Beach cleanup, round two!

Did you know this coming Saturday will most likely be L.A.'s last sunny/warm Saturday of the year? Spend it at the beach!

Join Guidance Green this Saturday, October 24, from 9:30am to 11:30am at Mother's Beach in Marina del Rey, CA, for our beach cleanup! See details below.



Next Saturday is expected to be rainy and in the 60s. Then it'll be November. This is really your last chance for some fun in the sun!

Hope to see you there,

Alejandra Espinosa
Guidance Green

Sustainable Business Council to host panel, “Sustainable Sales: Profit withPurpose”

The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) is a non-profit organization that serves California businesses and individuals working with sustainable products, services and processes. The organization acts as a professional networking forum, information clearinghouse and industry advocate with the goal to assist its members to improve their profits, enhance their communities, and protect the environment.

The Los Angeles SBC chapter (SBCLA) provides events and educational opportunities to encourage, support and expand sustainable practices, aiming to establish Los Angeles as a leader in this emerging business sector. Interested in Guidance’s green commitment, SBC contacted us to find out ways in which we could help each other educate the community and extend our green messaging to new audiences.

This coming Wednesday, September 23rd, SBCLA will be hosting a panel to discuss “Sustainable Sales: Profit with Purpose”. The panel will explore rationales for launching a green start-up or a green division within a traditional business, as well as debate the long-term viability of these initiatives. The event will take place at the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum, 4130 Overland Ave. in Culver City, and starts at 7:00pm (ending at 10:00pm). There is a small fee of $20 for admission, which includes snacks and libations.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions to the panel. To RSVP, visit http://www.sustainablebc.org/events_registration.html. Here are a few more details about the event:

Moderator:
Laura Berland-Shane, LEED AP, SBCLA Board Member and Business Development Manager-Alternative Energy, SIEMENS Building Technologies, Energy & Environmental Solutions

Panelists:
Lisa Peri, Founder and CEO, Lucky Earth "Waterless" Carwash
Paul Shustak, Co-Founder, KOR Water
Greg Charillon, Co-owner and Vice-president, DECONGREEN environmental solutions
Elizabeth Watson, LEED AP, Partner Real Estate, Climate Change & Sustainability Practices, Greenberg Glusker LLP

WHEN: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM

WHERE: Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum
4130 Overland Ave.
Culver City, CA 90230-3734
(Across the street from the City Recreational Pool)

HOST: Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

COST: $20 Admission (includes light snack and libations)

Sponsors: Exclusive Founding Alliance: Stonefield Josephson, Inc. under the leadership of its president, Jeff Garrison.
Additional Sponsors: Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum, Summa Marketing Communications, Namaste Interactive, Edge Communications, Inc., O.N.E.: One Natural Experience, Whole Foods Market: West Los Angeles, National & Barrington, Stonehouse California Olive Oil, provisions on Beekman, Clif Bar, New Belgium Brewery, Generate Possibility, Casa Barranca Winery, Inc. and Guidance.

PLEASE RSVP by visiting:
http://www.sustainablebc.org/events_registration.html

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About the Sustainable Business Council of Los Angeles (SBCLA)

SBCLA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization acting as a professional networking forum, an information clearinghouse and an industry advocate. The organization serves California businesses and individuals working with
sustainable products, services and processes. SBCLA's goal is to assist members with improving their profits, enhancing their communities, and protecting the environment by educating business professionals on the
opportunities represented by technologies and management philosophies that reduce negative and non-renewable ecological impact. The Sustainable Business Council of Los Angeles is an activity of the International Humanities Center.

Guidance's Commitment to Green Computing Featured on The Wall Street Journal

Guidance (www.guidance.com), which in 2007 switched to energy-efficient HP desktops for its development environment, was featured on The Wall Street Journal.

Guidance's commitment to green computing and partnership with leading PC manufacturer HP to educate the community on green technology was covered on the September 8th issue of the journal (Carlton, Jim. "The PC Goes on an Energy Diet." The Wall Street Journal 8 Sept. 2009: R8).

Click here to read the article.

It’s Cleanup Time!

For the third year in a row, Guidance will be teaming up with Heal The Bay on its Annual Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD), Saturday, September 19th.

Guidance will be joining over 12,000 volunteers from all over Los Angeles who will take action to rid our beaches and inland waterways of unsightly and harmful debris. Coastal Cleanup Day is an international event with over 60 countries around the world participating, making it one of the largest volunteer efforts on the planet.

So join us at Dockweiler Beach (11999 Vista del Mar, El Segundo, CA 90293) on Saturday, September 19th at 9:00am. You’ll see us with the light blue Guidance Green shirts. We hope to see you there!

If you can’t make it to Dockweiler Beach, but would like to participate of Heal The Bay’s CCD, sign up today at http://healthebay.org/volunteer/ccd/2009/participate.asp and choose from the list of participating beaches, rivers, parks, lakes, even creeks!

What's in Your Water Bottle?

Every year, I get a report in the mail from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) with detailed information about the quality of the water that us Angelenos get out of our taps. But have you ever seen a similar report from any of the companies behind the biggest bottled-water brands? I sure haven't.

That is because tap water is more closely regulated than bottled water, even though bottled-water consumers spend over 100 times more for essentially the same product. Companies selling bottled water are not required to disclose where they get their water nor other important information about its quality.

Check out this report featured today on the Today Show:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

So what's in your water bottle? Guess we'll never know...

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Alejandra E.
Guidance Green

2nd Annual Guidance Green Picnic - Eat. Learn. Live Green.

Last week, Guidance hosted its 2nd Annual Guidance Green Picnic – Eat. Learn. Live Green. The event brought together Guidance employees and those of about seven other companies in our business park, for an afternoon of healthy eating and environmental education.

Organized by Guidance’s green committee (appropriately named Guidance Green), our annual Guidance Green Picnic events seek to celebrate Guidance’s green achievements for the year while educating Guidance employees and the community in general about environmental initiatives, tips, and programs that aim to improve the wellbeing of our planet. This year’s event counted with the participation of various environmentally-active guest speakers, including actress and comedienne Mindy Sterling (best known for her role of Frau Farbissina in all Austin Powers movies), actor and singer Joseph Culp (son of legendary actor Robert Culp, and best known for his appearances in Mad Men, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and ER), Dave Chameides (also known as “Sustainable Dave” and his website 365DaysOfTrash.com), and Mary Beth Trautwein (Director of the reDiscover Center in Culver City).




Mindy Sterling educated us on animal wildlife and how our everyday activities can affect their lives. Sustainable Dave emptied out the contents of his backpack to show us that by carrying with a few essentials like a reusable thermal mug, a reusable water canteen, a set of utensils (stored in a toothbrush case), a reusable shopping bag, and other items, we do our part in helping reduce the billions of pounds of waste that are collected every minute. Mary Beth Trautwein spoke to us about reDiscover, a community art center, reuse warehouse, gallery and event space that promotes creativity while encouraging environmental responsibility. Joseph Culp talked to us about the first solar power-based theater, The Electric Lodge in Venice, CA, where his musical play, The Hound – An American Poem, is being performed. Joseph also introduced us to Dr. Joel Shapiro, owner and creator of The Electric Lodge. Dr. Shapiro is also an environmental activist who in 2008 took a three-day journey down the 52-mile L.A. River along with a dozen kayakers to show the river was indeed navigable, therefore preventing the rollback of the Clean Water Act and allowing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to safeguard the river.



Guidance CTO and co-owner, Jon Provisor, also addressed the audience, encouraging everyone to join Guidance's commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility, by following the advice shared at the event.



Businesses like Whole Foods (El Segundo), The Veggie Grill, and Buddha’s Belly were among our event’s sponsors, treating our guests with giveaways, gift cards and prizes. In addition, organizations like Project Aware and the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church were among the supporters this year. And for the second year in a row, Go Earth Central donated its innovative line of compostable, sugarcane-based plates, utensils and cups for us to use at the event. We genuinely appreciate the generosity of these organizations and their support of our mission.

Guidance is proud to be an environmentally-aware, 100% carbon-neutral company that has significantly reduced its overall consumption of electricity as a result of a company-wide commitment to sustainable business practices, which we share in detail in our Green Toolkit. To learn more about our green commitment, and our committee Guidance Green, visit our website at www.guidancegreen.org.

You can check out photos from our picnic at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83180&id=11521514227&ref=mf. Drop us a line or become a fan while on our Facebook Fan Page!

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Alejandra E.
Guidance Green

Guidance Green Announces New Coffee Grounds Recycling Program

Did you know that the average American consumes about 3 cups of coffee a day? That’s a lot of used coffee grinds going into the trash.

Guidance Green is announcing an in-house coffee grounds recycling program. Guidance employees and visitors can pick up pre-measured bags of coffee grounds that are being saved and packed by Guidance Green members.

Coffee by-products can be used in the garden, as an exfoliant for skin, as a hair polisher to keep it shiny, as a deodorizer for your freezer, as ant & flea repellant, and to keep cats away from plants and the garden. To learn more tips on how to use post-consumed coffee ground, check out our Coffee Grounds Recycling Program document.