California water: End of the LA lawn (Opinion)

"We're so used to Southern California having these beautiful, lush lawns and palm trees and seasonal flowers," she told me by phone from Culver City, a suburb of Los Angeles, where she is general manager at a landscaping business called A Greener Tomorrow. But now, because of the drought and new water regulations, "I'm telling you, all I see is Arizona and Las Vegas."

"Who's going to be willing to pay?" she said. "You can't maintain a lawn!"

The idea of Los Angeles -- much less Bel Air and Beverly Hills -- ripping out its water-sucking lawns and oh-so-thirsty flowers is indeed a shock, especially if installing and maintaining those lawns is your livelihood. But consider the context: California is in an extreme drought. Snowpack in the state, one measure of how much water will be available this summer, is at an all-time low, at just 5% of normal. Rivers are running dry, as I found last summer on a three-week trip down the San Joaquin. With no water at the surface, farme rs are turning below the ground, pumping out groundwater at such an alarming rate that the land actually is sinking. In some places, that's happening at the truly astounding rate of almost 1 foot per year.

I see where Uribe's coming from. The 35-year-old loves the colorful, landscaped version of Los Angeles. And she fears a drab, monochromatic future -- a blah city, all dirt and rocks.

But this is a crisis. And the California lawn is a reasonable casualty.

I applaud Gov. Jerry Brown's recent push to require all cities and towns to cut their water use by 25%. To help local entities with the new mandate, the state plans http://store.rainbird.com/sprinklers.html to support the replacement of 50 million square feet of lawns with drought-tolerant plants (otherwise known as "cash for grass"), create a rebate system so residents will get help replacing water-hogging appliances with more efficient models, require golf courses to cut water use, and ban watering the grass found on public street medians, among other provisions.

The total savings, according to the governor's office, will be 1.5 million acre feet of water over nine months. For context, 1 million acre feet is said by environmental groups to be as much water as 2 million families would need in a year.The state's focus on lawns makes sense given that grass and other landscaping account for up to 50% of all urban water use, said Ellen Hanak, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. "It's nice for us to have trees and landscapes, but we could do that with half of the water," she said. "It's not like it's going to mean the end of our economy or the end of our way of life."

If anything, the requirements don't go far enough.

Each year, California uses 6 million more acre feet of water "than our rivers and aquifers can sustainably provide," according to a 2014 report from the Pacific Institute an d Sprinkler System Mckinney the Natural Resources Defense Council. Those groups found 14 million acre feet of water per year could be saved if a number of changes were made to the way cities and farms operate. Among the recommendations: More-efficient farming techniques, including drip irrigation and "smart irrigation scheduling," which waters crops exactly when and where they need it.

So Brown's plan won't fix California's water woes.



But it's an important start.

Next, the state should direct its focus to farms, which consume 80% of all human-used water in California and generate only 2% of the state's gross domestic product. It's reasonable, if politically tricky, for the state to focus more attention on the industry that consumes more water than any other. California can create a water budget that allows farms, people and fish to thrive.Much water can be saved with newer technologies, without forcing farmers to give up the land they use to grow crops, said Heather Cooley, water program director at the Pacific Institute.

She praised Brown's order as "a very positive step forward."

"California is facing a drought of epic proportions, and we need to work together to reduce the use of water so there's sufficient water for cities, for farms and for ecosystems," she told me. "We need to be preparing not only for this drought but for the next one."

And that's the crux of it.

This California drought has been extreme. But in the future, as the climate continues to warm, Cooley and others say the state likely will see more hot, dry years like this.

They won't seem so abnormal, sadly.



All the more reason it's good for California to deal with its grass problem pronto.

If it's smart, it can do so without looking like the Arizona desert.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/02/opinions/sutter-california-water/index.html

Make Money With Your Garden

This post appeared first on Make Money Your Way

This is not really something I should be giving advice on, because my garden attempt has been quite the disaster so far. I still keep hope and enjoy the idea of some day, having some fresh, organic, delicious fruits and vegetables growing in the backyard. So far, it is a bit of basil and a handful of mini potatoes. Far from the gigantic harvest I was hoping for. Anyway, if your thumb is greener than mine, you can turn your garden into a new income stream.



Sell your crop

If you have a garden, you know that all the https://www.thumbtack.com/ny/buffalo/landscaping/ vegetables of a kind will be ready to harvest roughly at the same date, unless you did a progressive planting from seeds. So on August 15th, here you are with 100lb of tomatoes. Enough for a year. Rather than letting it rot, put a sign by the side of the road, or even a little stand, and offer your tomatoes for sale. Don't forget to mention if they are organic. Putting the price on the sign can bring more people and help you avoid time wasters who will say it is too expensive.

For delicate fruits like berries, package them in small containers that you have already weighted to save time. You can also get cardboard cases from the market to put your bigger fruits like apples and peaches. Make bulk bags, 10 pears for $2, a tray of melons for $10...

Make a big discount on very ripe produce, better get something out of it than nothing. My grand ma often buys heavily discounted fruits to make jams, a few are bad but she does save a lot. You will get people interested in them for the right price.

Be realistic with the quantity you think you will consume yourself, freeze https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfNmypOk45k or can. Overestimate, and you are missing out on income. Underestimate, and you will have to buy more produce at the market for a premium, after selling yours cheaply.



Sell your plants

There is a neighbor who always has a few dozen pots in front of his house with growing plants and flowers. People stop once in a while to buy some. It is quite an informal business, if you are gifted with transplants and know how to reproduce your species, convert your passion for gardening into a source of income! If you have many plants in your nur sery, you could rent a spot from the council on market day and sell your flowers and plants there too.

Sell canned goods

One starts to can fresh vegetables to consume them over winter and avoid food waste. But if you still have too much produce, you can sell a few jars to your neighbors and community. You will need to be pretty good at it, and try a few times before you put your stock on the market. A friend makes canned tomato sauce, but says about 1 in 10 jars goes bad earlier than it should. You don't want your products to have a bad reputation from year one.

Buy the jars in bulk, or save glass jars for marmalades during the year, and price according to the weight.

Sell preserves

If you make jams and jellies, why not sell a few as well? The school fair, the town's event, the local delicatessen are great places to start and put your products.

You can try to open an online shop, that could get you a better price in states with more demand f or your products. If everyone has blueberries in a 100 mile radius, targeting out of state customers where blueberries are scarce is a smart move. But don't forget to include in your price the shipping fees and a fee for the time you'll spend going to the post office.

Swap with neighbors

Not technically a way to make money, but if you have enough tomatoes to feed four families, go around and ask your neighbors if they have a surplus in one of their harvests. Tomatoes for corn, beans for carrots, soon you will have a diversified stock of fruits and vegetables.

This works especially if you have an early or a late harvest, and your neighbors don't have that variety yet. It can help you save a lot of money on your grocery bill.

Barter

You could also exchange your crop for something you need. Considering the price of produce those days, your strawberries can get you a few hours of yard work, your plumbing fixed or your kids carpooled from school. I woul d trade one of my chickens for its price in corn, since the hens eat corn.

Even if you don't expect much in return when you bring a basket to a neighbor, he will owe you one, and you should be able to cash in the favor later.

Save on gifts

Usually, when I want to say thanks to someone, I give them something I bought, a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates... and it isn't cheap. Put a nice bow over your can of homemade gooseberry jelly, and you have a thoughtful gift that cost you pennies but doesn't look cheap.

Same thing for Christmas, a food basket with your homegrown products is a fantastic gift because it is personal, and people will eat it, so you aren't cluttering their house with stuff they don't need.

The church is asking for food donations? give part of your crop or your jars, instead of money or store bought products.

You can https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfNmypOk45k save h undreds per year by keeping a bit of your jars for gifting.



For more money making ideas, visit Make Money Your Way.

Wake up to the day's most important news.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pauline-paquin/make-money-with-your-gard_b_9830180.html

Home builders beating back fire sprinkler laws

HARTFORD, Conn. - Nearly three dozen states have rejected the idea of requiring sprinkler systems in homes by enacting legislation or rules that prohibit mandatory installation.

Home builders, still reeling from the recession, say requiring sprinklers would add to their costs. They have found allies in state legislatures and rule-making bodies that have turned aside arguments by fire safety officials that requiring sprinklers in homes save lives.

The National Association of Home Builders has not taken a position on state action banning mandatory fire sprinklers in homes, said program manager Steve Orlowski, but the group has argued that installing residential sprinklers should be up to homeowners.

Either through legislation or code, 34 states have prohibited Sprinkler System Installation mandatory residential fire sprinklers, Orlowski said. Only two states -- California and Maryland -- have adopted codes r equiring installation of home sprinklers, he said.

In other states, sprinkler legislation died or is pending until next year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Connecticut, for example, is deferring action until next year. A measure requiring automatic fire extinguishing systems in one- and two-family homes failed to make it to a vote in the Public Safety and Security Committee.

Sen. Anthony Guglielmo, the committee's ranking Republican senator, said legislators did not have enough information about the cost to builders and municipalities that would enforce the law. Legislators will take up the issue next year only after hearing the recommendations of officials and others brought together by the state Department of Public Safety, he said.

The International Code Council, an organization of building inspectors, fire officials and others who set building standards, recommended in 2009 that states and municipalities adopt codes requi ring sprinkler systems in homes and townhouses less than three stories high. The regulations took effect Jan. 1.

The National Fire Protection Association has said sprinklers will particularly help young children, the elderly and the disabled by giving them time to escape burning homes.

Opponents of requiring sprinklers cite their cost -- and subsequent impact on Sprinkler System home prices -- and voters' dissatisfaction with government mandates.

In Missouri, lawmakers extended for eight years rules that require builders to offer sprinklers but do not mandate them.

"Our main concern, in this housing market, is that the requirement for mandatory fire sprinklers could cost $7,000 to $15,000 per home," said Missouri state Sen. Eric Schmitt, Republican chairman of the Jobs, Economic Development and https://www.yelp.com/biz/ams-landscaping-pho enix-3 Local Government Committee. "In this market, it's very difficult to justify."

In New Hampshire, Gov. John Lynch tried to vetoed legislation that prohibited local planning boards from requiring sprinkler systems in homes as a condition of approval for local permits. The decision about whether to require fire sprinklers should remain a local one, Lynch said.

Legislators overrode the veto.

Sen. John S. Barnes, Republican chairman of the Public Municipal Affairs Committee, said the override vote was not easy because he typically favors local control. But he does not believe any government body should be ordering homeowners to install fire sprinklers.

"If I buy or build a house, I think I should decide whether I put in a sprinkler system," he said.

John A. Viniello, president of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, said the process by which codes are approved is flawed. Codes regulating wiring, construction and other facets of home constr uction are informed by expert advice from industry and others, he said.

But when legislatures have a role in the process, codes too often are modified or scuttled, he said.



"Once the politicians get involved, it's over," he said.



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/29/home-builders-bea ting-back-fire-sprinkler-laws.html

New NYC law, San Francisco lawsuit highlight global risks for Airbnb| Reuters

By Heather Somerville and Tina Bellon

| SAN FRANCISCO/BERLIN

SAN FRANCISCO/BERLIN Airbnb, the online lodging service that investors now believe is worth $30 billion, faces a reckoning.

In eight yearsof torrid growth, the company has often clashed with local public officials seeking to minimize the impact of short-term rentals on neighborhoods and urban housing markets. Now, those simmering tensions are starting to boil.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed legislation that Airbnb says could seriously damage its business in New York City, the company's largest U.S. market; the company immediately filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn the law. The German capital of Berlin recently passed a law banning most short-term rentals, and Barcelona and Amsterdam are imposing steep fines for listings that violate laws there.

Airbnb is also engaged in a pitched battle in its home of San Francisco, where the company has also sued to bl ock a new requirement that it reject booking fees from property owners who have not registered with the city.

The New York and San Francisco legal fights are a crucial test of Airbnb's business model. The company argues it cannot legally be held responsible for how landlords use its platform. If it is required to enforce local laws on short-term rentals, that could drastically reduce listings - and revenue - in some of its biggest markets.

Other cities looking to rein in Airbnb are watching the San Francisco proceedings and looking to the city's law as a potential model, said James Emery, deputy city attorney of San Francisco.

"Throughout the country, people representing cities have called me to ask what's going on with the litigation," he said.



Airbnb's legal argument in both the San Francisco and New York cases rely on a 20-year-old statute designed to protect free speech online, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. In the San Francisco lawsuit, the company asserts that the city "impermissibly treats Airbnb as the publisher or speaker of third-party http://www.mass.gov/ago/ content" when it is merely a platform for communications between property owners and guests.

Other online marketplaces - such as Amazon (AMZN.O), eBay (EBAY.O), and Craigslist - have cited the same law to shield themselves from liability for any improper transactions among users of their services.

In San Francisco , U.S. District Judge James Donato said at an Oct. 6 hearing he wasn't "seeing the link" between free speech protections Best Attorney College Station and San Francisco's short-term rental regulations. Donato is expected to issue a ruling soon.

Airbnb has also sued the Southern California city of Anaheim, home to the Disneyland theme park, and the nearby beach city of Santa Monica, over regulations that the company contends are illegal.

'ILLEGAL' BUSINESS MODEL

Airbnb takes a cut of the revenue when a room or a home is booked and charges a service fee to guests. The company says it helps communities by enabling middle-class families to make extra money.

It also points to agreements with officials in nearly 200 locales around the world, mostly for tax collection and in some cases for broader short-term rental regulation.

Critics counter that, in popular tourist destinations, Airbnb takes affordable housing off the market, drives up home prices and disrupts neighborhoods with streams of transient visitors.

As regulatory threats loom, Airbnbon Wednesdayannounced it would create an online registration system for property owners and automate the enforcement of Airbnb's existing rules in New York and San Francisco, w hich limit operators to a single listing of an entire Best Attorney residence.

New York Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, sponsor of the New York legislation, was unimpressed by Airbnb's announcement.

"It's preposterous. Maybe half their listings are illegal" in New York City, she said. "It's part-and-parcel of the business model."

Existing New York state law bars most urban apartment-dwellers from renting out their units for less than 30 days if they are not present.

The law signed by Cuomo on Friday bars even advertising a rental that violates that existing law, which could help regulators crack down on Airbnb itself in addition to the users of its service. In its court challenge, Airbnb said the statute penalizes the company over content posted by users, which is prohibited by federal law.

Airbnb has also said it has taken down nearly 3,000 illegal listings in New York City over the past ye ar, and reports 44,622 total listings in the city as of Sept. 1.



BATTLE IN BERLIN

In Berlin, Airbnb is fighting a city demand that it turn over information to help enforce a new law imposing fines of up $110,000 on people renting out more than 50 percent of their homes for less than two months - among the strictest regulations worldwide.

Airbnb is "confident it would find a favorable agreement" with the city," said Peter Huntingford, Airbnb head of public affairs for Europe.

But with the city intent on collecting data and Airbnb inten t on refusing, another legal battle looms.

"If Airbnb intends to risk a trial, we are prepared to walk down that path," said Martin Pallgen, a Berlin Senate spokesman.

In Barcelona, Airbnb's third-largest market in Europe, the city is imposing fines that exceed $65,000 for listings without proper licenses. Amsterdam city officials in April started scraping data from Airbnb and other short-term rental websites to root out illegal hosts because Airbnb will not turn over details on violators.

In itsWednesdayannouncement, Airbnb put forward what the company's head of global policy and public affairs, Chris Lehane, called a "comprehensive regulatory strategy" targeted at "rooting out bad actors."

But the new proposals stopped short of any commitments to share information or enforce bans on short-term rental operators, which many cities say is crucial for effective regulation.

RISING RISKS

Critics contend that a large portion of Airbnb listings ar e offered by commercial operators with multiple properties who are essentially running illegal hotels. The company, they argue, has effectively turned many residential neighborhoods into tourist zones.

In Los Angeles, a study by the pro-labor Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy found that property owners with two or more listings generated 44 percent of all Airbnb revenue in Los Angeles.

Airbnb, in a statement, disputed that conclusion and called the group's analysis "misleading."

In New York City, the state Attorney General found that, between 2010 and 2014, more than 300,000 Airbnb reservations violated the law, representing about $304 million in booking revenue, with about $40 million of that going to Airbnb.

Public officials need to prioritize the rights of full-time residents over landlords and visitors, said Rosenthal, the New York Assemblywoman.

"I represent New Yorkers," she said. "I don't represent tourists, and my responsibility is no t to protect their cheap deal at the expense of New Yorkers."

(Reporting by Heather Somerville in San Fancisco and Tina Bellon in Berlin. Additional reporting by Dan Levine; editing by Jonathan Weber and Brian Thevenot)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-regulation-insight-idUSKCN12L0DY

Walmart's Remodeled Stores a Turn-Off for Upscale Shoppers

Last Updated Aug 10, 2010 2:00 PM EDT

Walmart (WMT) has a plan to try to lure back some of the more upscale shoppers who gravitated to its aisles during the downturn, but are now leaving again -- the company is remodeling all of its stores. Unfortunately, so far the new look reminds some of a blue version of Target, and has resulted in sinking sales and customer confusion about whether Walmart is still about low prices or if maybe it's going more upscale.

The remodels are known at Walmart as Project Impact, an effort to remodel all U.S. stores between 2008 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQK4Bl3s_I 2013. Though so far the changes haven't seemed to help sales, Walmart has kept the remodel rolling. Besides a softer blue tone in the signage, the remodels include finally changing the store signs to reflect the company's official name since 2008, Walmart, not Wal-Mart as of old. You can see them changing out the signs in the photo at right.

Everything about the remodel, including the new name, seem kinda hipper, more dot-com friendly...and a hair more refined. It includes wider aisles, better signage, fewer displays clogging the aisles and improved lighting. Which has some worried that customers are being driven away because they think Walmart is repositioning its prices upwards. That's not part of the plan -- it's just a store refresher. But the style may be putting customers off.

As Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates in New York, told the Columbus Dispatch, "They can't appear expensive. It's got everyone confused."

In its attempts to upgrade its store look, Walmart has to walk a fine line. Many of the stores can definitely use a revamp -- all those hordes tromping through do make a store look worn-down in pretty short order. It's not like they could leave the stores as-is forever to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQK4Bl3s_I avoid confusing customers. But the

3758

But the new look hasn't been tied to any marketing that introduces the remodel program to the public, leaving them to form their own impressions about what it means. That's a mistake Walmart could easily rectify as the remodels pick up steam. More than 200 stores have been remodeled, but many more are coming -- Project Impact is supposed t o hit the halfway mark by the fall.

It's an opportunity for a feel-good ad: "Look at how we're sprucing up our stores for you!" Walmart shouldn't pass it up.

Photo via Flickr user journeyguy

Related:

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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/walmarts-remodeled-stores-a-turn-off-for-upscale-shoppers/

Gardening is sexy, says celebrity landscaper Durie | Reuters

By Miral Fahmy

| SINGAPORE



SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Landscape artist and environmental activist Jamie Durie is on a mission to make gardening sexy -- and to save the planet one backyard at a time.

"Gardening is no longer a granny sport," the Australian gardening celebrity told Reuters during a recent visit to Singapore, where he is landscaping a luxury housing compound.

"Gardens are now a reflection of your personality as much as the rug on your floor or the jewellery around your neck. They are a connection to nature, a sanctuary."

A self-confessed frustrated architect who "paints with plants", Durie is a bit of a pin-up boy for gardening.

A qualified horticulturalist, he is the founder of the award-winning PATIO Landscape Architecture Design (www.patio.com.au) and author Sprinkle r System Rockwall of five books on landscaping. He was host to popular Australian TV garden makeover show "Backyard Blitz" and currently hosts long-running American gardening and outdoor show, "The Victory Garden", for U.S. network PBS.

Durie also trained with former U.S. vice president and environmentalist Al Gore to become an environmental ambassador.

Q: How can landscaping help the environment?

A: Any plants that you can get into the soil will help absorb carbon dioxide emissions, and yes, it is possible to have urban developments and sustain the environment -- that's where landscaping comes in.

Also, if you take care of your own garden, it encourages others to do the same and then we'll be saving the environment one small backyard at a time. That's why I try and make gardens sexy, an evocative space that provides a destination, not just something that you see from behind your kitchen window.

Q: So, is gardening fashionable now?

A: Ce rtainly! People are becoming more creative and they recognize that gardens are as much a part of their decor as their living room. There's also a trend towards going back to nature, towards organic produce because of all the chemicals and hormones and gene splitting... that is more dangerous than actual warfare. Growing organic produce has never been more popular and it will continue to grow. We're in the middle of an organic revolution.

Q: What inspires your designs?

A: Everything. I travel extensively, so I often gain inspiration from the natural landscapes I see. You have to be receptive to your surroundings and keep your eyes open. One of my designs was based on a crack in the pavement. The bigger my library of concepts, the more I've got to give.



Q: Creating a beautiful garden can be very expensive and also requires space -- luxuries many people don't have.

A: That is true, but I want the homeowners of today to fast-track to what the older generation have achieved after years of working: the nice house with the big garden. See what gardens can do for you! They give you peace http://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Watering-Irrigation-Lawn-Sprinklers/N-5yc1vZc63c and tranquility. My advice would be to look at the value of your property and use that as a benchmark to decide how much to spend on your garden. If you're spending less than 5 percent, that's skimping, you can do better. And if you don't want to do it Sprinkler System Rockwall for you, do it for your kids. Do it for the environment. It's your responsibility.

Q: Do you have any tips for city-dwellers who would love to have a garden but who don't have the time or the space?

A: Go to your local nursery and start taking photos of plants you find attractive. Go to the botanical garden on the weekend and see how plants are arranged. Fall in love with the plants and then take them home. By growing a plant, you're empowering yourself, giving yourself confidence, demystifying nature.

Everyone can have a little patch of paradise, there's no excuse not to.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gardening-jamiedurie-idUSSP18722020071015

How Eco-Friendly Landscaping benefits you And The Actual Planet

There are lots of options available to you if a person are considering obtaining landscaping services. You should never decide without getting some moment and careful thought in choosing a new company. You should help in order to make enquires with a range of areas to attempt and obtain the lowest price you are generally in any position to. An Individual can inquire your own friend or even neighbors, research the actual Internet, as well as go to certainly one of both specialized companies pointed out later on in this post. Using a amount of serious quantities of research you can get fine quality perform within your current budget.

With the particular aid of landscaping experts, you could make fantastic along with appealing landscapes on your property. But, hiring landscaping companies is usually rather expensive. This could possibly get more serious, if somebody makes expensive mistakes when hiring landscaping experts. In Order To aid you, under is really a listing of the mi stakes you should be aware of.

The value of your home, whether or perhaps not residential as well as commercial, can be totally influenced by certain factors. These kind of factors influence the particular offering and also the getting tariff of the property. You will find innumerable Sprinkler elements that are latched on a new property and one of them can be landscaping. It makes sense which you engage a Dubai Landscaping company to revive the beauty of your outdoors which features a style that is certainly matchless. Dubai landscape architecture had consolidated its imprint around the sands of time and it has progressed through extreme measures. Embarking on Dubai landscape style assures anyone associated with top class imaginative aspects and also thorough professionalism. However, there are particular guidelines that you simply possess to just take in to account before plunging straight into landscaping viz. sele cting a Sprinkler excellent company in order to handle the entire process so that it delivers laudable results.

One of the actual very typical mistakes that may boost your landscaping expenses can be picking inexpensive services. of course, you could think which you can conserve lots of money by selecting low-cost services. But, as there is the stating that goes, "you find everything you pay for." Don't anticipate high quality solutions along with standards that could match your preferences if you paid out with regard to one thing cheap. While any result, you will need to engage an additional landscaping https://www.dallasnews.com/life/gardening expert immediately.

Your Own landscape style isn't just with regards to plants, yet concerning the accessories and decorations which you utilize also. everything coming from pavers to become able to furniture will just concerning all produce a big impact on the achievement of the landscaping. Attempt for a person to take a peek at region as a new whole prior in order to selecting to begin therefore which you do certainly not regret making a bad choices.