Now that the weather has cleared up in LA, things are looking beautiful!  Click on the pictures to see a larger size.

All the rainfall meant plenty of snow those mountains!

I loved the red-roofed set of buildings, the freshly green hills, and the snowy white mountain range beyond.

From my backyard, without a zoom, this is the view you get.

The cover for our hot tub was covered in frost in the morning!

Check out the detail of the little ice bits.

I love when the air is crisper and cleaner.  LA without smog is fabulous.  Everything looks so much brighter now!

Some of the cool things that were at the 2009 Opportunity Green Conference!  (Images linked to the website of the maker, if known.)

Made from 100% certified organic cotton by Topo Ranch. They're so soft!

AdVinylize saves billboards from the dumps by making useful bags out of them! Plus you can get straps made of seat belts, which is oh so comfortable.

KOR "hydration vessel" made from BPA-free plastic and designed to make drinking water a better experience.

Organic cookies in a very zen display.

So peaceful.

A very green type of centerpiece.

The MINI E electric car, ready for its test drives!

A cornboard chair... you really can do anything with corn!

Beautiful wooden bench and playful tree stumps.

Eastman is the company that produces the type of plastic that KOR and Y Water are made of.

With Greenbox, when you get a pizza you can take the lid, split it into four plates, then take the bottom and fold it in half to create a smaller box to store leftovers! Just follow the dotted lines.

Veeery comfortable, ergonomically-designed office chairs.

I just came back from watching a screening of No Impact Man tonight, which left me with a thought: it is important to have a sense of community.  One of the last things talked about was what Mr. NIM would recommend for people if they were to do just one thing to change their lives to be more environmentally-friendly.  His advice?  Volunteer for an environmental group because with that comes the community connection.

Typical Chinese meal: lots of dishes shared between everyone.

I find that to be a really good point – we’re not on this planet alone and we shouldn’t live and act like it (though oftentimes we do, especially in the American culture).  Much of the poor behavior that we’ve learned is because of this mentality.  Everyone wants a house to themselves, a car or two for their family, and their own share of everything.  The concept of sharing even extends to how our meals are eaten, with individual portions given out rather than some of everything that is shared amongst a group.  When we’re all too busy thinking about me, me, me, we do a lot of things that benefit us, but harm those around us, humans, animals/plants, and environment.  Plus, having that sense of community bond keeps us grounded and centered so we don’t lose sight of ourselves and fall into the throes of negative behavior (assuming your “community” is not a gang or drug cartel).

This point seemed particularly relevant for a poster I saw on the walk back.  It was advertising a young man who was struck by leukemia and was in the Intensive Care Unit at our local hospital.  He desperately needs a bone marrow match and as the poster said, he needs your help.  I thought of how when we as a population share our resources (which sometimes means donating blood or cells or the like), we are so much better off as a whole.  There are so many lives that could be saved if the healthy people in the world were willing to share some of that health with those less fortunate.

Typical American meal: individual portions of each dish.

I actually just made a friend with a young lady in a similar situation (she just doesn’t need to be in an ICU).  In her last video update, she said something that I feel is something more people should think about: if the person who got leukemia was your mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, etc., then how would you react?  Would you still be so reluctant to donate cells that your body easily reproduces to save a life?  We’re not even talking about organs that can’t be replaced or something that drastic.  Sometime it’s blood, bone marrow, or plasma, but it’s all things that you can make more of in the coming days, weeks, and months.

I really think that this wouldn’t be so much an issue if we were more connected to our communities and had a better sense of those around us.  Honestly, how could you continue to not offer what you can if you cared for the people around you?  Once people start realizing that they won’t need to undergo the scary spinal tap procedure they thought was what you need to donate bone marrow, I think they have no excuses.  It’s either just like giving blood or you’ll be under anesthesia anyway.  In this case, sharing is caring!

Similarly for the environment, if we just cared more about others, we’d be able to move away from the individual cars per household mentality to the public transportation mentality.  One reason people tout buying local so much is because it supports others’ businesses and prevents you from getting outrageous out-of-season foods that are harder to find during certain times of year.  (Local produce may not actually be better for the environment though, but that’s an issue for another day.)  Other ways to be environmental and help your “neighbors” (including those in other cities, countries, and continents) is to reuse things rather than creating more trash that will end up in somebody’s backyard.  Too many people are living in dumps and all because of our irresponsible consumerism.

So moral of the story?  Care more about your neighbors, local and global.  It’ll make things so much better for everyone.

It’s been a long and exhausting weekend for us at Opportunity Green, as we worked long and hard to throw a fantastic conference for everyone.  A lot of lessons have been learned on my end, watching how the intensely crazy registration panned out for us and getting a behind-the-scenes look at how things were running.  We didn’t expect so many people to show up to the event, so it was challenging to handle the overload in capacity, but it’s great that we got so many interested people to attend.  All in all I had a rewarding experience, getting great feedback from participants who were so thankful and appreciative!

Working the registration table for speakers, sponsors, and press!

I’ve also had some fabulous conversations come out of these past couple of days, as I randomly chatted with other volunteers, a few sponsors, and some of the attendees.  It’s wonderful that people are so friendly and most were very patient with us.  Granted, registration delays were probably expected for those who showed up without being registered online already.  Things also worked so well because we had dedicated interns diligently working from the wee morning hours til late in the evening, volunteering our entire weekend to make this event happen.  Of course, the OG full-timers were working even harder, sleeping less, staying longer, but never complaining about how exhausted they must have been.

Many a time we had to be resourceful, giving, and downright creative to get the work done, but as one of our staff pointed out, we never lost our cool.  It never occurred to me just how useful that must have been in keeping everything running smoothly, but it’s true!  I suppose that’s a large part of why the participants were so enthusiastic about their experience at the conference, because they never saw any of the fires we were putting out throughout the day.  That’s exactly how things should be!  It will get hectic and overwhelming at an event of this scale, but with everyone working the event being level-headed and patient, we got through just fine.

Now it’s time to enjoy the trappings I did manage to get from the conference (like these awesome bamboo USB drives from MINI USA and a lovely Whitelines notebook) and let my body recover.  Everything aches or throbs and my mind is so cloudy I keep on making typo errors, but I’m glad to know that tomorrow I will have no more physically draining activities.  Rather, I’ll be working hard on my sample entries for Change.org, as I apply to be a freelance blogger for them while I look for a job and try to get more involved in the green space.

It frustrates me when people don’t do anything because they think it won’t matter.

“Oh, it’s just a drop of water in the ocean, a grain of sand on the beach, a star in the night sky.  Without that drop, the ocean is still as expansive; without that grain, the beach is still as solid; without that star, the night sky is still as bright.  You’ll never miss it.”

Everything has an origin point. Don't underestimate just one little thing. photo credit: shannonstanley.wordpress.com

But you know what?  It does matter!  That one drop creates ripples, affecting its neighbors that then affect their neighbors until a wave builds up.  Besides, actions reflect a mentality, so not making one small change here can lead to not making another small change there.  If you work incrementally, the next thing you know, you’ve made a huge change.  It takes time and patience to see results that are truly worthy of gaining, as well as persistence.

Every time you leave the water running, don’t turn off the lights, don’t donate your time or money, and otherwise deem things too much effort and not enough tangible reward, you are increasing the vicious cycle of inaction and indifference.  Aggregated, each little action adds up to become a trend, a movement.  And thus, nobody should ever give up from the get-go, thinking, “Well it won’t really matter that much overall.”  It can and it will, if you stick to it, then start to affect the people in your life too.  Eventually, you’ll have something on a scale you never imagined, because the power of compounding has taken effect and created something much larger than just you.

And so, I’m going to start increasing the number of registered bone marrow donors (particularly ones of Asian descent), one person at a time until we get a massive database.  It’s pathetic that there’s only 7% of Asian Americans on the US who are currently available to donate when there are thousands of people in need.  I’ve already gotten some friends to enter themselves into the registry and slowly started to educate them not only on the need, but the misconception that it is a painful procedure to extract the marrow.  What are you waiting for?  Go register yourself now!  And also go learn more about one young lady who is fighting the battle against leukemia right now.

I’m also taking environmentalism one step at a time, constantly weeding out the things and habits in my life that are unsustainable, replacing them with more globally-friendly alternatives.

Be the impetus for change.  Start something.  Then keep working hard as the effects ripple further and faster.  This goes for anything you care about, from our deteriorating environment to our broken education system to poverty to deadly diseases.  Everything has got to start somewhere!

I’m inching my way closer and closer to a potential job offer!  After passing first-round interviews, I had a second interview and am now a finalist for the position I want so much.  I said before it’s not exactly my dream job, but what I meant is it isn’t my complete life goal, but for a first job, it pretty much would be the ultimate job for me to attain.  It not only allows me to stay close to my alma mater (one of my four stipulations), it would be a great way for me to jump-start a career in environmentalism.

I just sent out my official reference list, complete with a little blurb for each person to describe the (skill) areas they know me best in.  Prior to that, I e-mailed my references to confirm their willingness to speak on behalf of my qualifications, work ethic, and performance (and perhaps my personality as well).  I also did much of the work for them, coming up with some examples of what I did while working for them and reminding them of my strengths.  I hope all goes well and that the hiring manager checks all the references to get the best all-around picture!  I’ve also prompted my boss who’s meeting with two of the people on the interviewing team sometime this week.  She agreed to help put in a good word for me, so I gave her a refresher course on what I’ve done.

Now I’ve pretty much taken every step I can to increase my attractiveness as a candidate.  It seems there is not too much else I can do beyond waiting for this week to (hopefully) fly by!  In the mean time, I will enjoy the last couple of days I have with Philosopher before he heads back to England.

Well, today is Blog Action Day and thousands of blogs are writing about climate change!  When I get a chance, I’ll go check out what they’ve all written, but for myself, it’s all about what I can do as an individual.  Certainly it’s not much on the grand scheme, but individual actions add up and I’m hoping that down the line I can start an eco-consulting firm to address this very issue and get people to change their behavior in positive ways.  With enough people making enough effort, we can make a powerful impact.  That’s my dream for the future.

As for now, I decided to explore the ways I’ve greened my life and what I can do to continue along that path.  I’ve made a lot of small changes to my life over the years to get to this point and I plan on continuing steadily for the rest of my life.  So some ways that I’ve already greened my life are…

~ using reusable tote bags and saving all plastic bags I do get for other purposes

~ composting (I’d like to start a worm compost one day)

~ recycling (too bad so many things aren’t recyclable!)

~ unplugging everything when not in use

~ changing out light bulbs (some of the smaller ones are still traditional bulbs… are they going to make smaller energy-efficient bulbs?)

~ eating little red meat (I don’t eat much meat in general, especially beef)

~ printing only when absolutely necessary (which is hardly ever)

~ using a green service provider to power my website

In the next couple of months, I plan on implementing some new ways of improving my own sustainability.  Some options may have to wait until I’ve settled a little more and know where I’ll be living for the next couple of years (namely, planting my own fruits and vegetables to eat).  Each change is a step towards progress and by the time I’m 30, I hope I can proudly claim a sustainable lifestyle.

~ plant fruits/vegetables to eat

~ buy more locally

~ change shower heads

~ filter water – no more bottles! – and continue using reusable bottles

~ get a hybrid car (and try to drive less)

~ walk/bike/skate more (it’s good for your health, after all!)

~ phase out commercialized cleaning solutions for more old school ones (like using baking soda and vinegar, or those squash-looking loofahs)

~ buy an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly laptop

I’m sure there’s a lot more I can do, but this is a start!  I’ll keep working on my list over the years as solutions are developed and I discover more ways that I can change my ways to leave a smaller carbon footprint in this world.  I’ve begun to educate and influence those around me as well, and I intend on doing that in a greater scale further into my career!  Someday I’d like to see everyone in my city living this way and a good portion of the country as well.  I don’t know if I’ll live to see the world change like that, but that would certainly be amazing.

photo credit: markterrybooks.com

At moments, my mind is clouded by a foggy haze.  Thoughts no longer come in lucidly and I can just imagine the transmissions in my brain slowing down.  It’s hard to focus when an invisible weight sets foot on your cranium and won’t dissolve, no matter how you try.  In fact, it’s almost like corn starch in water or a Chinese finger trap, where the harder you try, the more resistant it gets.  So I’ve given up fighting against the current and decided that it’s time to let my weary mind rest for the night.  I have no clue what has brought on this mental murkiness, but along with it I feel a sense of increased agitation and restlessness.

Snippets of thoughts run through my head – things to remember, things to do, things to… wait, what was I thinking again? A train of thought is lost just as easily as another takes its place and my mind jumps around lethargically in a way completely unlike the normal stream of thoughts that has me working at a quick pace.  I remember websites I meant to visit and read, but I’ve no patience to go through the words.  My left eye feels more strained than my right and that irks me.  I remember moments that I was harsh or irresponsible towards Panda and I get a pang of guilt.

Too many choices lay in my path and I can’t seem to rationalize my decisions.  Everything is a good path, so how do I choose just one?  I want to go to all these events, but I don’t have the time and shouldn’t use the resources to.  I’ve been craving ice cream all night long and never got around to getting some.  I’ve wasted way too much  time agonizing over when I’ll gain access to Google Wave, then researching Google Voice and MetroPCS instead.  Why?  Because I’m curious and wanted to learn about them.  But I feel at a standstill, unable to get what I want though I know what it is that I’d love so much.  A lot of that has to do with my job search.

I wouldn’t say I’ve found a dream job, but I’ve found one that fits my main specifications and sounds wonderful:

1. with UCLA

2. environment-related

3. decent pay with benefits

4. small work environment

But I haven’t heard back and it’s frustrating because I hate the whole job hunting process and I’d like to just get a job and settle a bit.  Much as I enjoy what I’m doing now, there’s huge pressure from my parents to find a job.  I don’t think they want anything else from me now, even if I win an award or get to do something prestigious.

I'd like some tranquility and a sense of accomplishment right about now. photo credit: healthyoga.com

My body feels out of sync and I’m getting more conscious of my unevenness.  I haven’t had a proper workout for ages because I’ve been telling myself that I’ll start up a routine once I get a job.  See, even I’m placing these restrictions on myself.  I just want to land that job, get an apartment, get that new car, and begin a routine.  Strange.  I’m not one for routines and doing the same thing over and over again.  But at the same time, I’d like a little more pattern in my life.  Living week to week is not sustainable.  So many things hinge on settling (and having money): starting to attend yoga classes, joining a massage clinic, picking up more hobbies, getting more creative with cooking, hitting up more restaurants, going to football/basketball games, getting alumni membership in Alpha Kappa Psi, reading books again…  I’m putting off everything requiring money or a steady time commitment.  After all, I don’t want to start something just to have to change when I do start working full-time.

Brake.  Gas.  Brake.  Gas.  Brake.  Brake.  Brake.

What it looks like. photo credit: enterstageright.com

The morning commute sucks, even at 9:30.  You would have expected it to be a little clearer, but I guess enough people go to work later that it doesn’t even matter anymore.  Panda has mentioned a few times that he wants to live near work so he only has a 5-minute commute (much like mine to Opportunity Green when I’m at his place).  I completely understand.  The problem will be working close enough to each other that we can find a place that isn’t too far from either.  For I certainly don’t want to have to wake up in the morning only to drive an hour and a half to start working.  It’s exhausting and the complete wrong way to start the day.  I’m amazed that so many people do it.

I hate to get up in the morning as it is.  When you put a morning commute as miserable as they get in LA, that’s just about the worst way anyone could start their day.  I can’t imagine something more stressful and draining, both physically and mentally.  And for those who experience road rage and get extremely anxious when they are running late, it’s emotionally taxing as well.  If only everyone could just work from home and cut the commute, be close enough to just walk on over, or had public transportation that easily transported people.  Maybe cities should be planned in such as way as to ease this sort of congestion.  I’m not sure that would be enough though, what the complexity of the problem.  Perhaps businesses and residences should intermingle more evenly to spread out the flow of traffic in all directions instead of one main one.  It just doesn’t make sense to have hordes of people heading into a central business district each morning and rushing out each evening.  Is there really any real benefit to having business hubs?

What it feels like. photo credit: Curtis Gregory Perry on flickr

It might be that the problem would not be solved with a different distribution of businesses, but rather needs to be tackled via transportation solutions.  I know I sure wish I had someone to drive with so I could take advantage of the carpool lane and probably shave a good 20-30 minutes off of my 90-minute drive.  Even better would be a mass transportation system that runs at that time.  The only way I can get from my valley down to more central LA via public transportation is a commuter bus that only runs in the early morning.  This city is in desperate need of a mass transit makeover.  Buses, trains, subways, monorails, whatever.  A city so spread out shouldn’t leave its people with so few options to get around.

Let’s end the concept of rush hour.  It’ll make the atmosphere cleaner and the people happier.

photo credit: ecopromosonline.com

Everywhere you go now, you can find those “eco-bags” available around every corner, in every shop.  It’s one of those fads that everyone seems to buy into, but it makes me wonder if it’s worth all the hype.  Sure, it’s great to have sturdy bags like that that you can use and reuse time and time again.  But the problem is, a solution like that doesn’t quite work without the full commitment of the people as well.  They’ve got to change their behavior to match the goals of producing those reusable tote bags: conservation.  If everyone used just one or two of those bags with every grocery run (or even any sort of shopping), a lot can be saved.  But the problem is, people are getting these things, then forgetting to bring them along to use each time they go out.  Every now and then they may decide to just get another one and use them all the next time.  But of course, without a change in habits, you’ll never get around to it.

I was reminded of this when I read about a lady who has reached the brink and decided she has enough of these bags now.  It’s more harmful to overproduce these bags than the cheap plastic ones we’ve grown accustomed to.  After all, they require more material and certainly more energy to create.  If people still use too many of them, the problem we have doesn’t go away – it merely mutates.  So, recently, I have made sure that whenever Panda and I go shopping for food, we bring our collection of reusable bags or suffer the consequences of having to carry everything we bought with no bags (or maybe just one to be used for collecting trash in).  We also walk to the store, which is a 15- to 20-minute trip by foot.  After spending the time and energy to get there only to find we forgot to bring bags, it’s a personal punishment to not use bags as a way of drilling that habit into our routine.  Lately I’ve begun to hang the bags on the door so it’s harder to disregard them as we head out the door and it’s been working!  I’ve become more conscious of the steps to take before going out to buy some food.

photo credit: ilovecostco.com

Costco’s a great place that does away with the whole bag concept and uses boxes, if anything, to pack up your cart.  Though it never hit me until Panda mentioned it, perhaps I like that place for that very fact (and of course the fact that they offer bulk items).  It works really well because the type of bags they’d have to get to hold the items they sell really isn’t worth all the waste it would create (though I’m sure they’d make great doubles as large trash bags).  I think all stores should either do away with bags or start charging a premium that will really make people rethink (what would that take? A quarter a bag? A dollar a bag?).  Any bags used should also be biodegradable, so people can take them home, use them for trash, then not worry about them clogging up the landfills permanently.  The SunChips people have this great new compostable bag coming out that is completely biodegradable within weeks!  Wouldn’t it be awesome if supermarkets used that kind of material?

Next step is to start bringing my own mugs and bottles to be filled when I get fast food.