Wednesday, April 14, 2010

County Recognizes "green leadership"

NEWS RELEASE

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 

                                    Contact:         Judy Hammond, Director of Public Affairs, (213) 974-1363

     Brian Lew, Assistant Director, (213) 974-1652 

                                                          Ruth Wong, Green Leadership Awards Project Chair         

  (213) 974-1361

 

                                                                   April 14, 2010

 

County Presents Second Annual Green Leadership Awards

 

Board of Supervisors Recognizes Outstanding

“Green Leadership” Projects

 

Black and Green Logo

The County Board of Supervisors on April 20 will present its second Annual Green Leadership Awards, recognizing outstanding community energy conservation and environmental efforts. 

 

The awards will be presented at 9:30 a.m. during the Board of Supervisors meeting at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles.

 

Receiving the Chair’s Green Leadership Award will be LA Creek Freak blogger Joe Linton, a longtime advocate for the revitalization and restoration of the Los Angeles River.

 

 

Recipients of the four Green Leadership Awards are:

  • Natural Gas Port Truck Project, California Cartage Company
  • Elmer Avenue Neighborhood Retrofit Project, Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council
  • Sustainability Metrics Program, City of Pasadena
  • Community-Driven Change, Ashley Zarella Hand

 

Board Chair, Supervisor Gloria Molina, said the Green Leadership Program is important because it promotes awareness and responsibility, shares best practices and inspires others to follow their leadership.  “Together, we work toward ecological restoration and a sustainable future that will improve the lives of all residents of the County.”

 

The Chair’s Green Leadership Award was selected for the following accomplishments:

 

Joe Linton

LA Creek Freak Blogger

Joe Linton is an artist, author and activist living in Koreatown, Los Angeles. He has been a longtime advocate for the revitalization and restoration of the Los Angeles River. He’s led hundreds of walks and tours of the river and its tributaries, and has advocated for parks, landscape, bike paths, master plans, and water quality enhancements.  Linton wrote and illustrated Down by the Los Angeles River: Friends of the Los Angeles River’s Official Guide. This guide is about places to walk and bike along the river and its tributaries, with sections on history, projects underway, historic bridges, and much more. Linton was recognized in LA Weekly in 2006 as the river’s unofficial “minister of access.”

Linton lives at the Los Angeles Eco-Village, where he gardens, harvests rainwater, writes policies, and blogs.  He has lived car-free since 1992. He was one of the founders of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and has advocated for non-motorized transportation alternatives, transit-oriented development, traffic calming, and parking reform.  He is the campaigns director for Cyclists Inciting Change thru Live Exchange or C.I.C.L.E.

 

The four Los Angeles County Green Leadership award winners were selected for the following accomplishments:

 

California Cartage Company

California Cartage Company Natural Gas Port Truck Project

California Cartage operates the largest port drayage company in Los Angeles County. In response to a strong call to reduce emissions from the ports, the company developed and implemented the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) truck deployment project in the nation. California Cartage’s efforts have resulted in a revolutionary lease-to-own program with 350 LNG trucks serving the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The company’s commitment to natural gas trucks has resulted in its operations in the San Pedro Bay Port complex being possibly the cleanest port truck operation in the nation.

 

Elmer Avenue Neighborhood Retrofit Project

The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council

The Elmer Avenue Neighborhood Retrofit Project demonstrates multiple alternative stormwater best management practices to increase groundwater recharge, improve water quality, reduce flooding, reduce pollution, and restore habitat. A one block section of Elmer Avenue in Sun Valley has been retrofit with state-of-the-art management practices. Specific techniques include facilities to capture runoff for infiltration to the underground aquifer and reuse, drought-tolerant landscape, bio-infiltration, irrigation controllers, permeable surfaces, and more green space and habitat areas. This project will provide a real-world model of sustainable design.

 

Sustainability Metrics Program

City of Pasadena

The City of Pasadena developed a detailed metrics system to measure its progress in achieving the goals of its 2006 Green City Action Plan. Initiated in 2008, the sustainability metric system identified more than 170 indicators, including tons of waste diverted from landfills and gallons of water conserved. Data was gathered for 2006 through 2008 and a customized software program with a centralized database was created by staff. The program reveals data trends, emerging issues and data gaps. It assists the city in determining where progress is being made, or not, and provides officials with information to guide policies and solutions to achieve sustainability goals.

 

Community-Driven Change

Ashley Zarella Hand, Chair, Sustainability Committee

Ashley Zarella Hand launched the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Committee to develop a community greening strategy and resource toolkit. Hand has led committee efforts to increase participation in existing public services, create opportunities for education, identify critical issues for advocacy, and champion best practices for other neighborhood councils. The Sustainability Committee was awarded the 2009 national AIA SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) grant to bring professional resources to the neighborhood. Hand, with her personal experience in green building, communication, and community organization, has engaged hundreds of community members in conversations and initiatives to empower neighbors and create a more livable, affordable and efficient urban center.

 

 

-lacounty.gov-

 

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