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Save Water, Energy, Money and the Environment

Volume 9, Number 4

April 2013 

IN THIS ISSUE...
Calling Volunteers!
"Earth Month" 2013 Events & Workshops
EUC
EPA
SCG
ACEEE Recognizes SCE
SCE
The Green State
L.A. Metro
California Energy Commission
Sanitation Districts
Reduced Reliance on Imported Water
West Basin
Fix Your Home, Save on Taxes
City of Torrance
SAGE Expo
Green Business Spotlight
Legislation Corner
Cities in the News
A Worthy Read
Interesting Domestic and International Articles Discussing the Environment, Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation





 

CALLING VOLUNTEERS!

There has never been a better time to help out and be recognized.
  

Email Martha, call her at 310.371.7222, x 209 or complete our volunteer application and submit it by email or mail.   
You can make a huge difference! 
 

 Visit Our Cities


Carson
El Segundo
Gardena
Hawthorne
Hermosa Beach
Inglewood
Lawndale Lomita
Manhattan Beach
Palos Verdes Estates
Rancho Palos Verdes
Redondo Beach
Rolling Hills
Rolling Hills Estates
Torrance

SCE Customers in
San Pedro & Harbor City


County Unincorporated Areas in South Bay 

2013 REBATE FORMS 

  

Southern California Gas Company  

 

Southern California Edison

 

West Basin Municipal Water District  

 

 En Espa�ol

 

Southern California Gas Company
Southern California Edison Sanitation Districts of LA County
Metro

  County of Los Angeles 

 

 

Find us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterView our profile on LinkedIn

 

 

www.sbesc.com 

  
  
To read the South Bay Cities Council of Governments' latest edition of its newsletter,
South Bay Watch,
click here

Where Does Your City Rank in the 

SCE Energy Leader Partnership Program?

 

Platinum Tier
20% Energy Reduction Stay Tuned

 

Gold Tier
10% Energy Reduction 
City of Hawthorne
City of Lomita 

 

Silver Tier
5% Energy Reduction 
City of Carson
City of El Segundo
City of Hermosa Beach
City of Inglewood
City of Manhattan Beach
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
City of Redondo Beach
City of Torrance 
 
Valued Level
City of Lawndale
City of Palos Verdes Estates
City of Rolling Hills
City of Rolling Hills Estates
City of Gardena

Did You Know?

71% of Consumers Think Green When Purchasing

Message From the Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Programs

 

"What on earth are you doing?"  "What on earth were you thinking?"  Little do parents know the impact of those two questions they voiced mostly out of frustration for actions taken by their progeny. And now we have "Earth Day"!  

 

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 each year, a date designated as International Mother Earth Day by a consensus resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2009. Events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection.  Earth Day rhymes with birthday - a natural connection (pun intended).

 
Now is the time to ask ourselves, "What on earth are we doing?"  "What on earth are we thinking?"  It is time we own up to the consequences of our actions on Mother Earth and do what we can to make the South Bay an even better place to live, work and play.  The articles that follow offer a path to tomorrow that is not littered with debris from yesterday.

Catherine Showalter

 

"Earth Month" 2013 Events & Workshops
 
Click Here to See a List of Upcoming Workshops & Trainings
Click Here to See a List of Upcoming Events
 
Energy Upgrade Logo
Energy Upgrade California
Contractors and Raters
 
Energy Upgrade California connects you with qualified professionals with the tools and training to help make your home more energy efficient.

Starting Your Project:

You can begin with a Whole-House Home Energy Rating by a qualified Independent Whole-House Home Energy Rater, or you can work directly with a Participating Contractor to plan and complete your energy upgrade.

Some Whole House Raters work with or for Participating Contractors to offer a full range of services that qualify homeowners for all available rebates and incentives.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
South Coast Air Basin Meets Health Standard for Coarse Particulate Matter 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to find the South Coast air basin in attainment for the coarse particulate matter standard, otherwise known as PM-10. EPA has also proposed to approve California's maintenance plan that demonstrates how the area will continue to achieve the standard for at least the next ten years.

Read More

 

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Southern California Gas CompanyThe Gas Company

General Equipment Rebates and Financial Incentives

  

SCG provide rebates to business customers who buy qualifying models of energy-efficient equipment. Their incentive programs cover basically any business process that helps you save on natural gas -- such as replacing existing equipment or adding new equipment.

Search by Equipment Type 

 

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ACEEE Recognizes Exemplary Energy Efficiency Programs
SCE's Commercial Retrocommissioning Program (Southern California Edison) Gets Kudos

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently completed its 3rd National Review of Exemplary Energy Efficiency Programs. We are pleased to recognize the programs listed below. ACEEE and an expert review panel selected these programs as examples of leading designs and practices for energy efficiency programs offered by utilities and related organizations serving utility customers. A compendium of profiles of all these programs will be published later this spring. The profiles will feature program descriptions, performance, and key lessons learned. ACEEE completed earlier national reviews in 2003 and 2008. 

Read More

 

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Southern California EdisonSCE  

Home Energy Guide

 

Check out SCE's step-by-step guide to saving energy at home. Assess savings potential from building materials, water heating, lighting, appliances and more and see what energy efficiency improvements can be made in your home. 

Find Out More Here

 

Congratulations to the Cities of Inglewood and Carson for Receiving Rebate Checks for KWhs Saved!

 

 
  
 

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The Green State 
California Continues to Lead Nation in Green Technology 

The state is No. 1 in areas such as venture capital funding for green technology, green tech patents and the growth in clean power generation, a group says. 

When it comes to the green technology sector, there's California and then there is everyone else.

 

The state has managed to reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions even as its economy and population have grown, according to Next 10, the San Francisco nonprofit group that has produced the California green innovation index for the last five years.

Read More

 

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L.A. Metro
FasTrak� Entry/Exit and Toll Point Locations

 

Click on map below to see where you can enter and/or leave while traveling on the ExpressLanes

 

Vanpool: Additional Benefits

 

Following are several additional benefits available to support employer vanpool programs:

 

Both employers and employees can benefit by participating in Commuter Benefits, a program outlined in the federal tax code, that offers employers tax breaks for subsidizing vanpools for employees. In addition, your employees may benefit when they set aside pre-tax dollars for vanpool commuting expenses.

Participating vanpool leasing agencies accept TransitChek vouchers which can make providing vanpool subsidies to employees easier.

Employer sponsored vanpool lease agreements with an authorized partner leasing agent are also eligible applicants for the Metro Vanpool Program.

Employer sponsored subsidies can lower vanpool fares even more.

Employer sponsored Guaranteed Ride Home Program programs can supplement these programs.

 

Give Melissa a call at the SBESC: (310) 371-7222 and ask how your employer can get a vanpool started for you and your coworkers.

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California Energy Commission
Commission Awards More Than $5.5 Million to Green Transportation

The California Energy Commission approved $5,580,773 for clean-energy transportation projects ranging from producing biofuels to making trucks run cleaner.

 

"These investments are moving the state forward toward a clean transportation sector," said Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller. "Today's awards will help to expand renewable biofuels, further the development of zero emission vehicles, and provide incentives to make alternative fuel vehicles more affordable. These projects protect the environment and public health, while keeping California in the lead in developing green transportation technologies."

Read More

 

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Sanitation Districts of LA County

Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County

Touring the Largest Active Landfill in America

 

On a visit delayed by a long stretch of rain the day before, Venue drove east from downtown Los Angeles to visit the Puente Hills landfill--the nation's largest active municipal dump--near the city of Whittier. 

Read More

  

Household Hazardous and Electronic Waste Program: City of Hawthorne HHW / E-Waste Collection at the Betty Ainsworth Sports Center- Saturday, April 20, 9 am - 3 pm 

 

The Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program (HHW) gives Los Angeles County Residents a legal and cost-free way to dispose of unwanted household chemicals that cannot be disposed of in the regular trash.  

Read More

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Reduced Reliance on the San Francisco Bay-Delta Means Taking Less Water Than Today
A Look at Dependence on Imported Water

A couple weeks ago, the State of California released the first of three installments describing its new draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) for restoring the Bay-Delta estuary. The second installment is scheduled for release this week, with the final batch due the week of April 22nd.  This plan has been many years in the making, and must meet several important benchmarks. One of these benchmarks was imposed by the State Legislature in the Delta Reform Act of 2009, which states that: "The policy of the State of California is to reduce reliance on the Delta in meeting California's future water supply needs through a statewide strategy of investing in improved regional supplies, conservation, and water use efficiency."  This directive recognizes that we need to take less water out of the Bay-Delta in order to restore the estuary and the fishing and farming communities that rely on it, as well as the 25 million Californians who get some portion of their water supply from the Delta.  The Legislature recognized that the State can manage reduced reliance by investing in sustainable regional water supply options like expanded water recycling and conservation.  The portfolio alternative being advanced by NRDC and others is designed to implement this approach in the BDCP process.

West Basin Municipal Water DWest Basinistrict 
Water Tours

 

See first hand where your drinking water comes from by signing up for one of the following tours: 
  • State Water Project Inspection Trip - June 1-2, 2013 
  • Colorado River Aqueduct Inspection Trip - June 7-9 & 28-30, 2013 
  • Diamond Valley Lake - TBD

Flyer

 

Book West Basin's Public Speaker: Ron the "Water Answer Man" (click below)

 

 Photo Credit: Setsiri Silapasuwanchai

 

Fix Your Home, Save on Taxes
Overlooked Tax Breaks for Energy-Saving Home Improvement

One expired at the end of 2011, but the fiscal-cliff legislation resurrected it for 2012 and 2013. The other credit covers expensive stuff and can be a big tax-saver. Here's what you need to know to cash in at tax return time.

 

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City of Torrance 
City of Torrance

Earth Day Recycling Event 

 

Free Recycling Drop-off and Mulch Give-away Event
Parking lot at the corner of Maple Avenue and Civic Center Drive
Saturday, April 20, 2013, 10 am to 2 pm.

S.A.G.E. "Sustainable And Green Environment" Expo
Saturday, April 20th & Sunday, April 21st From 10 am to 4 pm at the Bell Avenue Armory Building and Surrounding Site in Manhattan Beach

Sign up as a Business Vendor, a Non Profit Vendor, a Speaker, a Workshop Instructor, Food and Beverage Service Provider in order to help create greener homes, yards, and lifestyles in the categories that include everything from finance, loans, real estate improvements, buying and selling real estate, architects, landscaper, architects, landscapers, consultants who provide landscaping services to sports activities, fitness, wellness goods and services.  Participate in special events of walking, running, cycling and driving to the Sage Expo and how to organize a group to perform one of these events.

Read More

 

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Green Business Spotlight 
Rain Goddess 
 
Conventional wisdom suggests that water-starved Southern California would embrace something as sustainable and economical as a rainwater catchment system. However, environmental consultant Kimberly Colbert did not find this to be the case when she suggested such investments to her clients to satisfy the State Water Resources Control Board's Low Impact Development (LID) requirements.

"No one would do it," Colbert said, "because they said the conventional rain barrels looked hideous."  
 

Legislation Corner 

Policies to Remove Market Barriers to Energy Efficiency, Leverage Market Forces
 
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy released a new report highlighting 16 policies would that remove market barriers across the economy to investments in energy efficiency. The report, Overcoming Market Barriers and Using Market Forces to Advance Energy Efficiency, provides Congress and state policymakers with a road map to address national energy consumption through policies that could save the country approximately $1 trillion in energy bills and 19 quads in energy consumption.
Read More
Cities in the News 
Go Greener by Composting Your Kitchen Waste - Manhattan Beach

  

For those of you who already recycle and are looking to further reduce your environmental impact, composting can be a fun and rewarding activity. It's also a resourceful way to feed your houseplants or garden.

 

But what if you don't live in a house or have a yard for big composting bins? If you have extra space in a closet or a cabinet, have a balcony or are allowed on the roof of your apartment building, you can still compost effectively.

Read More

Go Green by Thrift Shopping, Donating Your Old Clothes - Manhattan Beach
 

If you're in the market for some new threads, consider buying old ones. Thrift store shopping can be a great way to save money and reduce your impact on the environment, if you can stand to wear gently-used garments - ones that have seen a wash cycle, of course.

 

Also, donating your old clothes to a second-hand store, like Goodwill

in Manhattan Beach, instead of throwing them in the trash will keep your contribution from ending up in a landfill. Some thrift shops will even buy your old digs, cha-ching.  

Read More

 

Manhattan Beach among the First to Deploy Latest Generation High-Tech Parking Meters

 

The City of Manhattan Beach will conclude the installation of an additional 420 smart parking meters from IPS Group, Inc. this week in downtown parking lots, and near Bruce's Beach and El Porto. The new high-tech solar-powered M5meters offer users additional payment options such as credit/debit card, smart card, and pay-by-cell payment. The installation of the new M5 meters brings the total number of credit card-capable meters in Manhattan Beach to 1,200.
Read More

 

Hermosa Beach Family Opens Eco-Friendly Home To Public 

 

A year after a Hermosa Beach family retrofitted their home with all-green features, they are showing off its benefits.


The home, which features solar panels and recycled glass bathroom tiles, has won numerous environmental honors, including the 2012 Green Leadership Award for Los Angeles County.

Read More  

 

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