| Action | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Carpooling on the Block | SF - Getaround |
Getaround is a peer-to-peer car sharing service operating in San Francisco and several other cities. The Getaround app allows you to rent cars by the hour from your neighbors, or to rent out your own car. This ability to share cars among neighbors helps support a primarily car-free lifestyle. |
| Reducing Water Used for Lawns | LA - Turf Replacement Program |
LADWP currently offers an incentive to replace lawns. As of July 2015, residential customers can receive $1.75 per square foot replaced for 1500 square feet. See also the California DWR's turf replacement rebate program. |
| Achieving Maximum Energy Efficiency | SF - Free Home Upgrade Advisor |
A free Home Upgrade Advisor is available to help you create an energy efficiency shape-up plan to transform your home into the best it can be. A Home Upgrade Advisor can provide direct one-to-one assistance to inform you about energy efficiency options, help you select an appropriate contractor, and help you navigate project installation and financing processes. |
| Creating a Community Vegetable Garden | Palo Alto - Composting Workshops |
The City of Palo Alto has many community resources for gardeners. The City of Palo Alto gives compost workshops and gives away free compost, provides information on less-toxic pest control, and otherwise providing opportunities for the community to maximize their gardening efforts. |
| Finding and Fixing Water Leaks in Your Home | Palo Alto - Checking for Leaks |
Learn how to check for toilet leaks by watching this video from the Santa Clara County Water District. |
| Reducing Your Household Waste | LA - Composting Services |
LA Composting Services provides Information on free composting workshops Saturday mornings and on Griffith Park composting service. In addition: the LA DPW will tell you how to start your own backyard composting, and the How to compost your scraps in LA blog provides more details on reducing waste as an LA resident.
|
| Removing Hazardous Waste | LA - Stormwater Hazardous Waste |
Los Angeles S.A.F.E. Centers accept unwanted household hazardous waste, such as fertilizers, pesticides, paint and used motor oil, free of charge. Here you can find the contact information of different SAFE Centers throughout the city. |
| Reducing Your Household Waste | SF - Environmental Learning Center |
Have you ever wondered where the items you’ve placed in the Blue or Green bin end up? The John A Legnitto Environmental Learning Center is the starting point for tours of the Recology San Francisco facility. In addition to weekly tours of the transfer station, visitors are also able to visit the artist in residency studio/gallery. This tool is provided by Recology SF.
|
| Eliminating Litter with Teamwork | SF - DPW - Community Clean Team |
Community Clean Team is San Francisco Department of Public Works’ longest-running and largest volunteer program that keeps SF beautiful through landscaping and gardening projects, graffiti removal and litter cleanup in our neighborhoods. |
| Generating Power From the Sun | CA - Go Solar California |
Go Solar California offers incentives for installing solar on your home. |
Our neighborhood. Our planet.
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“Cities are the platform for change in our world today. The Cool Block links the challenges facing our planet to the intimate, personal, social scale of the city block. This program starts and ends with the premise and promise—that the individual, household, and neighbors are the way forward in the face of seemingly insoluble global problems.”
