| Action | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mulching Grass | SF – Water Wise Gardening |
Look over this guide before you begin your next garden project or to find out how to make changes to your maintenance and irrigation practices that can save water and money. You’ll find lots of helpful tips and resources on each page. See page 9 on mulching guidelines. This guide is provided by the SF Public Utilities Commission. |
| Creating a Healthy Block Club | LA - Best Running Routes |
Find out where the most enjoyable runs are in LA and organize a team run with your neighborhood. Cultivate a healthy lifestyle alongside your neighbors. |
| Resolving Disputes on the Block | LA - City Attorney's Mediation Program |
Neighbors have easy access to a process that can help them resolve problems. Mediation is offered to City of Los Angeles residents for free by the City Attorney's office |
| Cutting Emissions from Heating | Palo Alto - Attic Insulation Rebate |
Palo Alto residents can receive a $0.20 per square foot rebate when proper R-38 attic insulation is installed as a retrofit. For example, a 1,000 square foot attic would be eligible for a $200 rebate. Visit the SmartEnergy website or call (650) 329-2241. Proper attic insulation can reduce heating and cooling needs by up to 30%. Since heating and cooling typically account for the largest amount of energy used in the average California home, you can save money year-round on your energy bills. |
| Reducing Water Used for Toilet Flushing |
LA - Save Our Water Rebates LA - Water Smart Rebates |
The state of California is currently providing rebates to households who install high efficiency toilets. |
| Creating Sustainable Landscaping | Palo Alto - Bay Area Water-saving Plants |
Learn about water-saving plants suitable for the Bay Area. Rebates are available here. In addition, Palo Alto maintains a "Water & Drought Update", providing additional water user guidelines. |
| Creating a Streamside “Grow Zone” | LA - Green Gardens Group |
Green Gardens Group offers a variety of classes that help educate people to use their landscape to save soil, sequester carbon, secure water supplies, and restore watersheds. |
| Creating a Community Vegetable Garden | Palo Alto - Community Gardens |
Scattered throughout Palo Alto are plots of land dedicated to providing Palo Altans with a place to dig their hands into the soil and plant vegetables, flowers, and herbs. These gardens provide the following benefits: less reliance on commercially grown produce; reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from food transport; a focal point for community gathering and interaction; and increased physical activity. Contact: Catherine Bourquin at catherine.bourquin@cityofpaloalto.org. |
| Removing Hazardous Waste | LA – Hazardous and E-waste Collection |
The Household Hazardous Waste and Electronic Waste Collection Program (HHW) gives Los Angeles County residents a legal and cost-free way to dispose of unwanted household chemicals that cannot be disposed of in the regular trash. |
| Eliminating Litter with Teamwork | SF - DPW - Adopt-A-Street |
The Adopt-A-Street Program is a partnership between the City and its merchants and residents. Groups or individuals agree to an area and take responsibility for keeping the street, sidewalk, and storm drain clean. In return, the SFDPW provides free street cleaning supplies, and litter and compostable leaf bag pickup.
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Our neighborhood. Our planet.
Resources
“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.”
