A Greener LA?

Over the long weekend, I went to Los Angeles with my family to visit UCLA. Overall, the city is as dirty and smoggy as ever, but there's something new in the air here--buzz over the new Million Trees LA initiative. My interest was piqued by the name alone; a million trees? Ambitious...but realistic? Here's what I found out. The campaign is headed by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and is intended to help transform the city into a "sustainable, green city." Over the next few years, the community (businesses as well as individuals and community groups) will theoretically work together and either pledge/donate to the program or actually plant trees and report their efforts to the city. Any tree counts, whether it's a seedling or a transplant, as long as it's planted inside LA city limits; residential customers of LADWP (L.A. Dept. of Water and Power) can snag up to 7 free trees to plant as they wish.

The initiative was started about a year ago, and although the website mentions a live "Tree Count," I can't seem to find it, so I can't report on how much progress has been made thus far. But I can say that I saw plenty of billboards all across LA, as well as placards in shops and restaurants; clearly at least some Angelinos are taking this seriously. Hopefully some of LA's more famous and affluent residents will pitch in to get the ball rolling--someone like Brad Pitt or Reese Witherspoon or Steven Spielberg can buy a lot of trees, as can LA's big businesses (read: movie studios). Now that it's hip to go green in Hollywood (see Emmy post below, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc), hopefully the program will get the star power it needs to keep it from becoming another failed, cheesy, and half-hearted environmental gesture.