In these recent unseasonably hot days, have you noticed the heat radiating off blacktop? Black asphalt traps heat and releases it back into our cities. “But who said streets had to be black?” asked Ben Schiller, staff writer at Co.Exist. They pointed to Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s showcase of alternative paving surfaces to demonstrate how a…
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It’s Raining! It’s Pouring!
May 9, 2013On average, Los Angeles gets only a quarter of an inch of rainfall in May. And yet… This year—a very dry one at that—we got a full inch of rain with the last storm. That bit of rainfall not only helped squelch the wildfires (which had an earlier than usual start this year), but it…
No, Sticky Monkeyflower Is Not a Trendy Tropical Drink
May 7, 2013As much as you might want to order a Sticky Monkeyflower from your favorite mixologist, you won’t have luck. To get something with this fun of a name, you’ll have to head to your favorite California native plant nursery (try Theodore Payne Foundation or Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden’s Grow Native Nursery). Monkeys may not be…
Downtown L.A. Goes from Gray to Green
May 3, 2013What’s better than a tree planting to beautify downtown L.A.? Many tree plantings to beautify downtown L.A.! TreePeople Citizen Forester Gabrielle Newmark rallied her downtown Los Angeles Arts District community to plant 27 trees—including well-adapted Australian willows and pink trumpet trees—on April 27. Enthusiastic volunteers named each tree so that now Hector, Blossom, Roscoe, Ilean,…
Free Workshops on Landscape Transformation, this Saturday, May 4
May 1, 2013Got plans for Saturday morning? If not, then come up to TreePeople and attend one of our free quarterly workshops on how to transform your home and neighborhood landscapes. You’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about rain water harvesting, replacing a lawn with native plants, or planting trees—but were afraid to ask. Learn…
Become a Citizen Arborist and Lead Your Community to Action
April 29, 2013TreePeople’s Citizen Arborist program is designed to train and produce a trusted network of community members who help keep our trees healthy and thriving. Certified Citizen Arborists are expert volunteers who support their neighborhoods in caring for their local trees. They are on the front lines of growing a healthy urban forest and improving the…
Celebrate Urban Trees as Superheroes on National Arbor Day, April 26
April 26, 2013U.S. Forest Service researchers have published compelling evidence* of urban trees’ immense carbon storage capacity. Along with the other many things they do to improve the environment, trees absorb carbon dioxide emissions from a multitude of pollution sources in our cities. “Thus,” the researchers conclude, “urban trees influence local climate, carbon cycles, energy use, and climate change.”…
Citizen Forestry: Why Trees Don’t Make Sustainable Communities, People Do
April 24, 2013On April 27, several bleak and over-paved blocks of downtown L.A.’s Arts District will be transformed by a community planting of 27 trees. Birds will sing, leaves will flutter, and hearts will lift: all because one person had a dream and got enough people excited about that dream to make it a reality. That’s how…
TreePeople Turns 40: Thank You, Los Angeles!
April 23, 2013Today marks 40 years since the Los Angeles Times shared a kid’s dream of saving our city and our forests. “Andy vs. the Bureaucratic Deadwood,” by Michael Seiler, touched many thousands of people–especially other kids and grandparents–and moved them to send in their pennies to nurture that dream. Following the publication of the article, the kid’s…
Namaste, Girl-Karma!
April 22, 2013If what goes around comes around, then the group Girl-Karma can expect major Earth Day kudos for its members’ commitment to improving environmental health. Our wonderful volunteer Michelle Moy talked about her experience planting trees with TreePeople for the group’s Karma in Action column. She wanted to share what she learned about the benefits of trees,…
Take an Earth Day Walk in the Park
April 19, 2013At TreePeople we like to think of every day as Earth Day. But that doesn’t mean we don’t love to celebrate April 22 as a great time to do something wonderful for the earth. Still, maybe planting 100 trees or installing a rain garden at your local school is more than you can work into…
Down from the Mountain as Another Season Closes
April 17, 2013Ah, the sun has set on another seedling planting season in the Angeles National Forest. This year, Forest Aid: Angeles volunteers planted nearly 10,000 Jeffrey and Coulter pines, thanks to the management of the U.S. Forest Service, TreePeople mountain restoration staff, and the supervision of TreePeople’s dedicated volunteer group of Angeles Forest Restoration Supervisors. There were…