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!
---
Alejandra E.
Guidance Green
