Looks That Kill
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On Sept. 11, the Environmental Working Group, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Breast Cancer Fund, will host an upcoming discussion regarding how minimal exposure to the toxic chemicals found in our everyday products/environment can have a serious effect on our health over time. The founder of Healthy Child, Healthy World will also be there, presenting ways to reduce your child's exposure to toxic chemicals.


If you know anyone in the LA area with kids or anyone interested in the importance of going green, please pass the below along and be sure to RSVP to guarantee your space. It should be an interesting discussion.

Toxic chemicals contaminate every American's body and have been linked to serious health affects like cancer, reproductive problems and learning disabilities. Join us as we expose the hidden dangers of chemicals found in our everyday environment and common products, and focus on what we can do to change this moving forward.

What: What's Going On? A presentation and discussion on the toxic chemicals in our toys, cosmetics and in our bodies (RSVP »)

When: Thursday, the 11th of September, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Louis Room, Bullocks Wilshire Building, Southwestern Law School3050 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (directions »)

Who: The Environmental Working Group will discuss the 287 chemicals found in the blood of 10 special people in a multimedia presentation called "10 Americans." Stacy Malkan of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry will read an excerpt from her book about toxic chemicals in personal care products. Christopher Gavigan, author of Healthy Child Healthy World and Executive Director of the non-profit of the same name, will provide simple steps everyone can take to reduce children's exposure to toxic chemicals.

Free and open to the community. Refreshments will be served and local companies that have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics will be on hand with personal care product samples.
RSVP to guarantee your space »

Modern-Day West Side Story

The Brentwood Grand Prix, a bicycle race, will occur on Sunday, August 17. On the local news, they’re calling this an event intended to “...educate motorists and cyclists that the two can co-exist on the roads of L.A."

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This is particularly important since more and more people are riding bikes in light of rising gas prices. Even more important, since there's a blatant disregard for cyclists in L.A.

The race route is a "...2.3 mile loop on scenic San Vicente Blvd. in the heart of Brentwood."

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You know the area. Brentwood. San Vicente and Barrington. The Bean. CPK. Whole Foods. It's all right there.

It's like a rite of passage. If you move to L.A. at some point you've either rented an apartment, or you've crashed on a couch at a friend's house after a night of partying at Q's on Wilshire. The next morning you walked to Coral Tree Cafe or, if you were feeling poor, Noah's Bagels.

I used to live in Brentwood. Five years ago. When it was even less crowded than it is now. This is motorist-central, where - even though there's a bike lane - cars rule the road. They race around corners, run red lights, block intersections, refuse to merge, make illegal turns, and honk. Always with the honking...

• This is the area where my roommates and I couldn't invite friends over certain times of the day because there was no parking on the street.
• This is the area where my boyfriend (now husband's) car was innocently parked on the side of the road when another car careened into it - doing enough damage to total it.
• This is the area where one friend (who still lives there) has had THREE cars broken into and/or STOLEN in the past six years.
• Last but not least (and perhaps most pertinent to this post): this is also the area where, when riding my bike to work one day, I was inches away from being pummelled by a driver coming way too fast out of an alley.

Do I think more people should ride bikes in L.A.?
Yes. Biking keeps you fit. It reduces CO2 emissions and - if enough people did it - it could unclog the overcrowded streets.
Do I think it's a good idea to "educate motorists" about respecting and being aware of cyclists?
Considering in the not-so-distant-past I became intimate with the grill of Mr. Land Rover Discovery, um, yeah.
Do I think anyone driving in L.A. will listen to this group's message?
Sadly, probably not.
The city offers motorists a guaranteed fast-track on the always-glutted 405 if they would simply CARPOOL. The HOV lane, most Angelenos assume, is a "trick." It looks like a passing lane, yet apparently you get in trouble if you use it for that ("...what double lines, officer?")
People love their cars. Until we get a reliable, efficient, LOGICAL transportation system (like a train system that doesn't require all passengers to connect downtown), the traffic in L.A. and lack of respect for bicyclists will never change.
At least the Brentwood Grand Prix is a step in the right direction. On second thought, blocking off this major thoroughfare on a weekend day may only further enrage motorists.
Good luck, guys.
To find out more about the race that's (by coincidence or necessity?) sponsored by West L.A. Urgent Care and TWO attorneys-at-law, visit http://www.brentwoodgrandprix.com/