DON'T BLOW IT! Clean Air ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. RESOURCES Green Gardeners List is Here! "Don't Blow It!" Flyer Letter to Landscape Provider: English - Spanish CORE Program How does a Gas Leaf Blower compare to a Gas Powered Vehicle ? Other Resources: Emissions Are Significant Edmunds Emissions Study NPR Comments More Pollution Than Cars Alternatives to Gas Leaf Blowers Rakes and Brooms Bad for the Environment Bad For Your Health More on Health Also Bad For Your Health Bad For Children Bad For Your Pets Leave the Leaves Santa Monica bans all leaf blowers 4-minute video Palo Alto Online Opinion Regulations Hideous Gas Leaf Blowers For inquiries about the "Don't Blow it!" program contact us at: info@greentownlosaltos.org

Conservation Creek Cleanup ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. RESOURCES National River Cleanup Day Community Kids Cleaned the Creek National River Cleanup Day Recap Another Successful Creek Cleanup CONTACT US For inquiries about Creek Cleanup program contact us at: info@greentownlosaltos.org

Mission About Us OUR MISSION To protect and enhance the environment of Los Altos & Los Altos Hills through community engagement, education, and advocacy while contributing to and leveraging regional and global environmental efforts. OUR VALUES Leaving the environment a better place for the next generation Policy and decision-making based on data and scientific research Inclusion and partnership, and conducting our activities in a fair, ethical (and, when appropriate, fun) manner Education, mentorship and the inclusion of youth as much as possible in our activities Honesty and respect when presenting fact-based research and educating our community OUR BELIEFS A clean and healthy environment is vital to the health of our communities. Human activities impact the natural environment and contribute to climate change and pollution that directly affects human health Individual, community and governmental actions can mitigate the negative environmental impacts of human activities We can arrest human caused climate change and environmental degradation by individual, community and legislative action GreenTown is a project of the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation’s Local Impact Collective Team OUR TEAM Suresh Venkatraman President, Board 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. Connie Miller Vice President, Board Clean Air Lead 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. Don Weiden Treasurer Don’s career as a civil/environmental engineer and his personal enjoyment in wilderness camping since grade school have led to his interest in minimizing the impacts of our engineered and human activities on the natural environment. He became interested in GreenTown Los Altos when investigating residential solar panels for his home and is now a proponent of converting vehicles and equipment from using fossil fuels to clean electrical energy. Gary Hedden Past President, Board Member Conservation Lead Gary joined GreenTown in 2011 and now leads the effort to protect our natural resources. That means planting trees, cleaning creeks and advocating for sound conservation policies. He still likes to bike, and leads the Historic Homes Bike Ride, the Native Garden Bike Tour, the Hardy Jones Memorial Bike Ride, and the Summer & Winter Solstice night bike rides. Glenda Chang Board Member Water Lead, Eating Green Lead Glenda is a long-time reef and ocean conservation advocate, and pursues the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals. Change for a healthier planet can start at home, by young and old alike. As such, she is eager to learn, collaborate, and engage together as a community. Her interests include SCUBA diving, technological innovation, disaster relief, island nations and their people, discovering the outdoors, photography, and being foodies with her family. One of her recent projects is providing clean water to an indigenous mountain tribe. Laura Teksler Board Member Laura first became involved with GreenTown as the Almond parent lead for the Walk or Wheel (WoW) program over a decade ago. She is a life-long environmentalist and lover of the outdoors who has dedicated her paid and volunteer careers to sustainability efforts. Recently through her work on the Los Altos Environmental Commission and Acterra she has become an advocate for home electrification. Madhuri Davidson Board Member Madhuri has been a volunteer in many of GreenTown's conservation projects. Recently, she has taken on a pivotal role, working alongside Jana to maintain, update, and clean up our membership database. Madhuri is a Living Classroom Docent at Springer Elementary where her two children are students. She is also working with GreenTown and the City to revive the WoW program and Safe Routes to School education program at Springer Elementary! Cary Anderson Eating Green Lead Cary enjoys an active lifestyle as a retired CPA and as CFO in private equity and commercial real estate industries. Cary currently volunteers for the YMCA basketball programs, the LAHS Mentor/Tutor program and, recently, a vegan farm / animal sanctuary. Cary enjoys learning how things work, being hands-on and has a strange attraction to performing manual labor ("brawn over brains"). As the Eating- Green lead, he aims to have fun challenging himself and encouraging others to better understand how our food choices impact all forms of life. Kim Jelfs Adopt-A-Highway Lead Past Board Member, Kim first became involved with GreenTown through our "Skip the Straw' campaign and hasn't looked back! She loved our hands-on, "can do" approach and immediately felt at home. A former H.R. Manager, she has volunteered in schools and local communities and is passionate about waste reduction, eliminating single-use plastics, and living sustainably. When not growing food in her garden, you can find Kim hiking local trails and traveling. Kris Jensen Consulting Director, Development Kris is our quintessential perfect match. The living embodiment of an advocate, starting at age 13 by penning a note to Pres. Reagan protesting removing the White House’s solar panels. He lives sustainably, is a certified permaculture designer, gardens, cooks and does woodwork when he’s not guiding our community efforts. Michele Gerstel Marketing Lead Michele admits joining the GreenTown team was a no brainer. Why? Who wouldn’t want to be a part of a team of passionate, brilliant residents working to improve our community’s future? Marketing its programs are just plain fun. Not to mention rewarding. Enough to keep anyone smiling. Jana Schlanker Organization Lead Jana is our organizational go to. Her smiling face makes it easy to make any request and know it will be readily handled. From managing our growing database, organizing volunteers and coordinating events, she has an eye for details that we enjoy having on board.

GET INVOLVED JOIN US Volunteer & Intern Volunteers are GreenTown's Engine. Without you we cannot do what we do! See all the ways or tell us how you would like to help! DONATE Becoming a member you’ll support educating and inspiring actions for a better planet. Information below how you can donate Stay Informed Sign up for our monthly newsletter and stay informed on our various programs

Building Community for Electrification Code Red Series March 18, 12 - 1 PM via Zoom Register Here Home: Welcome LATEST NEWS & ARTICLES GreenTown Blog | Subscribe to Newsletter Green Gardeners - Use Electric Leaf Blowers! Linda Ziff 7 minutes ago Electrification Journey KJ Janowski Sep 12, 2025 Heat Pumps Cause Pregnancy!! Connie Miller Aug 7, 2025 Walk or Wheel into the New School Year with WoW! Margie Suozzo Aug 4, 2025 Protecting More Than Homes: What New Orleans Taught Me About Environmental Recovery David Lawrence Chang Jul 31, 2025 Gardening with Native Trees Glenda Chang Jul 1, 2025 UPCOMING EVENTS Event Calendar No events at the moment CONNECT WITH US SEARCH THE SITE

Home: Welcome NATURE IS CALLING! Want to encourage song birds and butterflies? Plant a pollinator garden with California native plants! Learn More Make your Next Party ECO-FRIENDLY Looking to borrow Reusable Party Packs from GreenTown Los Altos? Learn More UPCOMING EVENTS No events at the moment LATEST NEWS & ARTICLES Latest Newsletter Subscribe Green Gardeners - Use Electric Leaf Blowers! Linda Ziff Electrification Journey KJ Janowski Heat Pumps Cause Pregnancy!! Connie Miller Walk or Wheel into the New School Year with WoW! Margie Suozzo Protecting More Than Homes: What New Orleans Taught Me About Environmental Recovery David Lawrence Chang Gardening with Native Trees Glenda Chang Follow us on Instagram @greentownlosaltos Load more CONNECT WITH US Subscribe to our Newsletter SEARCH THE SITE

EATING GREEN WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP OUR MISSION Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and other negative environmental impacts of animal agriculture Educate residents about the benefits of plant-based foods Encourage residents’ transition to plant-based eating Support local restaurants in shift to more plant-based menu items THE PROBLEM Plant-based eating is good for the planet: Reduces greenhouse gas emissions, saves freshwater resources and results in more sustainable land-use Eating green is good for your health: Can prevent, delay and even reverse heart disease, control and reverse Type II diabetes Plant-based diets are compassionate: Spares animal suffering, reduces animal death and and enables animals to live out their full lives HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED Join the Eating Green team! If you are passionate about promoting Eating Green or would like to learn more about how we can help with the transition to a plant-based diet, please let us know! Email Us Why Eat Green? Learn the facts and benefits of transitioning to a plant-based diet. It is good for the environment, good for your health and compassionate towards animals. Learn More The Plant-Based Family A guide to feeding your family that’s good for them and good for the planet, too! Learn More

REUSABLE PARTY PACKS Zero Waste ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. Available to Borrow! Please fill out the form to request to borrow a Party Pack REQUEST FORM or Email partypack@greentownlosaltos.org CONTACT US Email Us For inquiries about other Zero Waste projects, please contact us at: waste@greentownlosaltos.org

OUR PROJECTS Interested in volunteering with or leading a project? Email us at volunteer@greentownlosalos.org Pollinator Gardens Want to encourage song birds and butterflies? Plant a pollinator garden with California native plants! Small pollinator gardens scattered throughout the city will form a healthy connection for the insects and birds that will help them thrive. Learn More 500 Trees We have planted 500 Trees! Thank you for being part of this amazing achievement! Learn More Clean A Creek Volunteer to help us clean up the Permanente & Adobe Creeks Learn More Say No to thirsty landscapes Learn about saving water with drought-tolerant landscaping. Replace your lawn with a beautiful native garden! Learn More Recycle Water Graywater is lightly used water that is safe for most landscapes. Learn about the types of graywater systems and if they are is right for you. Learn More Manage Stormwater Run-off Minimize hardscape. Plant rain gardens and greenscape. Learn More Annual Bike Rides Join us for the annual the Historic, Summer & Winter Solstice and Lawn-be-gone Bike Rides Learn More Electrify You Home Make the switch to clean energy in your home. Learn More Try an Induction Cooktop Hear why this chef cooks almost exclusively with induction and won't be going back to gas! Borrow an induction stove from us - Try it and you wont be switching back! Learn More Reach Codes in Los Altos Electric homes save money, your health and the environment. Learn about why this is important and how the city is addressing it! Learn More Living Electric Fair Join Sparky the Firefly for this family-friendly event to learn how to make your home healthier by living Electric! Learn More

GET INVOLVED Volunteer Opportunities Abound... There are lots of opportunities to volunteer with GreenTown Los Altos, whether you just want to contribute to a single project, work with us for a few hours on a single day, or make a longer term commitment. Below are some of our current volunteer openings. To volunteer, email us. Email Us volunteer@greentownlosaltos.org Email Us info@greentownlosaltos.org Internships for Students Application 2025 Summer Internships is now closed Please check back in spring for the 2026 internship. Every summer GreenTown invites a cohort of college and high school (junior & senior) students to participate in our structured and guided intern program. They contribute to our projects while having a fulfilling and enriching experience. Email us if you are interested. MEET OUR 2025 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2024 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2023 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2022 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2021 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2020 Summer Interns Email Us internship@greentownlosaltos.org Email Us info@greentownlosaltos.org JOIN US WE ARE LOOKING FOR ... Volunteer-Intern Openings ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us.

DON'T BLOW IT! Clean Air No FAQs yet This category doesn't have any FAQs at the moment. Check back later or explore other categories. RESOURCES "Don't Blow It!" Flyer Letter to Landscape Provider: English - Spanish How does a Gas Leaf Blower compare to a Gas Powered Vehicle ? Other Resources: Emissions Are Significant Edmunds Emissions Study NPR Comments More Pollution Than Cars Alternatives to Gas Leaf Blowers Rakes and Brooms Bad for the Environment Bad For Your Health More on Health Also Bad For Your Health Bad For Children Bad For Your Pets Leave the Leaves Santa Monica bans all leaf blowers 4-minute video Palo Alto Online Opinion Regulations Hideous Gas Leaf Blowers Email Us For inquiries about the "Don't Blow it!" program contact us at: info@greentownlosaltos.org

NEWSLETTERS Subscribe Past Editions Current Edition - December 2025 JULY 2020