Earth Day: What “California Love” Means in 2022
While I will admit I am a little biased because it is my hometown, I truly believe Los Angeles is the most special place on the planet. We have it all: warm weather year-round, pristine beaches, palm trees, and mountains, Hollywood and 11 professional sports teams, major universities and world-renowned cultural institutions, a diverse population that that gives the world amazing and eclectic fashion and food, and of course Disneyland. I have cherished all that Los Angeles has exposed me to, but one of my favorite attributes is the proximity to Southern California’s diverse climates and landscapes, all within a 3-hour drive from my front door. As we get ready to celebrate Earth Day tomorrow, I’ve been reflecting on how my growing up in LA and my time at FF&P has shaped my perspective on caring for this city I love.
Some of my favorite local environments are the forested mountainous regions surrounding LA. These can accumulate solid amounts of snow—depending on how much rainfall we get each year. Two months ago, a few friends and I spent a weekend snowboarding in Big Bear. Although we knew it had been a dry season (frankly we couldn’t remember when it hasn’t been a dry season in Southern California), we hoped that the cooler mountain temperatures might provide us with a little natural powder in addition to man-made snow. Our hopes were quickly dashed. Driving up, we were greeted with 40-degree temperatures, dirt-covered ground and mountains, and only sparsely frozen patches of snow. This revelation, while alarming, didn’t compare to what we witnessed when we approached Snow Summit, our favorite local boarding spot. Dry and brown, it looked like the mountains where we live in the San Fernando Valley. Worst of all, the traditional iconic summit view of snow-covered peaks surrounding Big Bear Lake had been replaced with a snowless mountain range, and a lake with a water level so receded that multiple docks were resting on dry land, which was dotted with beached water vessels. Witnessing this vista so clearly marked by climate change with our own eyes struck a chord within all of us. Exiting the ski lift and regrouping at a nearby bench to strap into our boards, we were silent. Eventually, my brother said, “this is horrible. I am in shock right now.” He wasn’t the only one. Realizing the full extent of this reality check, another friend asked, “if this is happening in a mountainous zone of Southern California, is it happening in the desert and coastal zones too?”
Coastal erosion, wildfires, droughts, native vegetation loss, hotter temperatures, kelp forest destruction, and harmful algal blooms—the effects of climate change have been devastating Southern California’s famously stunning landscapes. As climate change continues to impact my home region and the world, the question of what we can do as individuals, organizations, and a society to help mitigate our impact on climate change has never been more urgent. Inspired by my time in Big Bear and ahead of Earth Day, I’ve been thinking how vital it is to have conversations like the one my group had on the drive back from boarding. Talking about the sustainable strategies and policies we’ve encountered as individuals, within our companies, and in society makes us take personal accountability, reminds us what strategies are easily available, and helps us take on new ones.
As individuals, my friends and I contribute to living a sustainable lifestyle in the ways that, though they might feel insignificant, add up to something really important. My friends and I came up with the following list: properly wash and dispose of plastic food containers and bottles into the correct bin so they’re actually recycled; use reusable water bottles and shopping bags; save energy by unplugging appliances that aren’t in use and utilizing eco-friendly lightbulbs and charging devices; try your best to go digital with bill-paying and other paperwork; donate unused items (Buy Nothing groups on Facebook are great for this); carpool or take public transit to work; buy clothing from sustainably-minded brands or go thrifting (one of my favorite activities); use green/eco-friendly cleaning products; reduce meat consumption and avoid food waste; if you can afford it, drive a hybrid or electric car— or better yet, use a bicycle, skateboard, scooter, or your own two feet.
Scaling up a step, I was reminded how thankful I am to work somewhere that shares my own personal sense of urgency to fight against climate change. As someone who works in FF&P’s marketing department, doing my job successfully depends upon being able to tell meaningful, authentic stories about who we are and why that matters. That’s hard to do if you work somewhere you don’t believe in, or trust to practice what they preach. Some of the actions FF&P has taken in-house include: installing solar panels on the office’s roof to offset our energy consumption; participating in a recycling program and reducing the number of trash cans in the office, having our employees work from home a few days per week and providing on-site bike storage to cut down on CO2 emissions; labeling ‘Healthier Materials’ in our materials library as well as hanging educational signage about ‘Red List’ materials to guide our projects towards the goal of dramatically reducing toxics in the building industry; implementing a green cleaning program; taking steps to reduce paper consumption; reducing water used for irrigation and plumbing, and installing filtered water in our office kitchen so we could get rid of bottle delivery; reducing purchase of disposable consumables like paper plates, cups, and utensils, and buying more sustainable ones (like rechargeable batteries) when necessary; suggesting product reps who host catered events at the office maintain the same disposable consumables practices; sourcing Energy Star-qualified electric-powered equipment and reduced-mercury lighting fixtures, and gradually upgrading our building finishes and furniture with more eco-friendly ones. Talking about these with my friends, it was heartening to hear that many of their companies are employing similar practices, and more. Hopefully, it all adds up.
One of my favorite companies that is helping fight climate change is Arbor Collective. Founded in 1995 in Venice Beach, California, Arbor Collective is a snowboard, skateboard, and apparel brand whose mission is to protect the environment through sustainable production practices. Utilizing wood from forests that are regularly renewed, bamboo wood (which grows faster), modern technologies in production, recycled steel, natural fluorine-free wax, and entropy super sap resin (plant alternative to conventional glue), their snowboards are environmentally friendly, durable, and perform exceptionally. If you’re ever in Venice Beach, feel free to stop by their store!
Scaling up further, what most excites me about FF&P—part of the building and construction industry, which has a pretty terrible track record of contributing negatively to climate change—is our work on several groundbreaking projects that have taught me to think about sustainability as something that needs to be truly holistic in scope. Some of my friends had heard of LEED-rated buildings (a certification standard FF&P’s buildings consistently adhere to), but none had ever heard of the Living Building Challenge, or how our recently-completed Santa Monica City Hall East (SMCHE) is the largest municipal building in the world to achieve living building certification. While the building’s net-zero water and energy capabilities are incredible, I'm personally most excited about how SMCHE’s design actively considered equity for its works and beauty for the surrounding community as part of its sustainability equation. Built to consolidate previously disparate city departments under one roof, SMCHE increases cohesiveness and camaraderie between the City of Santa Monica’s departments, producing a more inviting and transparent workplace, which maybe translates to a larger way of thinking about municipal governance. The building also gives back to the community in new and interesting ways—like with its publicly-accessible “edible garden” in the central courtyard that helps contribute food to local shelters for the unhoused. Beyond the vital work of moving the needle in terms of changing technical standards and building practices, architecture like SMCHE helps redefine and expand what sustainability means in a way that touches more aspects of the lives of more people.
My friends’ and my conversation eventually turned to some of the policies and initiatives that Southern California and California is undertaking to help fight climate change. We spoke about lots of things: Governor Newsom’s new executive order requiring all new cars to be electric by 2035; the ban on new fracking permits by 2024; the increase in wind, solar, and geothermal energy usage; the Metro line’s accessibility and expansion throughout Los Angeles; new housing developments closer to commercial centers; tax credit incentives for companies that are working on sustainable technologies; updated building codes to transition new buildings to clean energy sources; more land and coastal preservation and protection measures; and an increase in funds and resources to support fire resiliency and drought preparedness. Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed groundbreaking legislation to start offshore wind energy development in California waters. At a time when the impacts of climate and biodiversity crises are severe, this legislation will help create a safe and equitable future that respects wildlife and Californians.
As the mountains gradually gave way to the suburbs and then the city, my friends and I realized that, although we were sore and a little sunburned from a full weekend of physical activity, we felt a little better internally about the future of Southern California. There’s no doubt we still have a long way to go. But with so many of us doing what we can—at scales both small and big—to preserve the beauty of this special place for the future, I’d like to think we’re heading in the right direction.
