The Greenius Misplaces His Mojo… Momentarily

Categories carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, politicsLeave a Comment on The Greenius Misplaces His Mojo… Momentarily
The entire 2nd half of 2010 found the Greenius in a Mystery Spot where the rules of nature no longer applied....

Wow, March First already.  Time do fly, don’t it?  It has definitely been been awhile, hasn’t it?  How you been?

Your beloved Greenius has been M.I.A. from this URL for all of 2011 – until now.  Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t.  Either way, I’m back and I’m returning with a new attitude, recharged energy and a fresh direction.  I can only imagine how thrilled you must be.

After playing a more subdued, measured and politically correct role locally for the past two years I am soooo over that.  I’m taking the gloves back off and cracking my knuckles.  Consider me now unshackled, uncensored and unafraid.  The perfect positioning for our What the Fuck? era.

I’d say “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” but hell I’m such an inherently nice guy at heart that no one would believe that… well, except maybe the gasholes who I’ll be metaphorically skewering like a razor sharp steel spike through a marinated lamb shish-kabob over burning hot coals.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?

I put up with a lot of crap last year and some of it shook me to my core. I’ll be the first to admit it, I lost my mojo as 2010 wore on and it wasn’t pretty.  Ennui and despair are a bitter and ugly cocktail to swallow, but that’s what was being served at the Green Bar for the last six months of 0h-ten and I drank enough to suffer a long hangover.

But I’m not hungover any more.  And I’ve not only got my mojo back, I’m ready to have me some laughs.  Seriously.

Continue reading ➞ The Greenius Misplaces His Mojo… Momentarily

Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

Categories climate change, energy efficiency, environment, Sustainability7 Comments on Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

I ordered my new 2011 wall calendar for my office from Amazon.com because they had the best price and free shipping.  But I thought that free shipping meant “no cost” not “brain free.”  Apparently that’s not the case because Amazon sent me my 2011 calendar in a box big enough to ship a flat screen TV.  Check it out: When the box arrived via Fed Ex ground, I got excited thinking someone had sent me a large gift…I mean this box was huge, dwarfing my large sized trash and recycle bins…

Continue reading ➞ Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Hey, Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, I’ve Got Your New Direction Right Here!

Categories carbon producers, climate change, electric cars, energy efficiency, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green jobs, plug-in cars, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Hey, Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, I’ve Got Your New Direction Right Here!

The Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce quietly parted ways with its executive director last week, telling local reporters only that it wanted to embark on “a new direction” that would include “more community outreach and more collaboration with local businesses and city government.”

Well I’ve got just the new direction the Chamber is looking for.

It’s a direction totally in line with its mission to “promote, educate and organize the businesses which serve our residents” and will instantly deliver on its desire for community outreach and collaboration with both businesses and city government.

The Green Idea City movement has been slowly building since the Hermosa Beach City Council embraced it at its January goal-setting workshop, as then-Mayor Michael DiVirgilio outlined in his March article in the Daily Breeze.

Read the rest of the story on Hermosa Beach Patch.com

GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Top 10 Green Champions in Hermosa I’m Most Thankful For

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green jobs, plug-in cars, politics, recycling, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Top 10 Green Champions in Hermosa I’m Most Thankful For

When it comes to the holiday season I’m a Thanksgiving kind of guy.

I love everything about T-Day: the focus on gratitude and appreciation, the gathering of family and friends, the sharing of a feast we’ve all contributed to, and best of all, its non-denominational inclusiveness.

In a year when there was hardly anything on the national environmental scene to be thankful for (and frankly plenty to flat out freak out over) it’s been the right time to think globally and act locally, especially if that locality happens to be Hermosa Beach where you have green champions such as:

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON HERMOSA BEACH PATCH.COM

Ready To Be Part of Art History & Be Seen Around the World? Join Us On November 21 for Another 350.org Spectacular!

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, fossil fuels, renewable energy, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on Ready To Be Part of Art History & Be Seen Around the World? Join Us On November 21 for Another 350.org Spectacular!

As you know my pals at 350.org have a certain flare for the dramatic. The Global Work Party on 10/10/10, which your South Bay 350 Climate Action Group was proud to be part of, was the largest day of carbon-cutting action in the planet’s history.  And there’s no way we’re stopping there.  The acceleration of climate change in 2010 won’t let us.

Now, artists and activists have dreamed up an out-of-this-world art project that will keep the climate crisis on the front pages of media outlets around the globe.  Talk about pure creative greenius!

And when I say “out-of-this-world” you can take me literally.

Continue reading ➞ Ready To Be Part of Art History & Be Seen Around the World? Join Us On November 21 for Another 350.org Spectacular!

Don’t Miss the RETHINK: GREEN Benefit for ECHS on Nov 6

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, green education, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on Don’t Miss the RETHINK: GREEN Benefit for ECHS on Nov 6

If you dig Environmental Charter High School and the the Green Ambassadors as much as I do then you’re not going to want to miss this all star charity event on their behalf, especially if you’re also a fan of Ed Begley Jr. and his Living With Ed Show.  Check out the details and join me on Saturday, Nov 6 in supporting these true green heroes!

Creative Greenius Loves Hermosa Beach Sharrows & You Should Too

Categories Bicycles, citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, Sustainability, Yes We Can!Leave a Comment on Creative Greenius Loves Hermosa Beach Sharrows & You Should Too

 

Members of the newly formed South Bay Bicycle Coalition are happy with the Hermosa Beach "sharrows," which allow bicyclists to use a lane of traffic on Hermosa Avenue. The group hopes to see more South Bay cities install such bicycle-friendly facilities. (Steve McCrank, Daily Breeze Staff Photographer)

 

I’ve written before about the sharrows Hermosa Beach painted on Hermosa Ave earlier this year and how much I like them.  I continue to use them and I like them even more now.  I feel safer when riding on Hermosa Ave and the cars on the road don’t seem to have any real problems going around me if they need to.

Since I stop at all the stop signs, I get a certain amount of respect from the vehicles I’m sharing the road with too.

I think a lot more streets should feature sharrows throughout Hermosa Beach and the newly resurfaced Upper Pier Ave is a good place to put them next. I think most of my friends in the South Bay Bicycle Coalition and the Beach Cities Cycling Club agree with me.

My recent bicycle tour of Long Beach with their Mobility Coordinator extraordinaire, Charlie Gandy, further convinced me of the benefits of sharrows.  Their green painted sharrow lane on 2nd Street in the Belmont Shore neighborhood produced 30% more cyclists with fewer crashes, 20% fewer cyclists riding on the sidewalk and a 50% reduction in car/bike crashes.

A big part of the reasons sharrows work so well in Long Beach is because of the great job they did educating their elected officials, the police force and the public.  They made sure they got the word out, that people in the community understood what the rules were and what the benefits would be from  working together.  The result?  Long Beach is fast on the way to becoming the most bicycle friendly city in California.

There’s no reason Hermosa Beach can’t follow that same sharrow story of success and indeed if Hermosa really wants to be taken seriously as a “Green Idea City” or wants to actually achieve carbon neutrality it’s going to need sharrows and a lot more bicycle infrastructure and friendliness to get there.

Step one to get there is for a strong bicyclist turnout for Wednesday (Oct 20) night’s public forum on Hermosa Beach Sharrows.  Check out the details after the jump.

Continue reading ➞ Creative Greenius Loves Hermosa Beach Sharrows & You Should Too