, and Cleveland sage. Grasses are mostly California fescue and sedge.  Trees include coast live oak and pacific dogwood . Western columbine, a favorite of Lucile Packard, by A. Hayter, Packard Foundation There’s even attention to detail in specific choices that have personal connections.  The western columbine, a California native, is one of Lucile Packard’s favorites, which explains why the columbine flower is on the visitor name tag. The two-story building encloses a courtyard that provides light and a pleasant place to sit.  Our tour guide said that every employee has a laptop, and they’re increasingly moving outside to work.  The grassy area is sedge, a native bunchgrass, with wood chip mulch between the sedge. There’s a green roof, basically a roof covered with vegetation, with the enormous advantages of absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, and providing a habitat for wildlife. Packard Foundation green roof absorbs rain water, provides insulation and provides a habitat for wildlife. The green roof is planted in stonecrop, thyme, blue fescue, and hens and chicks.  Gray solar panels line the parking lot across the street, capturing sunlight, helping the building achieve net zero energy consumption each year. Parking strips around the building are bioswales,a landscape element designed to remove water-borne dirt and pollution from surface runoff water.  Storm runoff in the street gutter enters the bioswale at one end, is filtered by plants and rock, and any excess exits the other end, before flowing to the bay.  The bioswales illustrate the principle of “slow it, spread it, sink it”.  Reducing and cleaning storm runoff is important for hundreds of cites like San Francisco and New York City, where sanitary wastewater and storm runoff run into a single sewer system.  During rainstorms, the combined flow overwhelms sewage treatment plants and untreated sewage flows to the ocean or rivers. The Packard Foundation provides a nearby opportunity to see water conservation and other environment features in action.  They use California native plants that perform well in our area and are readily available to consumers.  The trees, shrubs, and grasses mentioned here (except for the dogwood and greenroof plants) are planted in our yard, and we’d plant them again.  The Packard Foundation provided the list of plants used.  We noted the California native plants. For more information about the Packard Foundation, go to their website or sign up for their fall tours. #SanFrancisco #Californianativeplants #Environment #droughttolerant #PackardFoundation #GreenTownLosAltos #LucillePackard #NewYorkCity #rooftopgarden #bioswales

For the first time ever, downtown Los Altos will be a participant in a worldwide annual event called PARK(ing) Day, which this year falls on Friday, September 21! Click here for more info and come join in the fun! #LosAltos #PARKingday #Sept21

Join Us on Coastal Cleanup Day – September 15 Volunteers, led by Barbara and Kevin O’Reilly, scour the Permanente Creek Diversion Channel for trash twice a year: once on National River Cleanup Day (the third Saturday in May) and once on Coastal Cleanup Day (the third Saturday in September). Our next creek cleanup is fast approaching. Sign up here to participate from 9am-noon on Saturday, September 15. At the last cleanup, on May 19, volunteers collected a total of 69 pounds of material. Of that, 54 pounds was diverted from the landfill – about two-thirds recycled and composted and one-third repurposed by participants. A mere 15 pounds of material went to the landfill as trash. Most cleanup efforts end up leaving collected material at the site, which are then picked up by the water utility, and dumped at the landfill.  Of the more than 18,000 lbs of trash collected in cleanups throughout Santa Clara County on May 19, fewer than 1,500 pounds were recycled. GreenTown cleanup crews, under the stewardship of the O’Reilly’s, sort and divert as much material from the landfill as possible. May’s cleanup also featured education about bugs — insects that tell you if a creek is healthy or not.  GreenTown partnered with Acterra’s Stevens and Permanente Creek Watershed Project to provide education to participants.  As part of his Environmental Science class, Nick Ambiel, a student at Los Altos High School student, collected and investigated samples from the natural portion of the creek.  Not surprisingly, given Permanente Creek’s not-so-permanent nature, Nick found midge flies and other bugs that suggest a not-so-healthy creek. For more information on how you can be part of the “solution to creek pollution,” email us at water@greentownlosaltos.org. #Nationalrivercleanupday #PermanenteCreek

Results are in for a one-year pilot program that employs a software-based approach to educating consumers to save energy. And they’re impressive! The program was developed by local resident Steve Schmidt, founder of High Energy Audits. Funded through a grant from the California Energy Commission and managed by Acterra, the High Energy Homes program targeted the highest energy-consuming communities in our area including, Atherton, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Portola Valley and Woodside. The program ran from April 2011 through April 2012. See this month’s article in the Los Altos Hills newsletter, Our Town. Do you recognize this device? A smart-strip like this can save you energy and money. Big Savings The 176 program users reduced their electric use by an average of 6% with little or no cost  to them. The top fourth of these users reduced their electricity use by more than 18%. These participants saved a total of more than $122,000 on their PG&E bills. The 54 participants from Los Altos Hills achieved annual savings of more than 66,000 kWh of electricity and 3,300 therms of natural gas. This corresponds to reducing 71 metric tons of CO2 equivalents. Los Altos Hills participants saved $712 per year on their PG&E bills. “In the first 10 minutes of the audit we discovered an easy way to save 850 kWh per year with zero cost and no impact on our lifestyle. As a result of this and other changes, three months after the audit my electric bill was the lowest in 9 years of full occupancy months.”  — Walt, Los Altos Hills The good news for Los Altos Hills is that the Town Council has approved another year’s worth of funding for the program, making the software available for an additional 50 homes. “This is a truly valuable program, given both the cost savings and environmental benefits,” says Chair of the Environmental Initiatives Committee, Peter Evans. “I couldn’t be more pleased to have the Council’s support for continuing the program.” Los Altos Residents: Are You Jealous Yet? Don’t be. GreenTown is offering this program for free for the first 50 residents that sign up. After 50 residents apply, a $50 fee will be charged. Thus far, we have 14 signups, so there are plenty of spaces left.  These program enable residents to go online and use their PG&E SmartMeter data to create a home energy profile. This profile provides a visual representation of home energy usage and highlights low-cost energy-saving opportunities. Sign up here: Los Altos: Through a GreenTown pilot program, online assessment at:  www.highenergyaudits.com/hea. Los Altos Hills: Free online assessment at http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/sustainability/high-energy-homes. #energysavings #onlineenergyassessment #PGampE #smartstrips

Map of our local watershed. Red lines show concrete channel areas. Photo credit: Map courtesy of the Oakland Museum of California. http://museumca.org Be part of the plan to protect and enhance our local watersheds On Saturday, September 22, 2012, environmentalists, policy makers and concerned citizens will gather at Foothill College and be inspired by excellent, knowledgable speakers, participate in collective problem-solving, and experience the comraderie of working together to build a more sustainable future. Register here. Two keynote speakers are featured: Brock Dolman directs the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center’s Water Institute. He is an expert on watersheds, wrote Basins of Relations, an empowering book for citizen activists on protecting our watersheds, and conducts tours and educational programs for the Center. Mr. Dolman coined the term “slow it, spread it, sink it” – which we like to use – for capturing stormwater. Lester  Snow directs the California Water Foundation, which supports innovative projects and policies that address water challenges today as well as work toward longer-term solutions. Most recently, Mr. Snow served as California Secretary for Natural Resources, where he gained a reputation for solving complex natural resource management issues. Prior to that, Mr. Snow directed the California Department of Water Resources, which protects, conserves, and manages California’s water supply. When and where:  Saturday, September 22, 8:30 am – 2pm, Foothill College Cafeteria, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills [MAP] Registration information:  www.acterra.org/watershedsummit #Acterra #watershed