With over 600 food related establishments to choose from, Santa Monica is a great place to dine. However, plastic food service containers have become a major pollutant in our coastal waters and across the nation. Now, Santa Monica stands with other leading cities in banning StyrofoamŪ, plastics marked #6, and other non-recyclable to-go containers. By providing sustainable to-go containers we protect the Santa Monica Bay and eat well. If your favorite restaurant needs help making the switch, let us know. Visit the ban's website for information including: Container Ban Frequently Asked Questions
Container Distributors List
Container Ban Ordinance
Container Successes
Refuse & Recycling Tips

The City of Santa Monica recently awarded Allsteel Inc., a furniture designer and manufacturer, a $25,000 grant as an incentive for certifying its new Santa Monica showroom under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Program.  

Launched in 2004, the grant program encourages private- sector builders to construct sustainable buildings and provides incentive for the design of buildings under the LEED program, the nationally accepted benchmark for the design and construction of high- performance green buildings.

As part of the grant award, Allsteel will open its facility to the city for green building tours. The company will also work with the city to create educational materials, case studies and photos, making the showroom an ongoing resource center for green building in the city.

Allsteel's Santa Monica location, designed by architectural firm HOK, earned Silver certification in LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI). The 16,000-square-foot showroom opened in April 2007. It is located in the park-like Water Garden office complex. The selection of this site - along with a number of other initiatives, such as using 100 percent recycled water for its landscape irrigation, incorporating a daylighting system and using low- emitting materials and indoor pollutant source control - helped the company earn its LEED-CI Silver designation for the showroom.

Santa Monica launches a new program turning food waste into electricity!

Food waste makes up as much as 20% of the total solid waste stream that gets buried or burned. The City of Santa Monica was awarded an EPA grant to implement a demonstration project to reduce food waste being buried at landfills. This project will involve the collection of food waste and diversion of this waste to Hyperion Treatment Plant for "waste to energy" or for composting at a site in Bakersfield.

The City is in the process of identifying community partners for this food collection effort.

We are looking to collect 50,000 gallons of food waste every day!

To see if your business qualifies for food collection, please contact Karl Bruskotter: karl.bruskotter@smgov.net, 310.458.2255

Santa Monica Landscape Water Effiency Competitive Grant Program

Applications accepted: January 2008 - March 2007

Reducing outdoor water use is critical to Santa Monica's sustainable future. Currently, the City of Santa Monica imports over 90% of its water from Northern California and the Colorado River (over 400 miles) and nearly half of the water consumed in Santa Monica homes is used for watering landscapes!

With the Sustainable City Plan goal of curbing citywide water use 20% by the year 2010, the City has expanded its water efficiency incentive programs with the addition of this competitive landscape grant program.

This grant program offers incentives up to $20,000 for water-efficient landscaping. Since 2005, over $350,000 has been awarded to home-owners, apartment owners, businesses and schools.

Want to learn how to make your landscape more sustainable and how to get City of Santa Monica's water efficiency incentives? Then come to the Green Building Resource Center's upcoming February panel! Featuring City of Santa Monica's Water Specialist, Kim O'Cain, and other sustainable landscape professionals.

Date: Tuesday 2/26
Time: 6:30-8:30PM
Location: Santa Monica Public Library
601 Santa Monica Blvd.,
This event is free of charge and open to the public.
Questions: phone 310.452.7677, gbrc@globalgreen.org

We're growing! The Sustainable Santa Monica Online Community is now at 30 members. Our members our starting groups, posting discussions, sharing videos, and helping to create a community networking resource. Join us today!

The Santa Monica Public Library continues its partnership with the Santa Monica Farmers Market with a series of four programs in 2008.

The first program in the series is The Secret Lives of Private Chefs.

Panelists include:
Master Chef Dave Rubell, former personal chef to Bruce Springsteen and former Executive Chef at the Academy Awards Governors Ball
Private Chef Mark Gold, former Executive Chef at Cafe Pinot and Leatherby's Cafe Rouge
Farmer Alex Weiser, Weiser Family Farms
and Farmer Molly Gean from Harry's Berries.

Santa Monica Farmers Market Supervisor Laura Avery will moderate the discussion.

After the program you are invited to enjoy farmers market treats prepared by Chefs Rubell and Gold.

When: Thursday, February 28th, 7-9PM
Where: Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd.

This program is FREE and open to the public. Seating is limited and on a first arrival basis.

For more information, call (310) 458-8600 or visit www.smpl.org

Here is an opportunity to have your voice heard and help shape the future of our community.

The Land Use & Circulation Element (LUCE) is coming together, and the next "Building Block" workshop will be a critical session on February 9 on the topic of Santa Monica's Boulevards: Exploring opportunities for transit, walkability, neighborhood serving uses and workforce housing.

Your participation will help to make the LUCE a useful document that provides a blueprint for tackling the City's toughest problems, ensuring that future development in the City is guided by the community's principles and brings community benefits, rather than taking the form of piecemeal projects with negative impacts.

What: LUCE Workshop - Santa Monica's Boulevards
Where: John Adams Middle School, 2425 16th St. (entry gate on 17th St.)
When: Saturday, February 9, 2008; 9:00 am registration (9:30 start time) - 2:30 pm

Please RSVP to shapethefuture2025@smgov.net to help us with a count for refreshments and lunch, but feel free to come even if you have not RSVP'd. You can also call us at (310) 458-8341 to RSVP or receive more information.