Greener Stationary

I'm always on the lookout for better choices for stationary and supplies. I recently found these "kinder" pencils at two local shops.



Forrest Choice is a company based in Stockton, California and they produce pencils from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood. I found mine at my local Whole Foods but they have an online shop. The colored pencils would be great for kids and you can buy 12 boxes for $29 if you wanted to go the party favor route.

The box I have states the pencils are made in Thailand which takes the shine off a little but if you live in the UK you have Remarkable.

They again have colored pencils made out of "good wood" or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood. They also have pencils made from recycled CD cases, video cassettes, plastic cups and boxes and on and on. Best of all they make all kinds of office supplies. It looks like they make the products right there in Worcester in the Remarkable Factory. I can't tell if they ship internationally but again getting these things all the way to California defeats the purpose a little. I found mine at the Reform School in Los Angeles.

Let us know about other green stationary you buy and use.

Los Angeles Green Tour

A couple of weekends ago we were lucky enough to go on a tour connected with the Do it Now: Live Green exhibition at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis.

We started at a green home in Malibu owned by Colette Brooks and Eric Cadora. They talked us through figuring out a green remodel and shared some great resources with us including:

The Giam Catalogue
LaundryPure by EcoQuest. You don’t need to use detergent with this.
Trex Decking
Home Depot Eco Options
Mother Earth Magazine
Waterless Urinals by Duravit. Here is Eric in the NY Times with his.

Because of the remodel Eric has become a consultant on green building. His company is Moss Cadora

But best of all they shared their beautiful property with us which overlooks the pacific, oh, and their 5, hugely entertaining dogs!

Second was a tour of a client’s home of architect Roger White. The architect himself gave us a tour and showed us what could be done with a typical residential home. Noah Goldman who consulted on the roof solar panels was also there to talk us through some of the issues.

We then headed over to Living Green in Culver City. This is a great building materials and interior furnishings resource. Although I’ve been before, having the owner show you around adds a whole different dimension to a place like this.

Next was a prefab residence in Venice designed by Living Homes. They have a really great audio tour on their website which is worth checking out.

Finally we visited the residence of David Hertz of Syndesis, Inc.; He is currently building a home out of a 747!

turn it off!

1 hour tonight los angeles! from 8 - 9. "Fight climate change with the flick of a switch!"

Reduce Reuse Recycle...

My kids have become obsessed with the 3 r's. Pointing out to me each time we successfully take one on. (Reusing the milk pitcher as a bird seed scoop before putting it into the blue can scores big points!) Yes, we have even been spotted sorting the neighbors trash for them. (With L.A.'s new guidelines we want to make sure that everyone is doing all they can!) And most of their clothes come as hand-me-downs or thrift shop finds. (Lucky girls at the bottom of a line of 11 granddaughters to my mother-in-law!)

In our constant hunt for bargains, and our making a point to reuse, we are going to try and make it to annual LA Kids Consignment Sale this weekend in Van Nuys. Held twice a year, the sale features more than 20,000 new and gently used kid items from babyhood to teens. Admission is free. Hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Sunday. Bargain hunters should note that on Sunday, items are 50 percent off. And pull the piggy bank down off the shelf - all sales are cash only. Seville Hall, 7963 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys. 818-693-3183.

(thanks Judy!)