Community Gathering
and Spring Feast

Practical Ways to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Water:

Another community conversation about
Facing Drought Together

You're invited to one of our popular community gatherings on Friday evening, May 30. It's a great time to mingle with neighbors, share a potluck supper and learn practical ways to conserve and reuse water in your landscape.

Lake Casitas is below 60% capacity

Our idea is to have an evening out with good food and good people, while sharing with everyone a better understanding of how we each have a part in keeping our watershed recharged and healthy by utilizing personal and practical actions. Did you know that in the residential sector, on average, we use more water outside in our yards, then inside our homes?

Hosted by the Coalition at the Chaparral Auditorium, 414 E. Ojai Ave., the evening begins with a meet and greet from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m., food sharing from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the program. There will also be information tables with more we can learn about water conservation and our watershed.

Bring, share and celebrate our spring's bounty with your favorite salad, entr�e, or dessert featuring seasonal, local and organic ingredients. To reduce our landfill waste, please bring your own table service (plate, silverware, mug, and cloth napkin). There is a $5 suggested donation. For more information send an email or call (805) 669-8445.

Improving our Dark Skies,
Decreasing our Energy Footprint:
A Progress Report

As we have shared in past newsletters, the city of Ojai passed an updated exterior lighting ordinance in August 2013. The intention of the ordinance was to help guide city residents and businesses in ways that help dim the "glow" creeping over the Valley. Since then, our director, Deborah Pendrey, and OVGC member and Dark Skies advocate, Gail Topping, have been meeting monthly with the City Manager, Rob Clark and other staff to develop outreach, including:

1. The city started with a residential focus, mailing out a notice and call for voluntary compliance - dimming and down-turning lights is the best help and improvement anyone can do.
2. The Coalition wrote an article published in the Ojai Valley News on November 8, 2013.
3. We are supplying the city with dark skies literature and have literature and an informational display available at our Resource Center.
4. We also have surveyed residential lighting on several city streets, to see after a year of outreach, if it has made a difference.

The city is now turning its attention to businesses and is scheduling its second workshop for business owners to discuss the ordinance with city staff. The Coalition will do further outreach with another article to the newspaper, as well as meeting with businesses, one on one, with lighting resource packets.

Also in coordination with the city, we are developing a 'recognition certificate' to present to businesses that have dark sky friendly exterior lighting. We are very excited about this, because Gail, who is also an artist, has designed the graphics to be used - so the certificate will be unique and beautiful.

Please start thinking about who you would nominate for a certificate. Watch for our next newsletter where we'll have a sample of the certificate and be ready to take names.

You Load 16 LED Bulbs
and What Do You Get?

a Smaller Energy Footprint and Electric Bill!

Upgrading your lighting is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to reduce your energy use. For a limited time, Southern California Edison is offering discounts of up to $15 each on select light-emitting diode (LED) and compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. If you live in a qualifying zip code, you can save at participating online retailers, and see energy savings for years to come. Limit 16 bulbs - visit Bulbs.com or EFI.org.

Get enlightened with these other Edison resources:

Interior Lighting 101
Interior Lighting Buying Guide
Light Bulbs Use & Care