Looking for the Union Label

...d a highly catchy ad jingle from the roller disco era, “Look for the Union Label” (youngsters can watch it on youtube here). We looked for the union label and we were surprised to find it via a company called Union House which carries a functional, if unexciting line of apparel. Unless hipsters take to golf shirts in an ironic fashion judo move, these offerings will never be cool like the domestically made clothes made by the union busting folks o...

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How Can We Fix Our Public Landscaping?

Yesterday Kelly blogged about the appalling landscaping in front of an Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility. When Kelly first showed me the photo of that purple gravel and artificial turf I thought it might be some kind of conceptual art project. Unfortunately, this poor attempt at a drought tolerant landscape is just another example of an attitude of indifference towards public space that’s all too prevalent in Los Angeles and many...

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093 Micheal Judd on Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist

Our guest is Michael Judd and our topic is permaculture, edible landscaping, straw bale building, mushrooms and even a permacultural approach to death. From his bio: “Michael Judd is the founder of Ecologia, edible and ecological landscape design and Project Bona Fide, an international non-profit supporting agro-ecological research.” He’s also the author of a new book, Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist. During the podcast we discuss: W...

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Landscaping Lightly 2015 Calendar

...e calendar (pdf). The calendar offers “tips and techniques for sustainable landscaping” and sharp graphic design by artist Edward Lum. Each month you get a new exhortation: everything from installing a greywater system, to welcoming pollinators to, gasp, using a broom instead of a leaf blower. The last two pages are a handy list of California-centric resources. If we all worked to implement the simple steps in this calendar we’d pretty much be liv...

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Saturday Tweets: Dutch Bicycles, Landscaping and a Ski Sled

Want to feel old? This is what a Dutch bicycle looked like 50 years ago and what it looks like today. pic.twitter.com/aSkz1jeOpv — Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) March 30, 2017 Claudia West on functional planting https://t.co/jB6cAdWxeF — Thomas Rainer (@ThomasRainerDC) March 31, 2017 How to make a coin sorting machine from cardboard https://t.co/26ofyfDi5f — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 31, 2017 Weed cloth always fails https://t.co/yYNVAJbXUr...

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