By David Goldstein On Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon, Ventura County Coastal Cleanup Day will bring trash-gathering volunteers to more than 20 sites as part of the 38th annual International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 17. The local effort targets beaches as well as inland sites from Fillmore to Simi Valley. Last year in…
July 17, 2022 By David Goldstein As local gardeners and farmers look for ways to keep their fruit trees alive while meeting water conservation goals, they can consider the water savings gained by applying organic mulch, as documented in an influential 1999 University of California study. The study’s findings and recommendations have gained relevance today…
Eco-tip: Fighting planned obsolescence with extended warranties, right to repair By David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star Are extended warranties worth the cost? For cars, the question becomes complicated by a wide variety of options, prices and incentives. For other items, such as appliances and cell phones, the choices are simpler. Some people need…
Eco-tip: Recycling promoters target kids — how insidious! By David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star “You’re insidious!” my neighbor, Jim Polisini, said with a laugh. Insidiousness got a bad reputation after the Star Wars franchise named The Emperor Darth Sidious in the original trilogy. But even before then, I had never heard environmental outreach…
Water and Sanitation – Heroes At Work in the Mud Can you be called a hero if you just do your job? Workers who respond to main line water breaks are heroic because water shoots out of these pipes at up to 10,000 gallons per minute, threatening anyone or anything nearby with submersion or ground…
Eco-tip: Sunflowers at Museum of Ventura County bring message of beauty from compost David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star Local artist Paul Lindhard usually works with stone and produces installations on a monumental scale, but his latest vision, coming into formation during the next few weeks at the Museum of Ventura County, involves the…
Eco-tip: Students can dig into Public Works Week with tons of online material by David Goldstein, PWA – IWMD Special to Ventura County Star This week is Public Works Week, and the American Public Works Association’s 2021 theme, “Stronger Together,” fits well with the way local educators are working. Despite the pandemic, they are collaborating…
Eco-tip: Ventura County compost competition rewards and educates David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star A new, local environmental group is organizing a competition to promote composting and hoping the competition will become an annual event. The Ventura County Compost Network, a group of local commercial composting businesses, gardening stores, nonprofits, farmers and others, recently…
Eco-tip: Reusable glass bottles are gone, but alternatives have advantages David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star Stan Wilson, of Ventura, recently wrote to me, “I don’t understand why we can’t just go back to reusable glass bottles. As a teenager I worked as a stock boy in a grocery store. I don’t remember there…
Eco-tip: How would you treat treated wood? Relaxed rules expire next month David Goldstein Special to Ventura County Star “Why can’t every manufactured product just be non-toxic?” I am sometimes asked this question by people calling to find out about household hazardous waste collection events. Treated wood provides a good example of the complexities of…