Anyone Out There Want to
Save Money and Conserve Energy?

If you want to save money and lighten your ecological footprint, read on. At the last community gathering we announced the roll-out of our Ojai Energy Efficiency Initiative with the long term goal of a "Net Zero" valley. The initiative is an educational outreach program to connect energy consumers to the newest technologies and funding resources to help lessen our overall energy consumption.

The OVGC obtained $11,000 in grant financing from the Edison and Sempra Foundations to hire an outreach coordinator and act as a resource clearinghouse. The initial effort is about showing consumers all the latest incentives to conserve and even produce the energy we use. The vision for the program is to bring people into the OVGC Resource Center where they can sit down at a computer with a knowledgeable volunteer and find a program that may be right for them, and at the same time we will take the information into the community through presentations tailored to the audience.

to read more click here.

Creek Habitat Restoration Work
Has Resumed in Libbey Park

If you love Libbey Park then show up on Saturday morning March 10th to help out with the ongoing creek habitat restoration project. This new phase of the restoration is being run by the C.R.E.W. with a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as well as support from Patagonia and Bank of America.

C.R.E.W. clears the way for volunteers. Photo courtesy of Timothy Teague

Partnering on this effort with volunteer recruitment is the Coalition, which has been involved with creek restoration in Libbey Park since 2009. This is a great opportunity to learn about and help improve a local ecosystem, and it so happens that our first volunteer work day is during California's Arbor Week, so come on down and do some tree planting with us. The creek in the lower part of the park has been choked out for years with an aggressive invasive weed called Himalayan Blackberry. "It out-competes the native plants and does not provide the native birds and animals with habitat," says Brian Holly, the consulting biologist for the project. "We have removed most of the plant already and are ready to plant natives in certain areas."

Please join us March 10th to help remove invasive non-natives plants and plant native habitat. If you can't make it there will be another opportunity to help on Saturday, March 24th and Saturday, April 28th. You can just show up at 9:30 a.m. and check-in at the volunteer table next to the old jail building in the lower Libbey Park. The work will go to about 1:00 p.m. Wear long pants and long sleeves with closed-toed shoes or boots. The Coalition will provide work gloves, tools, water and snacks.

If coming by car, you can park at the lower Libbey parking lot off of South Montgomery Street and follow the signs. Those under the age of 18 will need a liability release waiver signed by a parent or guardian, which can be obtained ahead of time via email. For more information please send an email or call (805) 669-8445.

From the GMO Labeling
Initiative Front

"The goal of the ballot initiative is simply that
GE (genetically engineered) food be labeled"
- Jan Dietrick and Ron Whitehurst

Thank you Jan and Ron for your tireless leadership, time, and effort!

If you agree we have a right to know and are a registered voter, but have not signed yet, please make a point of doing so at one of these locations before April 22. (for sites outside of Ojai go to www.labelgmos.org/ventura).

- Ojai Farmers' Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays

Businesses hosting tables with petitions for Ventura County registered voters only:

- Rainbow Bridge, 211 E. Matilija St., Ojai
- Ojai House, 304 N. Montgomery St., Ojai
- Farmer and the Cook, 339 W. El Roblar Dr., Ojai

Why the Coalition endorses this effort is well-expressed by this organization:

"Eco-Farm is deeply concerned that the development and release of genetically engineered crops worldwide has progressed rapidly with inadequate oversight, scant safety testing and minimal public debate. We strongly support a halt to the approval, commercialization, or release of GE crops under the current system that comprises woefully inadequate self-regulation by the GE industry. We want to insure that no GE crops are released without adequate long-term, independent testing about their effects on health and the environment. The decisions that we make now about genetic engineering in food crops will have permanent consequences on our local food production system and the legacy we leave behind for our children and grandchildren."

to read more click here.

Single-Use Carryout
Bag Ordinance Update

At the February 28 city council meeting Executive Director Deborah Pendrey gave a heartfelt presentation and several individuals along with representatives from the Surfrider Foundation and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper gave further testimony as to the importance of passing the ordinance (some support conditional on changes to the ordinance). Council members requested several changes, but with a vote 5 to 0, supported the ordinance, and on March 13 a final reading will be done and the ordinance is expected to officially become law! Now, the ordinance is a ban on plastic bags (state law does not allow a fee on them) with a fee on paper bags because the point is to reduce all single-use point of sale bags.

Breaking out in a cold sweat at the thought? Life without point-of-sale plastic bags is possible (remember they've only been around since 1973).

to read more click here.