Come to the Green Side. They Have Pancakes.

My foray into Guidance Green started with the promise of an IHOP breakfast. As I enjoyed my blueberry banana nutty grain deliciousness at the Guidance Green Committee meeting in late January, I learned a few things.

For example, you can recycle batteries here at Guidance. As a matter of fact, we'll recycle all your household eWaste and hazardous materials - oil, paints, pesticides, electronics and more. I've been wondering what to do with this bag of old CFL light bulbs. Now I know, and I'll be bringing them by here soon. There's a full list of things you can recycle above the mail cubbies in the kitchen.

There is a Guidance Green section on Guidance Connect (Guidance's Intranet), and a section on the Guidance website. Both of these pages have great information about reducing environmental impact, individually and as a company.

Guidance Green's fourth anniversary is coming up in March. Guidance made a commitment to reducing energy waste, reusing items, recycling as much as possible and expanding the Guidance Green mission into the community back in 2007. Check out this blog post by Debbie to learn more about our upcoming anniversary event --
Guidance Green Turns 4!.

I am excited about being part of Guidance Green. As a member of the Guidance Green committee, I can offer ideas to help make Guidance as environmentally-friendly as possible. Working for a company that has this kind of philosophy is important to me. If you would like to be a part of Guidance Green, just drop us a note at green@guidance.com. It's a chance to do some good things and - if you are lucky - enjoy some pancakes.

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Rachele M.
Guidance

Opting out of Yellow Pages (Guidance Green)

Yellow Pages is doing things right! Their books are made from outdated directories, with non-toxic inks, dyes and adhesives, and not from freshly cut trees. They have taken proactive measures to decrease their carbon footprint. But even so, I have no need for their phone books (what’s the Internet for?!). And chances are you don’t need yours either.

So, I went online to find out if there was a way to opt-out from receiving the phone book – or phone books (I receive about 5 of them every year!). And surely enough, there is. The site is called YellowPagesOptOut.com and it provides plenty of information on how to opt-out from receiving the books and how to recycle the ones you already have at home. They also have an interesting Resources section with links and additional information on Reducing, Reusing and Recycling, including DMAchoice, an online tool developed by the Direct Marketing Association to help individuals manage mail such as credit offers, catalogs, magazine offers and other mail offers.

I hope you find the site useful. Stay green!

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Gabby M.
Guidance Green

‘Green Your Holidays with Guidance Green’ is Back!

For the third consecutive year, our environmental committee, Guidance Green, is inviting So Cal neighbors to green their holidays by joining us in donating gently-used items to charities. In doing so, we will bring some holiday cheer to people in need while helping to keep these still useful items form ending up prematurely at the local landfill.

Gently-used clothing, accessories and shoes, as well as brand new toys, will be donated to the Venice Homeless Shelter. This year, we are also collecting new and gently-used jackets, coats, warm socks, hats, scarves, gloves and warm pajamas for children 0 to 10 years old to donate to the Kozy Klothes for Kids organization.

Items can be dropped off at Guidance’s headquarters – 4134 Del Rey Avenue in Marina del Rey, CA. We will be accepting donations until Friday, December 10, allowing us to deliver these to both charities in time for the holidays.

If you have any questions, please contact us at green@guidance.com.

Guidance Green helps restore beauty to a local beach

The Guidance Green team strikes again! For the fourth consecutive year, the Guidance Green team helped to clean up the beaches in Southern California. For a second time, we returned to Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey on Sunday, November 14th.

Here are some of our stats from our cleanup:

• We collected over 10 pounds of trash


• The most common piece of trash was bottle tops


• We even found a golf ball!

After our busy morning we relaxed and enjoyed the California sun while enjoying BBQ hot dogs.

Check out pictures of our beach cleanup on our Facebook page.

We’ll keep you posted on our next beach cleanup. We hope to see you there!

Guidance employees partner with Tierra Miguel Foundation farm

Our two committees, Guidance Green and A Healthy Guidance, have teamed up to offer a unique opportunity to all Guidance's employees and contractors who sign up to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.



CSAs are communities of individuals who pledge support to a farm -- in Guidance's case, the Tierra Miguel Foundation -- so that the farmland becomes the community's farm, with the growers and the consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Members or "share-holders" of the farm pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the fram operation and the farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production.

Tierra Miguel Foundation will provide us with organic, locally-grown, seasonal, fresh and nutritous produce delivered every Wednesday directly to Guidance. The commitment per person is 10 weeks @ $250. Each week, for the $25 invested, each participating employee will receive a box of 15 pounds of a mix of produce, including vegetables, herbs, and fruits. This is a great deal for local, certified organic produce!

To learn more about Tierra Miguel Foundation, please go to http://tierramiguelfarm.org/.

Here is to healthy eating!

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Sam G. & Debbie E.
Guidance

Pictures from our 2010 Guidance Green Picnic

Our 3rd Annual Guidance Green Picnic was a success! It's been our best and biggest yet and we loved having everyone over for a wonderful afternoon of eco-education, delicious food and fun gathering.
On behalf of Guidance, I would like to thank all of our speakers for sharing with us their expertise in areas of sustainable living:

• Dave Chameides (a.k.a. Sustainable Dave)
• Justin Yoffe
• Ron Culver
• Samson Gonzalez
• Wanda Shapiro
• Joseph Culp

I would also like to thank our sponsors and supporters for their generous donations:

• Gelson's
• Whole Foods of El Segundo
• Naked Juice
• Buddha's Belly
• Veggie Grill

Check out pictures of our event on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197442&id=11521514227&ref=mf.

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Debbie E.
Guidance

Meet our guest speakers

Our 3rd Annual Guidance Green Picnic is almost here! We are very excited to be hosting this event for the third year, this Wednesday, August 4th from noon to 1:30pm at Guidance (click here for a map). We’ll have games, prizes, a raffle, great food, giveaways and goodie bags from Gelson’s, Whole Foods, Naked Juice and some of our other sponsors.

This year, we have lined up a great list of speakers who will cover a variety of subjects around sustainable living:

Smarter Commuting: Decreasing our Dependency on Oil

Dave Chameides, a.k.a “Sustainable Dave” is a two-time Emmy award winning cameraman and DGA director (ER, Third Watch, Studio 60), father of two, and self-taught environmental educator. For the year of 2008, he kept all of his trash and recycling in his basement in order to better understand his waste footprint. In the process, he was able to cut his yearly trash output to a mere 28.5 pounds. His website, 365DaysofTrash.com, and story became an international sensation and his message of waste reduction was carried around the world. And what happened to the 28.5 pounds of trash? It ended up at The Museum of Trash of course, where it stands as a permanent exhibit to inspire people to change their ways.

Today, Chameides continues to lecture to schools all over the country and speak about how everyday people can do a tremendous amount to lessen their footprint without living in a cave. His simple, humor filled talks have inspired students to organize, start environmental clubs, and even consider environmental stewardship as their future vocations. He writes a weekly column for the site Care2, and his motto of "no one can do everything but everyone can do something" has been heard by millions.

He is presently writing a book based on his experiences that will tell the story of his journey, but more importantly, will offer concrete simple tips on how everyday people can change their ways. While he still works in the film industry, his hope is to take his seminar on the road and travel the country, impacting students everywhere he goes.

Arts:Earth Partnership

Justin Yoffe is currently the President of the Board of the Electric Lodge Performing and Visual Arts Center in Venice, CA. (http://www.electriclodge.org/) one of the first solar powered theaters in the country and currently powered by 100% renewable energy. He is the Co-Founder of the Arts:Earth Partnership (AEP - http://www.artsearthpartnership.org/) a ground breaking green certification designed specifically for the cultural sector. In February of 2010, AEP was the first organization of its kind to sign a contract with a major municipality (City of Los Angeles) to green-certify all of its 33 city-owned cultural institutions. Mr. Yoffe also currently serves as the Cultural Affairs Supervisor for the City of Santa Monica and is the Director of the historic Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica.

Mr. Yoffe is a produced playwright, screenwriter and won an Emmy Award as a Producer for “Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming” in 2005 for a teen talent showcase called “Downbeat 720”.

Mr. Yoffe holds a BFA and MFA from New York University and currently resides in Del Rey, CA. with his wife Jeanette and son Nathan.

Integrating Sustainable Architecture, Interiors and Landscapes

Ron Culver, AIA, LEED GA is President and Founder of C/ARC (a.k.a. Culver Architects, Inc.), an award-winning architectural firm that melds art and technology to create inspiring architecture, interiors and landscapes. C/ARC emphasizes progressive environmental and sensual modernist sensibilities – inside and out, and utilizes innovative green materials and energy efficient systems such as Adaptabode®, its custom prefab system.

Ron Culver is accomplished as an architect, musician, painter and sculptor. Originally from British Columbia where he became Principal Percussionist for the Vancouver Philharmonic at eighteen, his musical career led to LA where a longstanding passion for design and fabrication resulted in his founding design-build business ventures in both the USA and Canada. He has actively promoted green alternatives since the 1970s. At our event, Ron will be speaking about bettering our lives and the planet through integrating sustainable architecture, interiors and landscapes.

Clean Green and Save Green

Wanda Shapiro has been a member of Guidance Green since she started working at Guidance in 2007. A strong supporter of local and organic farming, Wanda has also gradually replaced petroleum-based cleaning products around her home with more sustainable, less toxic alternatives. You can find Wanda supporting the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market weekly.

In her spare time, Wanda is an indie author promoting her debut novel Sometimes That Happens With Chicken. In the tradition of indie film makers and indie musicians, Wanda is leveraging available technology to bring her novel directly to readers. Visit http://www.onegirlonenovel.com/ to learn more about Wanda, her novel, and her plan.

Born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, Wanda attended college at Pace University in New York City, and currently lives in Venice Beach, California with her husband, Billy.

Community Supported Agriculture

Samson Gonzalez has been with Guidance for over 13 years and is currently a Managing Director, working with Guidance’s longest client to date, Foot Locker. Samson comes from a family with a strong history of diabetes, and when he came across alarming statistics about diabetes in the US Hispanic community, he decided to change his lifestyle and serve as example for his children. Additionally, he has been shifting from merely looking at organic labels, to making sure what he purchases is local as well, to save on carbon emissions due to transportation. Samson’s lifestyle changes have resulted in a quick and healthy 10% weight loss, among other health benefits.

In his search for a healthier lifestyle, Samson found out about the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a new way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer, and his topic of discussion for today’s event.

The Electric Lodge

Joseph Culp is an accomplished film, TV and theater actor/director. His film credits include leading roles in Dream Lover, Iguana, The Arrival, Chase Morran, The Secret Life of Houses, and El Jardin del Eden. He is the first actor ever to play the infamous Dr. Doom in the first film version of Marvel Comic’s The Fantastic Four. He was featured in Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 and Mario Van Peebles’ Panther and Baadassss. His many television appearances include ER, Deep Space Nine and the hit series Mad Men.

Joseph won international critical acclaim for his performance as the starving writer in the award-winning film, Hunger, and he recently co-produced and starred in the investigative drama, The Reflecting Pool.

Active in theatre for many years, Joseph has performed in numerous plays in both New York and Los Angeles, including Nobody Hears a Broken Drum, for which he received a Los Angeles Drama-Logue award and the New York stage premiere of Foul Shots by Raymond J. Barry.

Joseph is the founder and artistic director of the L.A.-based Walking Theater Group, integrating theatre, film and transpersonal work for actors, writers and directors. As a director, his productions with the group include A Wilder Evening, The Judgment, In the Penal Colony, and the Reclamation Shows 1-3. The Walking Theatre Group performs regularly at the country’s first fully environmentally sustainable theater, the Electric Lodge in Venice, California. His musical play The Hound – An American Poem will also be performed by the Walking Theatre Group and is currently in development at the Electric Lodge.

Joseph is very active in social and environmental issues and will speak at our event about the solar powered theatre he is performing in, The Electric Lodge in Venice, and related environmental issues. He will also treat us to a “green” song.

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We hope to see you on August 4th!
Guidance Green