“Flat is so passe…until 1825 it was seldom, if in any year, that the river discharged even during the rainy season its waters into the sea. Instead of having a river way to the sea, the waters spread over the country, filling the depressions in the surface and forming lakes, ponds and marshes. The river…
Lisa Cahill
Lisa Cahill first began her work with TreePeople as a volunteer Citizen Forester. She currently serves on the board of directors for the reDiscover Center, continues to volunteer as a Citizen Forester, has been on the Mar Vista Green Garden Tour and serves on several green committees at her church and children's schools. She most enjoys working in the garden with her husband, watching her children and vegetables grow.
Roll Out Your Rain Barrel to Protect the Ocean!
June 21, 2016Summertime is in full effect, which means we’ll all be flocking to the beach here in LA! While you’re soaking up the sun, you might notice that our oceans are looking extra clear. Studies have shown that our beaches are cleaner during this time of year because of an unintended consequence of the drought– reduced…
The Artifice of Artificial Turf
June 16, 2015You may have been hearing a lot of praise for fake grass in the media lately, but I’m here to set the record straight: Fake turf does more harm than good. I’m not sure when I started hating artificial grass. Maybe it was when my beloved grandmother planted fake flowers in her garden beds so…
If I Had a (Sledge) Hammer
October 15, 2014Breaking up the pavement around your home and in your community is pretty easy, but aside from having a good excuse to use a sledgehammer, why would you want to? The simple answer is that the more permeability we are able to create in our yards and urban environment, the healthier the watershed. When water…
We Can Do It!
September 22, 2014A recent story on NPR noted an environmental change for the better: the ozone layer is on the mend. Which, if you are worried about skin cancer, climate change and the like, is great news – and history in the making! So how did this happen? First, people heard a hard truth: that chlorofluorocarbons –…
Water For Us All!
August 20, 2014“We have enough water to live on, but not enough to waste.” — Dorothy Green, founding president of Heal the Bay. Dorothy Green wrote these words in an article that was published in the LA Times in 2008, shortly before her death. In it, she outlines an incredibly thoughtful set of recommendations that would create…
How to Kill Your Lawn
July 16, 2014Things are dry out there. Drought conditions are currently battering California and our changing climate only further puts us at risk when it comes to water security. Across the state, an average of 50% of residential water use goes towards landscaping, killing your lawn and replacing that non-functional turf with native plants is one of…
Community Sustainability Workshop helps Angelenos respond to the drought
May 14, 2014The drought is here and with a heat wave to boot, Angelenos are starting to feel the effects of climate change. To help community members learn what they can do to create a more sustainable LA and help slow climate change, TreePeople held a Community Sustainability Workshop at our headquarters on May 3rd. Roughly 100 people…
Hope For Sale! (And It’s Absolutely FREE)
February 5, 2014This past Saturday we hosted another of our Community Sustainability Workshops and got a standing-room-only crowd – maybe it’s the drought? Maybe it’s just that there are a lot of cool, in-the-know people? Or maybe it’s actually because we sell hope. (Okay, we don’t sell it. We give it away for free!) Yes, it’s the driest winter…
Enough For Us All! (But We Have To Do Our Part)
January 13, 2014“We have enough water to live on, but not enough to waste.” — Dorothy Green, founding president of Heal the Bay. Dorothy Green wrote these words in an article that was published in the Los Angeles Times in 2008, shortly before her death. She went on to outline a thoughtful set of recommendations to create a sustainable…
Start the New Year by Chipping Your Tree
December 31, 2013With the New Year comes lots of good intentions. Why not start with how you dispose of your holiday tree? If you’ve been thinking about trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle, you can look no further than your living room and that post-Christmas—or whatever holiday you celebrated—tree. Rather than haul it out for the…
Saving Money & Saving Water—It Just Makes Sense!
December 17, 2013Did you notice the recent rain we had? If you were at our rainwater harvesting workshop, not only did you get a chance to see our watershed garden in action, but you were able to take a rain barrel home for only $10! That’s right. Thanks to a great incentive through SoCal Water Smart, most Los…