Los Angeles Going Green?

     Los Angeles Going Green?

By: Robin Hazard

Throughout the spring semester of 2012, my research has revolved around the following question, “what is your motto or philosophy for living sustainably within an urban area?”  In the beginnings of this research project I knew exactly what I wanted to have my focus on, yet did not know how to go about doing so.  I was unaware what would be a deep enough question, a question that would spark all viewpoints and reach the broadest amount of people.  I originally wanted a holistic question that would be simple yet profound that could capture and meet all perspectives. I found this to be too idealistic, for I did never found that “ah-ha” question.  The one I picked however, did suit my needs and the purpose of this project.

            My initial intention on setting forth this project surrounding sustainable practices within Los Angeles was surrounded around my avid curiosity for this topic as well as my hopes in learning a thing or two from this research.  In essence I picked this topic so I could light two candles with one flame.  I can continue my own research on a topic that I am passionate about and that fascinates me and use it towards a required research project.  In combining this interest into a school project and with the project requiring a lot of hands-on participation I had figured, and partially hoped, that this research project would guide and push me more so into learning and experiencing various ways of practicing sustainability. 

            Upon entering the field with my research question ready to fire, I had no idea what to expect.  Los Angeles does not exactly scream sustainability and therefore I had no idea what or who I would run into.  I had only learned of a few groups just prior to the spring semester and knew I wanted to meet with them.  I honestly was more interested on what I could take from the situations I encountered as well as what I could do to participate in making a difference, rather than the actual people I would come across.  Maybe not the right mindset I realize now, yet the stereotype and assumption of Los Angeles being an unconscious mass of individuals sat pretty comfortably in my head at the time.

            Aside from the fact that I am passionate about this topic, I feel that it is important for individuals to be aware of the workings of their life.  Sustainability in itself refers to the sustaining of something, and in the case of my research topic the bottom line refers to the sustaining of the human species and the systems it works with.  This is important for obvious reasons, yet many people are either unaware of sustainability or are unaware as to why it is important.  Learning about various people and what they are doing within Los Angeles to make a difference, is something I felt I could easily learn from.  The broadening of knowledge and awareness concerning individuals, who are working toward the global community, would not only contribute to my further education in this field but also make me more aware of others who are conscious about our home.  Having an awareness of individuals who are concerned about the same things you are gives one a sense of community, as well as sense of hope and power that what you believe in is stronger than originally thought.

            For collecting my data on sustainable practices within Los Angeles, my primary research method of choice was participant observation.  Participant observation I felt to be the most effective and wide-ranging.  With participant observation I was able to meet with various organizations and groups.  It would be the most useful way in learning about how the groups work as well as their intentions. 

            Food Not Bombs is one of the organizations I met with.  There are various chapters throughout the United States, but the one I attended was the Reseda chapter.  Food Not Bombs collects wasted or donated food from local businesses or farmers and distributes it to the community for free.  They meet at Reseda Park on Sunday’s at 1:00pm.  The volunteers meet at this time and they bring and organize the food to prepare it for distribution at 3:00pm.  From 3:00pm to 4:30pm people from all walks of life come to collect their fair share of the free food that is distributed. 

This was an interesting group to meet up with for I had heard of the organization Food Not Bombs prior to actually meeting with them.  The impression that I had got from this group was that they were a strong organization with many volunteers and many people who know about their free food distribution.  The groups that I had seen prior to meeting the Reseda chapter were located in San Francisco.  In San Francisco Food Not Bombs is well “tolerated” and they are never arrested for the “illegal” distribution of wasted food.  A group from the same organization in a small chapter in the San Fernando Valley was practicing the same goodwill, but in a very different atmosphere.

The Reseda chapter of Food Not Bombs is run by a group of people aging anywhere from 19 to 26 and have been meeting each Sunday for over five years.  These individuals have come together in a place where they were swimming upstream.  An organization such as Food Not Bombs is not tolerated very nicely in the San Fernando Valley.  This group, however, has made the location for food distribution look like a picnic.  This way they are seldom bothered by the authorities.  The individuals who know of this Food Not Bombs chapter are well aware of how this group organizes so there is not much confusion as to where they should pick up their food. 

I find it absolutely fascinating that a group of young individuals such as these who, on their own time, with complete dedication, are able to form this amazing group for the good of the community and no other reason.  The individuals seem to come from non-prosperous backgrounds and do not attend college.  These are young individuals who live and work on their own and have formed this chapter of Food Not Bombs with perseverance and compassion.  When I had asked Hana the coordinator of the Reseda chapter of Food Not Bombs about her “green” philosophy of living in an urban area, she replied, “Hmmm...I dunno.  Use less, reuse more often?”

Another organization that I employed participant observation on was Food Forward.  This is an organization that collects excess fruit from overly fruiting trees and donates the collected food to homeless shelters and food banks.  I met with Food Forward on a Saturday in Pasadena.  They were at a man’s home who owned a very large grapefruit tree, a lemon tree, and an orange tree.  There were six volunteers who showed up and our instructions were to pick away at the grapefruit tree except for what was able to be picked from the ground, to pick the lemon tree and to leave the orange tree.  Using ladders, our climbing skills, and specially made satchels we gleaned the fruit trees.

This organization is fairly well known along with Food Not Bombs and even has an annual orange pick at California State University of Northridge’s orange grove.  They glean trees all over southern California, from Ventura to Studio City to Huntington Beach.  In Food Forward anyone can volunteer and it’s really fun, especially if you like to climb trees.  There are also pick leaders who coordinate and run fruit picks.  As I noticed with Food Not Bombs, Food Forward has a majority of younger individuals who are taking charge and volunteering their time due to their compassion for our global community.    

    For my research I also attended a Smart Gardening meeting which is run by Los Angeles County.  This group has various meetings all over Los Angeles County and they discuss how to conserve water, how to be fire wise, and how to reduce green waste.  Composting and vermiculture were both discussed and examples were shown.  Vermiculture is essentially keeping blood worms as pets and feeding them your kitchen waste, in return they produce a rich and nutrient compost material that you can use for your garden.  Compost bins were displayed and offered at half the price they would usually be.  Using native plants in your garden and converting your lawn into an edible oasis was a topic discussed.  Eliminating water intensive plants, such as grass, and converting these areas into an oasis of native plants is an option that many do not consider.  Options such as these were shown to be a good solution for conserving water as well as growing your own food. 

I interviewed Dr. Wohldmann who is a Psychology professor at California State University of Northridge (CSUN).  She is also with CSUN’s Institute for Sustainability and teaches the Sustainability course, Best Practices in Sustainability, as well as co-instructing the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Sustainability course.  She is an activist and has a strong passion for the topic of America’s food industry.  In the Psychology department at CSUN she even teaches a course entitled Food and Cognition which discusses the food industry within America along with its marketing tactics and pesticide uses. 

Upon interviewing Professor Wohldmann and asking her what her philosophy is for living sustainably within an urban area, she replied “to be conscious”.  She stated that in order for individuals to become more aware of their surroundings, they need to “open their minds, their hearts, their ears, and their eyes”.  She stated that it is hard for people to comprehend various sustainable efforts for it seems too abstract for them, when in reality everything is connected.  When people are asked to rethink the way they live it becomes difficult for them, understandably.  The only way to reach people, Professor Wohldmann states, is through concrete facts.  When you have the facts available for people then they begin to listen. 

My Interview with Professor Wohldmann

Sierra Tower Room 320, CSUN

Professor Erica Wohldmann's office

Thursday, March 22, 2012

1:11pm - 1:42pm

            Upon arrival of meeting Professor Erica Wohldmann during her office hours on this particular Thursday afternoon, there were a group of girls standing outside her office chatting.  Professor Wohldmann's office door was partially open and I could see she was speaking with a female student. I turned to the girls standing in the hallway and asked if they were waiting to speak with Professor Wohldmann.  One girl stated that she was the next one "in line".  I got the impression that they were friends and collectively went to meet with Professor Wohldmann individually.  I set my backpack down and sat against the wall in the hallway of the third floor of Sierra Tower waiting for my turn.  

          I opened up my backpack and pulled out an orange that I had just picked from the orange grove on campus.  I started peeling at it when a male student walked up carrying a skateboard, a backpack, and two tamales.  He asked if I, and the group of girls, standing near me were waiting to speak with Professor Wohldmann.  I spoke up and said that one of the girls standing was next and then I.  He got the picture that it might be a minute and sat down near me, stating that it gave him an opportunity to eat his lunch.  He asked me if I was in Professor Wohldmann's Sustainability 310 class and I replied yes.  He then asked if I enjoyed the class.  I replied that I loved the class and everything it entailed.  He told me that last semester he took the Sustainability 310 class along with the Sustainability 300 class, and I replied that I was doing the same thing this semester and we agreed that it made the experience so much more rich and interesting.  He continued to talk about one of the classes he was taking this semester, Sustainability 401, and how a group within the class is planning on putting solar paneled lighting all along Reseda Blvd.  We chatted for a bit more, and then my turn to speak with Professor Wohldmann came up.

          As I walked into Professor Wohldmann's office I noticed a map on the door.  It was a map of the world, and on it were various colors coordinated with various temperatures of the globe around the world.  I walked into her office and there were two chairs in front of her desk and a bike in the corner.  I noticed wording that was on her window facing outward toward the Sierra Quad, it was backwards from my view but I could see that it said "VOTE WITH YOUR $".  I set my back pack on one of the chairs and sat in the other.  I had my notebook and questions previously pulled out in order to make room for the oranges I had collected earlier.  As I sat she stated, "sorry, let me send this real quick", regarding to an email she was finishing up.  She then turned to me, smiled and said "hello".

-In starting the interview I began discussing the questions I had previously prepared, shared below. 

                                         

                               Questions to ask Food Forward and others

   (Prof. Wohldmann, TreePeople, Heal the Bay, Food Not Bombs…)

 1. What is your philosophy on living sustainably within an urban area?

 2. Do you find living sustainably within an urban area difficult?  If so, why? What challenges           do you face?

 3. What routines do you have that are influenced by your passion to live sustainably?

 4. Where do you see Los Angeles and its sustainable/organic/slow movement in the next five to ten years?

5. What motivates you to follow this path you have started?  

6. Do you feel you influence others to follow in your steps?

7. Are you ever faced with tough questions or debated about the sustainable practices you participate in?  If so, how do you react/ answer?

-For the purposes of this installment and convenience, during verbatim interview recordings I will portray Professor Wohldmann as "EW" and myself as "RH".

RH: So what is your philosophy on living sustainably within an urban region?

EW: (her voice was stern, yet genuine) That people be conscious, that they open their minds, their hearts, their ears, and their eyes. 

RH: What motivates you to follow this path you have started?

EW: I am trying to prolong the inevitable.  I am trying to prolong the demise of our species.  (her tone changes and she begins to bubble up and smile) I also want people to be happy and live happier and healthier lives.

RH: Are you ever approached by individuals who debate you on the issues you are fighting for?  How do you react?

EW: I have a lot of facts in my head.  People like to hear concrete facts, they don't want to hear your opinion on how they should live.  So I’ll throw out 'did you know California produces 60 percent of our nation’s food?’  People start to listen when it's actual facts.

RH: What routines or behaviors do you feel are shaped by your passion to live sustainably?

EW: I drive my car very little.. I teach.  Teaching is the best tool; I teach and provide knowledge to people. 

RH: Do you feel you influence other to follow in your steps?

EW: I don't try and make people do anything.  I just want them to think.  I would like them to be conscious.

-During the first part of the interview stated above, Professor Wohldmann and I were not entirely in a comfortable setting.  The questions I had devised seemed to form a partially uneasy environment.  In asking them I feel that it disconnected both of our ideal expectations we were hoping for from the interview. 

RH: (deciding to follow another route) I feel that these questions may be a little vague and too broad. 

EW: (having a subtle expression of relief) Ya.

-Beyond this point we just began chatting.  The mood was much lighter and I feel that I learned a lot more from this portion of the interview.  Having not recorded it I am unable to share the discussion verbatim. 

-She discussed her experiences after college and how she felt odd having nothing to do after being in front of a computer for months straight writing her dissertation.  She told me that having an abundant amount of free time can really help shape who you are and remind you of the things you like to do.  She said it took her awhile to remember what kinds of things she liked to do, and then she remembered she liked to go hiking.  When she would go hiking she would take an ID book with her to help her learn and identify the different plants around her, realizing some of them were edible.  

-This was interesting to hear, for she now forages for a living.  It was neat to hear her beginnings in how this happened.  Next fall she is actually taking a sabbatical from teaching and driving a vegetable oil-run Vanagon Westy across country, eating wild edible plants the whole way and teaching individuals about food.  She wanted to do this so she can take this knowledge "to the streets", to individuals who aren't as privileged as the ones who are able to attend CSUN. 

-A couple of weeks prior to this interview with Professor Wohldmann, she had taken a couple other students and I on a forage around the CSUN campus.  We learned that rosemary, lavender, onion, strawberries, broccoli, peppers, kale, oranges, walnuts, rosebuds, nasturtium, roses, clover, dandelions, and many other flora were growing on campus and entirely edible.  I told her that she had inspired me on that forage to take others on it.  I mentioned my backpack full of oranges and offered her some.  She had a big smile and said, “ya, if you have them on you I would love one right now”.  I tossed one to her and she started peeling away, continuing with what she was saying.  

-We discussed living in a large area such as Los Angeles and how it can be difficult to live among people who are judgmental and don't understand why one would live in a simpler manner.  She reassured me however, that even though there may only be a minute ten percent living this way in Los Angeles, many of these individuals are extremely interesting and knowledgeable and are definitely worth getting to know.

-She moved to Venice, California from Boulder, Colorado five years ago.  I asked her if since living in Los Angeles she has found a sense of community.  Her eyes grew larger and she stated "oh ya".  She has also created the Venice Harvest Xchange, an event where individuals can come and bring vegetables, fruit, homemade items, and food they have made.  Everything that is brought is either grown or made by the individual.  Money isn't needed either; it’s more of an exchange of reciprocity.  They exchange items instead of "paying" with money.  

        Professor Erica Wohldmann
-As the interview was concluding, she stated that she loved talking to me but she wanted to give Jason (the boy I had been talking to outside) a couple of minutes since he had been waiting so patiently.  She stated with a big smile, "i like you..come by anytime".  I smiled and stated with the same enthusiasm, "I like you too".  I offered her another orange and she giggled and showed her appreciation.  I thanked her and walked out of her office, thanking the boy with the skateboard for his patience as I turned down the hallway.

-I feel that the structured questions may have hindered my abilities to attain a rich interview.  Perhaps I am just better with "on the whim"-type interviews, or perhaps it was the situation that made it difficult due to the heavy topic discussed.  In any case, I feel that the questions I devised did help in preparing me for this interview; however a loose and semi-structured interview seemed to work nicely for me in the particular context I was placed in.  Interviewing processes are just a matter of trial and error, but that goes for everything and anything if you are attempting to become better at it.

-One comment that Professor Wohldmann stated that stuck with me is "be careful what you practice...because you're gonna get good at it”.

Professor Wohldmann’s bus will be leaving the first of June.  She has invited anybody interested in foraging or experiencing her journey with her, to join her for a couple days.  During her seven month adventure across America, she will be blogging the entire away about her experiences and the people she meets.  Something I found appropriate for this ethnography was the title of Professor Wohldmann’s blog… Simply Urban.  If you are interested and want to know more about her trip and what she is doing you can visit her blog at simplyurban-erica.blogspot.com.

Richard Sennet’s The Public Realm focuses on various aspects of public space and its uses.  He mentions how sustainability is an important topic to always consider when discussing urban planning and restoration (p. 264).  Sustainability is, as stated earlier, what makes things last.  This mentality and awareness of having a sustained lifestyle, or city, or food system is what can makes things thrive.  Sennet also describes how urban planning should allow for social interaction within the community.  “Spatial engineering in form of the pressurized street cannot alone induce people to interact… Put in formal terms, diversity and intensity of the street provides a necessary but not sufficient for social cohesion; people remain closed off from one another” (Sennet: 270).   

Sustainable urbanism is a rapidly moving urban form that is taking shape in many cities throughout the world.  Aspects of sustainable urbanism include an efficient form of public transportation, high density housing, and a “walkable city”.  Cities that allow its residents short walking trips to regularly visited destinations also allow for a stronger sense of community.  More individuals walking or biking on the streets allow for a safer community as well, reducing “dead spaces” and therefore reducing crime. 

In Marina Peterson’s Sound, Space, and the City she shows support for this idea of public communion.  Peterson portrays Los Angeles as lacking in a city center, which in my personal opinion does not feel too far from the truth.  She puts up for debate the organization known as Grand Performances held at the California Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles as the current center of this metropolis.  Peterson states that Grand Performances acts as a refreshing change within Los Angeles that will help bring union to this expansive city.  “Making downtown a city center supports ideals of urban form and public life, against Los Angeles’s infamous sprawl” (Peterson: 4).  Peterson uses the term “civic subject” and defines its membership as being recognized using public services and participating in public events (p. 9).  This definition I know does not define most people who live within Los Angeles, mainly due to its size, but this also largely in part because of our single-occupancy vehicles that contribute to Los Angeles’s car culture.          

TreePeople is an organization that was created and developed by fifteen year old Andy Lipkis in 1970.  TreePeople is a group that has the immense initiative on making Los Angeles an urban forest.  TreePeople is an environmental nonprofit that unites the power of trees, people and technology to grow a sustainable future for Los Angeles.  Simply put, there work is about helping nature heal cities. 

On May 5, I attended their second annual Green City Fair.  They had many workshops for individuals to attend and learn about practicing in sustainable ways.  Workshops ranged from the “Renter Do It Yourself on Green Living” to “Water Works- Harvesting the Rain!”.  In the rainwater harvesting workshop they offered rain barrels for sale.  These rain barrels can be used by any homeowner.  For every inch of rain that falls on one square foot of your roof, you can collect over a half gallon of rainwater.  This rainwater can then be used for your garden, washing your car, or any other use that might be wasted with drinking water.

At the Green City Fair there were also many booths offering various services.  There were multiple booths offering Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes.  CSA boxes contain fresh produce form local farms.  These boxes can be delivered or picked up by any individual and are offered at a cheap monthly or weekly rate.  I have used CSA boxes previously and enjoy the surprise in what you receive from your local farms.  You receive whatever is in harvest.  Often times this entails produce you may have never heard of before, allowing you to improvise with your cooking and learn new produce as well as new and intriguing flavors.

Andy Lipkis is an amazing individual and upon seeing him, I was semi star struck.  I introduced myself and expressed my admiration towards him and his remarkable work.  He had a genuine smile and seemed very appreciative of the compliment.  I asked if I could get a picture with him and afterwards he smiled and turned to me stating, “You’re the first person I’ve gotten my picture taken with besides Smokey the Bear.”

Andy Lipkis and I

It is difficult for people to comprehend what is the “right” thing to do, or what is the “best” practice for this method.  Truth be told, I personally do not feel that there is an end all solution, if anyone knows of one feel free to fill me in.  That is what I feel scares people the most, change.  Any change at all is most often considered to be scary, or a risk.  What we need to guide our focus on is comparing one’s current situation with that of an alternative situation.  We tend to forget about the current situation one is currently in, and just focus on the possible negative outcomes of the proposed alternative solution.  We often consider the situation that we are in now as a safety net and a place where no harm can be done.  What about the negative outcomes of one’s current situation, are there none? 

With our nation having its top priorities surrounded around the economy, employment, and terrorism (Pew Research Center 2011) no wonder we are scared, worried and fearful.  If we wean ourselves from these negative emotions and begin to open our minds to other prospects, we may find that these alternative sources are in reality…solutions.

In researching sustainable practices within Los Angeles I have found that the youth seem to be leading this movement.  Maybe this is due to them recognizing that their future, more so than older individuals, is what is at stake.  It is important for individuals, especially the youth, to stand up and take charge of this movement.  Yes this is a movement for our Earth, our home… but it is also a movement for human kind.  I feel that once the weight of this respect is realized, individuals will start to join in.  One quote I would like to conclude with comes from Garrett Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons, “Freedom is the recognition of necessity”.

Bibliography

Petersen, Mariana, 2010 Sound, Space and the City: Civic Performance in Downtown Los     

Angeles. Philadelphia, PA:  Uni. of Pennsylvania Press.

Pew Research Center.  pewresearch.org (2011)

Sennett, Richard, 2010 “The Public Realm” (excerpts from The Fall of Public man, 2008 and

Flesh and Stone: The Body and the City in Western Civilization, 1994) in The Blackwell City Reader, eds. Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.  261-272