Check out this Flash slide show, it's pretty cool. And it brings into focus what we are trying to preserve. Our beautiful planet.

The sight of a gas station, especially recently, usually inspires feelings of shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression and finally acceptance. But what if I told you there's a gas station right here in the Southland that can inspire hope?

Helios House, located at the corner of Olympic and Robertson Boulevards here in L.A., is striving to prove that even gas stations can be environmentally responsible and maybe even motivational. Helios House, operated by British Petroleum (BP), is bursting with eco-innovations that both reduce its carbon footprint but educates consumers on all things great and green. BP doesn't freak completely out and call their newest station "revolutionary," but just "a little better."

So what's going on at Helios that's so cool? Let's be honest, the gas itself is your basic same-oh non-PC gasoline found at any gas station, BUT...

In addition to its sexy, steel Disney-Center-esque outer shell, the station uses solar panels and motion-sensor lights, collects rain water to irrigate its CO2-reducing green roof (meaning its covered with naturally insulating plants), serves as a recycling station for cell phones, is lit with LED lights AND the building itself is constructed from recycled or sustainable materials. Even the promotional flyers available at the pumps are impregnated (yeah, I said it) with wildflower seeds so if one accidentally blows away or is tossed, the paper biodegrades and sprouts new flowers. Is the gas always greener?

This you got to see. Where's it at? 8770 W. Olympic Blvd. LA, CA.

Here's the question, though: can a gas station that still dispenses gas be green or is it simply a case of making the best out of a systematically bad situation? You make the call.

For more info straight from BP about Helios House, read HERE.
(In case you wondered, Treehugger weighs in to say THIS.)

Finally! The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a staff recommendation to adopt a citywide plastic bag ban by 2010. So the deal is by July 2010 if you don't BYOB (bring your own bag) you will pay 25 cents per bag for biodegradable plastic bags.

Lets do the math shall we? For the sake of this blog let's say you go to the grocery store once a week. Each trip you take you will walk away with five plastic bags. That's $1.25 per week on the BAGS. Over the span of a year - 52 weeks - it's a grand total of $65. That's for something that you are going to use for 10 minutes then throw away. This of course doesn't take into account multiple shopping trips each week. And forget about it - if you have a big family you can double or even triple that amount.

So for all you out there that are saying at this point...It was my understanding there would be no math. The reason I bring all this up is this. Buy some reusable bags!!! They last for years and they will pay for themselves in a very short period of time. Plus you will look all eco-friendly and evolved.

It's worth noting the City Council also voted to support a Styrofoam ban on city property, including LAX, and at city-sponsored events.

I heart this little reminder from Animal Planet and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the little pup in this flick is the spitting image of my very own MagPie. Is it the British accent that makes this message so darn irresistibly charming?

I got a great tip from a coworker. If you are a Verizon customer and you sign up for paperless billing and auto pay. First of all you will be doing the right thing for the environment because no more wasted paper. I pay all my bills online. But they will do one better and plant a tree on your behalf. Verizon Wireless has joined forces with American Forests Global Relief Project for this project.

Trees... We all love trees right? We all know that healthy forests filter water, remove air pollution, remove carbon from the air, and provide homes for wildlife. Plus they give us shade and a place to sit on a hot summer day.

California in particular has been hit so hard recently with wildfires. I think we all know the value of trees.

I've been up to something terribly subversive in this hot weather and I feel like I have to tell someone. I'm not using my clothes dryer. There, I said it. I feel so much better, it's like a weight has lifted!

Allow me to explain. You see, last year my sad old washer finally took a dive and the dryer no longer dried. It was time to replace. So I marched my way down to the local (your home contractor store here) and bought two brand new, energy efficient, front-loading, water saving appliances. They're so pretty.

But it occurred to me last summer that the clothes I took out of the dryer were equally as toasty as the delicates I had air-drying. I mean we live in the flipping Valley so it's not unusual for the backyard to get twelve hours of blazing sun that peaks at a temperature of 105 on a good day!

So this summer I haven't put one washed item...not one single pair of undies, not one towel and not one sheet...into the dryer. Every load of wash has been hung out to dry in the sizzling, wrinkle blasting sun. It's true. All my laundry is swinging in the wind.
And everything has that fresh, breezy airy scent.

You can save two gazillion tons of energy just by air-drying and it's so easy! You can string up an old-school clothesline or for something way less permanent, just get a free-standing rack like THIS one and stick it in a sunny spot. It doesn't take long and on these ridiculously hot days things are dry nearly instantly. I swear even jeans and towels are stone dry in less time it would take to throw them in the dryer and with a touch of a good eco-softener, they don't come out all crispy and stiff. Plus, this au natural dryer method prolongs the looks and life of your clothes.

Bonus points: No dryer sheets are harmed.

Check out this brand new eco-blog from the president of Heal The Bay, Mark Gold. The blog, entitled "Spouting Off" will cover water related enviro issues. This looks like it should a good resource for all you greenies out there that want a bit of local Heal The Bay coastal related news.

A story on the LA City Council and the proposed bag ban is right up top today. Something I support whole-heartedly.

It looks good. My only question, what took you so long?

One complaint. Green Spirited should definitely be on the blogroll. I mean come on how many local eco-blogs does LA have?

I got one word for you: Wall-E.  On the surface, a deceptively simple Disney story about a little robot who, for being a hunk of sharp-edged metal bits, is wildly likeable, cuddly and expressive. And as all good fairy tales go, he falls in love with another robot and lives happily ever after, right? Well, yes...except for the none-too-subtle, terribly perceptive glimpse at the plight of the planet.

I won't ruin all the delish sweetness of this movie, but just to be sure you get sucked in here's how it goes, tidbit style...

• Wall-E is a diminutive 'bot charged with the task of cleaning up the centuries of garbage and crap WE left cluttering every surface of Earth.

• He's all alone, because the entire population of the planet is cruising on a Love Boat-style spacecraft, waiting for Earth to be inhabitable again...and they have been cruising for 700 years. They are literally waiting for signs of sustained photosynthesis and evidence of spontaneous life.

• Oh yeah, and we as the human race have lost the use of our bodies having become a species-wide collection of inactive, obese blobs floating in hover chairs, drinking all our crap food from super size cups and chatting endlessly with an image projected on a video screen that hangs mere inches from our noses. Hmmmm...

This flick has all the earmarks of a Disney movie and then some; Wall-E is funny, adorable and engaging.  And it's served with a giant, delicious helping of satire, self-awareness and social commentary.

All's I got to say is "Two Ginourmous Green Thumbs Up."

I know I wrote a post about this already but we cannot forget the Honey Bees. Haagen Dazs have set up a site called Help The Honeybees as a means to raise money and awareness. Some of the actions recommended on the site are plant wildflower seeds, support your local beekeepers, and donate to research. Haagen Dazs is also selling a brand new flavor, Vanilla Honey Bee; profits from the sweet summer treat will be used to fund research at Pennsylvania State University and University of California at Davis.

Yeah, I'm still waxing poetic on the travel tip...but this time offering up a few valuable resources to help you plan your own eco-rad vacation.  The hottest thing in green travel is lovely, exotic trips that not only encourage responsible environmental action and minimize our earthy impact, but also arrange what's deemed "ethical" vacations. Ethical travel can mean that in addition to being environmentally responsible you may be also working in a far-flung exotic land helping to make wherever you are a more sustainable community.

But I promise that just because you are traveling all eco-sensitively you will not have to use leaves as toilet paper or sleep in the dirt...although those are options too.

To that end, a little light, fun and informative reading for my fellow eco-adventurers:

• "Green Travel: The World's Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels" from the travel experts at Fodor's.
• "25 Ultimate Experiences: Ethical Travel" - this one even includes a zero-impact luxury ski camps in the freakin' Swiss Alps! 
• "Code Green: Experiences of a Lifetime," published by Lonely Planet.

These guides even include handy tips or chapters that can help you figure out if your trip is really green or simply green-washed.
 
To find out more about eco-travel, for everyone from the hard-core, rough-it enthusiast to the kick-back, organic cocktail on the beach type, check THIS out.  You don't have to be the ugly American on parade.