| Action | Title | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generating Power From the Sun | Palo Alto - Solar Water Heating Rebates |
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| Creating More Cool Blocks | Palo Alto - Transition |
The weekly Transition Café has been running for more than 3 years, and has provided a venue for people to talk about climate related concerns, along with a wide range of other topics. For the Transition Café, a topic is always announced in advance by the facilitator. Contact the Transition Café team to request scheduling a Cool Block Café through their program. |
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| Buying an Energy-Efficient Car | LA - Charge Up L.A. - rebate program |
LADWP will reimburse you for some of the costs involved in preparing your home for an electric vehicle. |
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| Reducing Your Household Waste | SF - Zero Waste |
Resources for residential customers i.e. recycling, composting, bulky item collection and household hazardous waste, provided by SF Environment. |
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| Generating Power From the Sun | SF - Multi-Family Solar Sharing |
Check out this primer on virtual net energy metering. VNM increases access to renewable energy to many homes and businesses that previously could not directly benefit from a renewable energy system, such as renters. VNM helps occupants of multi-metered residential (and commercial) buildings receive direct benefits of the building's renewable energy system, rather than all of the benefits going to the building owner. This material was prepared by SF Environment under a U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge grant managed by SolarTech. |
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| Participating in a Food Cooperative as a Block | LA - Azure Standard |
Start an organic buying co-op by bulk buying organic goods from Azure Standard with your neighbors. You will be able to buy high quality organic goods at bulk cost with no grocery store mark-up. |
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| Installing a Rain Barrel | SF - Rainwater Harvesting |
A rainwater harvesting system can be as simple as using a small home-made rain barrel or installing a large cistern or underground storage tank. Capturing rainwater at your home or business reduces the use of drinking water for irrigation, and helps reduce runoff from entering our combined sewer system during storm events. This resource from the SF Public Utiities Commission includes a link to the SF Rainwater Harvesting Manual and information about the recently expanded rainwater harvesting program. |
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| Planting Gardens Together | LA - Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone |
Through the legislation AB551, LA set up the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone (UAIZ) program. A flow-chart to the process can be found here. If there is a vacant, non residential lot in your neighborhood you may appeal to the landlord to turn it into a community agriculture project and they will receive a 70% reduction in property tax; this is a new LA county-wide incentive to encourage urban agriculture. Start a community garden in unused space and raise the sense of community in your neighborhood. |
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| Achieving Maximum Energy Efficiency | PG&E Rebate Programs |
Save energy, costs and time with rebate programs from PG&E. |
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| Installing a Rain Barrel | Palo Alto - Cistern Rebate |
The City of Palo Alto Public Works Department offers a number of Storm Water Rebates: An underground or above-ground cistern is a large tank that holds significantly more water than a rain barrel; a cistern is usually equipped with an electric pump for connection to an automated landscape irrigation system; rebates of 15 cents/gal up to $1,000 are available. |
Our neighborhood. Our planet.
Resources
“Cities are the platform for change in our world today. The Cool Block links the challenges facing our planet to the intimate, personal, social scale of the city block. This program starts and ends with the premise and promise—that the individual, household, and neighbors are the way forward in the face of seemingly insoluble global problems.”
