We want to thank all the neighbors who put up colorful lights and festive decorations.

They bring warm holiday cheer to our Village.

Best wishes to everyone and Happy New Year!

Floss Silk Tree, Reynier St

Liquid Amber, Beverlywood St

We are blessed with a wide variety of trees in our neighborhood; at this time of the year, they delight us with a gamut of colors, from reddish fall leaves to pink flowers.

If you would like to add some shade trees to your lawn or backyard, the DWP is giving them away free, after you complete an online workshop and submit a site plan.

They offer many choices of Evergeen and Deciduous trees, described and pictured in their online brochure.

For more info, call: 800-473-3652
Tree.Program@ladwp.com.
www.lapdwp.com

For customized help with your tree planting,

you may contact Larry from SORO Green Team

green bin

Did you know that the green garbage bins supplied by the city are not just for garden trimmings and clean wood?
You may use them to dispose of fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags.
I set up a reusable container on my counter, I throw in all my organic scraps from the kitchen, especially while cooking, then I empty it in the green bin at the end of the day.
If you don’t want to go to the trouble of composting for your own use, let the city do it.
The green bins contents will be composted.
If you do want to learn how to compost, to feed organic soil to your backyard vegetable garden, the city offers free Composting Workshops and Bin Sale events in Griffith Park.

You may also download a Home composting guide

City of Los Angeles/Sanitation
1-800-773-CITY (2489)

Markene's tomatoes

Did you want to know how to:

Replace your grass lawn with native plants?
Grow vegetables in your backyard?
Install drip irrigation to save water?
Recycle rainwater?

You can learn about these sustainable techinques at the
Green Garden Academy, and earn a diploma.
Saturday classes at the Santa Monica library, starting in 2010.

And it’s FREE.
Register now!!

greengardenacademy

Sign Up Now to Qualify for a Free Rainwater Harvesting System…
You may qualify for a free rainwater harvesting system installation that can save you money on your water expenses, help conserve water, and reduce urban runoff that pollutes the ocean.

With a rainwater harvesting system, you can capture rainwater on your property that can be saved and used for outdoor plant irrigation. This will save you money on your water bill, reduce water waste at a time when we are experiencing a severe water shortage, and reduce urban water runoff that brings debris and chemicals into the storm drain system and pollutes the ocean.

Under this program, the installation and equipment for a rainwater harvesting system, which cost up to $250, are offered for free to L.A. residents.
The pilot program is now available in West Los Angeles, but it will soon become available citywide on a first-come first-served basis, so sign up now at www.LArainwaterharvesting.org.

NOTE: First preference is going to be given to those residents and businesses that live in the pilot program’s 3 neighborhoods of Jefferson, Sawtelle and Mar Vista, but ALL properties located in the Ballona Creek Watershed are encouraged to apply as the program will soon begin accommodating some of those outside the pilot areas listed on a first come first served basis.

For more information on the program or if you have questions please contact Codi Harris at (562) 597-0205

patches after wall insulation

Now it’s a good time to get that insulation project done, walls and attic, to keep your house warmer during the coming winter and save on your heating bill.

The Gas Company is offering a rebate until December 31 of 15-cent per square foot.  The federal government will give you a 30% tax credit (up to $ 1,500) on the cost of energy-efficient windows, doors, roofing, wall and attic insulation, furnaces, air-conditioning systems and heat pumps.

We were hesitant to break up the walls of our home, but we did it and already  we feel warmer at night.  All you need is to paint over the patched up holes.

You may look up the various processes, the materials used (in our case blown cellulose) and other choices on these websites.
www.everguardinsulation.com
www.WhatADifference.com (they’ll even repaint the walls for you)

Call the Gas Company for more details: 888-431 2226.
Check out their website www.socalgas.com
They also offer rebates on Energy Star qualified appliances: cloth washers, dishwashers and water heaters.

FREE California Friendly Landscape Workshops for LADWP Customers.

Learn effective ways to care for your lawn and conserve water through low maintenance, affordable landscaping practices.

Class space is limited. RSVP call (800) 544-4498 and press “5.”

The boys and girls of the Robertson Activity League (RAL) were at Reynier Park on Wednesday July 29  picking up trash and litter. The participants to this 10-week summer program at the Robertson Recreation Center, aged 12-16, perform community service projects to earn points that can then be cashed in for field trips.  They also did a trash clean-up along Robertson Blvd, North of Cadillac, they planted a garden at the Recreation Center, they wrote  letters to Soldiers deployed overseas, they help weekly at the Robertson Library restocking books, etc.

This program is made possible through a  grant from: The Los Angeles Police Foundation, SoRo Neighborhood Council, Council District 5, Council District 10 and Robertson Recreation Center.
Their goal is to teach community responsibility in a fun exciting way.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions on how to control littering in our Reynier Village or would like to help with further clean-ups.

You can email your thanks to the Facility Director of the Robertson Recreation Center Brooke.Powers@lacity.org

The Los Angeles Board of Public Works would like you to participate in an online survey!

The survey will take 5+ minutes to complete -  It is about Green Gardens (which are residential and commercial landscapes that  use drought tolerant plants and rainwater harvesting techniques  to reduce water use and prevent stormwater pollution).

The survey will be invaluable to the Board of Public Works in  gauging public interest in a program that trains and certifies  “Green Gardeners” in the City of Los Angeles.

Thank You!

A colorful mix of hand-painted ceramic tiles decorate these front stair risers.