Sherman Oaks Clean Up! October 18th

Hi All, Attached is a flyer with the details of our upcoming cleanup day. Please post and distribute the flyer wherever you can. Also, please join us for this cleanup event. We are going to be having only three cleanups a year, so please try to participate in each one. Remember, we always have refreshments and camaraderie! We will sign papers for students who would like to earn community credit. Please also come to the Chamber's fabulous Street Fair the next day to take part in fun, food, and entertainment for the whole family. Anyone who would also like to volunteer to help with that event can call the Chamber office at 818-906-1951. Thanks in advance for all of your help! Please email me or call (818-326-0273) with any questions. Warmly, Leslie Elkan President Village at Sherman Oaks BID Co-chair SOBC

Dog Walking

Gardens and the cooling effect.

I like the idea of rooftop gardens. Maybe this could work here in Sherman Oaks.

Nine Cities, Nine Ideas

Local governments around the globe are coming up with some of the most innovative ways to cut energy use. There are lessons here for places of all sizes.

CHICAGO
LET YOUR GARDEN GROW

About eight years ago, the Windy City began overhauling 15 million square feet of its municipal buildings to make them use less power. On many of the buildings, city officials decided to put in a novel feature: rooftop gardens.

The first was planted atop the 11-story Chicago City Hall, a nearly century-old landmark where the temperature on the roof -- as on many other downtown buildings -- would soar to as high as 160 degrees on hot days. Gardens can keep a roof as much as 70 degrees cooler, city officials say, because all the greenery reflects heat while providing shade. Consequently, less energy is needed to keep a building cool.

The City Hall garden, completed in 2001, covers about 20,000 square feet of the roof, using more than 100 hardy species that can withstand Chicago's fierce winds and temperature extremes. The savings were felt immediately, with the annual power bill for the building falling by 11%, or almost $10,000, city officials estimate.

Since then, the city has expanded the green-roof program dramatically. Now 4 million square feet of municipal and private rooftops either have a roof garden or are in the process of getting one, says Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Chicago's commissioner of the environment. In so doing, Ms. Malec-McKenna says, the city has made sure to use lightweight, permeable soils to keep the rooftops from becoming too overloaded. Waterproof membranes are also fitted below the garden to keep rain runoff and other water from leaking into the building.

A different kind of problem cropped up on the City Hall roof soon after it was finished. "We had a grasshopper invasion," Ms. Malec-McKenna says. "But thankfully the birds got them."

-- Jim Carlton (Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008) To read full article go to wsj.com

Billboards in Sherman Oaks

"Billboards: Now You See Them, Now You Don't!"

is an online visualization project spearheaded by Greg Wright. The idea, in a nutshell, is to take the world as it is now, and to transform it digitally, envisioning it as it could be. The first visualization project is tackling Billboards.

(See Wall Street Journal Article "Deja Vu" by Cynthia Crossen:" (...) The U.S. Supreme Court revisited the issue in 1981. Nine years earlier, the city of San Diego had effectively banned most billboards, and an outdoor advertising company, Metromedia, sued. But California's highest court ruled for the city. "To hold that a city cannot prohibit off-site commercial billboards for the purpose of protecting and preserving the beauty of the environment is to succumb to a bleak materialism," wrote Justice Matthew Tobriner. (...)")

Recycling Centers in Sherman Oaks

I have found three recycling centers around Sherman Oaks, all on Ralph's parking lots, operated by Replanet USA

Ralph's A: corner of Hazeltine and Ventura Blvd.

Ralph's B: corner of Coldwater and Magnolia Blvd.

Ralph's C: corner of Van Nuys and Burbank.

October Clean up day in Sherman Oaks

Sherman Oaks Beautification Committee

CLEAN UP DAY!

Saturday, October 13, 2007, 9 to 11 a.m.

Location: CASA VEGA

Rally in the Alley

RALLY IN THE ALLEY!

Hi All,

On Saturday, September 8^th from 9 am to 11 am, the Sherman Oaks Beautification Committee is having a “Rally in the Alley.” Volunteers will meet at the northeast corner of Van Nuys and Ventura Blvds., by the California National Bank building. After some food and camaraderie, we will go through the north and south alleys, sweeping up trash and debris, pulling weeds and painting out graffiti.

There will be refreshments, courtesy of The Coffee Roaster, Western Bagel, Whole Foods and Sherman Oaks Hospital . Walk-ins are welcome! At past cleanup events, we have had a great deal of support from the Office of Community Beautification, Council District Offices 2 and 5, the Buckley School, Dixie Canyon Elementary, Riverside Drive Elementary, Boy Scout Troop 139, Sherman Oaks Hospital, the new Best Buy staff, New Directions for Youth, Van Nuys Middle School, Pacoima Graffiti Busters, the LAPD, and many wonderful Sherman Oaks residents.

We are encouraging businesses whose rear entrances face either alley, to come out and meet your neighbors and our wonderful volunteers, and join in for a productive and rewarding morning.

If you have any questions, please email leslie_elkan@yahoo.com. Walk-ins are welcome.

See you there!

Warmly,

Leslie

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