the veggie van

Anyone who has read my blog lately has probably noticed my obsession with the documentary Fuel; Sundance winner... blah blah blah. I may have mentioned this once or twice before.

Well, we went to see it the night that it opened in Irvine (which, by the way, is showing until this weekend) and got to come face to tailpipe with the star of the show; The Veggie Van.

Luckily, my friend Jason of Living Green Homes was there to capture the moment. Here we are, inhaling the fresh scent of cooking oil


and here is Jason with the director, Josh Tickell.

global green pre-oscar party

Yesterday I got the great opportunity to be a guest at Global Green's annual Pre-Oscar party in Los Angeles. The party was at the Avalon Hollywood and we were the guests of K.L.Nicolai & Associates, my local distributor of Caroma (Yes, the toilets. If you need a refresher take a look back at the Product of the Week post in January '09) who were a sponsor of the event.

The party had a fantastic turnout and lots of energy, with A-listers and local greenies alike, mixing and mingling into a great big ball of eco-madness. At least that's what it looked like from my view, which was right in front of the stage while enjoying musical performances by Gavin Rossdale and Sheryl Crow. A supportive Gwen Stefani watched from the balcony above while her hubby did a great acoustical set.

The theme of the evening was Greening Our Schools, which is one of the fundamental goals of Global Green. Matt Peterson, the CEO of the organization, and Neil Patrick Harris urged guests to contribute what they could via the oh-so-simple text message donation, which I personally think is genius. I can only hope that the response was tremendous.

my husband and I after rockin' out

Environmental Sustainability Conference

Last Friday, Vanguard University in Costa Mesa put on one of the best local green events that I have been to. It's rare that an event outside of LA is so organized and brings such a great crowd in terms of speakers and exhibitors.

The event featured local green business owners who have been making waves in Orange County for the last several years. A few of them even began the movement well before OC was ready for it. As a result, their struggles have proven that not only can sustainable businesses be successful but they also create a community that thrives.

Keynote Speaker, Pierre Senizergues, is the founder of the local Sole Technology- the parent company for some of the largest action sports companies in the world. He started his environmental journey many years ago and built the first green building in Orange County as well as taking the manufacturing industry by storm when he demanded that his shoe plants go green several years ago. Pierre was also the Executive Producer of the film 'The 11th Hour.'

Pierre is somewhat of a hero in the local green business world, having recently been the 'bar' that was set for OC Metro's Green Issue. His presentation at the conference met all expectations as he described his efforts with such enthusiasm that it was hard not to just jump up and hug him.

The rest of the speakers were equally notable, though I don't think I could keep your attention if I went into detail on each of them. But I do want to note who they were because each of these people are worth checking out. It's always nice to know who the players are.





Shaheen Sadeghi, Founder of the LAB and the Camp in Costa Mesa
Spencer Brown, Owner of Earth Friendly Moving (the baby diaper boxes)
Rachel Hulan, Owner of Path Design. Rachel is a fellow Interior Designer and was my previous employer and mentor in green design!
Martin Diedrich, Owner of Kean Coffee in Costa Mesa
Christina Kull, Environmental Engineer at Northrop Grumman Corporation
Jim Woodrow, Professor at Vanguard University
Helene Kennan, Bon Apetit Restaurant

Go Green Expo

I visited the first annual Go Green Expo LA on Friday. I probably should have posted something about this before I went, but the expo runs in Los Angeles through Sunday if you are so inclined and I would definitely say it is a worthwhile trip. The show will be in Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta throughout the spring.

We walked the floor, which had a large collection of green businesses ranging from non-profits to skincare to electric cars and everything in between. But the real highlight was the discussion panels which ran almost consecutively throughout the day. As a greenie in Orange County I hear a fair bit of what is happening in LA but am a little bit disconnected from it. Los Angeles has always been a leader in the green movement so it would come as no surprise that a large number of 'eco-celebrities' would show their faces at this event.

I've never been big on celeb sitings. In fact, I have been told numerous times that I was up close and personal to a celebrity after the fact and I didn't even notice (just ask me about the Tom Cruise story). But the green movers and shakers I can recognize in an instant and I did a fair bit of head turning as I walked the show. So imagine my excitement to get the lowdown from the guys and gals that are making things happen in a big way. The panels were very informal and the audience had lots of opportunities to share their thoughts as well. Never before had it seemed like there was such a big 'family' of sustainably minded people.

Check out www.gogreenexpo.com for information on the show and it's exhibitors. Here are a couple of my favorite things:

www.perfgogreen.com
www.h20mwater.com
www.greenrootsinc.com
www.greenplanetbuilding.com
www.ghaliaorganicdesserts.com
www.weeplant.com