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July 2011, Volume 14, Issue 6

MVCC NEWSLETER

Published Monthly Free by the Midtown Ventura Community Council

By David Ferrin

Surfrider Foundations Ocean Friendly

GardensTM (OFG) methods help prevent

excessive runoff, retain and replenish natural

water resources, and are wildlife-friendlywhile creating beautiful yards. At our June

2th general meeting Surfrider member Jill

Sarick gave an enthusiastic presentation on

how OFG educates community members

o achieve these goals. They apply C P R -

Conservation, Permeability and Retention

to revive our watersheds and oceans. Some

ways to conserve water are to nd and x

pipe leaks, be conscious of water use and

waste, and replace gardens requiring high

water demand. Permeability refers to having

healthy living soil that absorbs water, is not

excessively compacted and is alive withorganisms. Since impervious surfaces such as

treets, driveways and roofs make up a large

portion of our build environment, runoff is

well beyond what would normally occur in

nature. If each yard retains as much runoff

as possible, more water is allowed to lter

nto the ground, replenishing the aquifer and

preventing polluted water from reaching

oceans and streams.

The intent of OFG is to educate, train and

assist people in creating ocean friendly yards

by applying the C P R methods. Neighbors

are encouraged to combine their efforts by

helping each other create ocean friendly

yards. OFG implements their goals through

programs such as Basics Class, Hands-On

Workshops, a Garden Assistance Program

and Lawn Patrol (neighborhood walk). Formore info go to www.oceanfriendlygardens.

org and the Ventura Chapters OFG page

at www.surfrider.org/ventura.

At our May meeting, City of Ventura

Principal Planner Brian Randall explained a

list of 12 possible zoning regulation changes

that the city is considering. Included is a

revision to the sign ordinance that would

allow retailers to use video monitors

in display cases to show and advertize

merchandise. To nd out more about this

idea, we invited Scott Boydstun, a localarchitect with Rasmussen and Associates,

who has been studying how retail window

display advertizing has changed with time

and technology, to present at our June

meeting. What he demonstrated in his

presentation is how, with the advent of strip

malls, signs displaced the display of goods

and that has resulted in excessive signage,

painted windows and less than desirable retail

centers. Properly regulated window displays

allow retailers to more effectively advertise

by showing actual items. The items woul

be in a glass case, allowing pictorial, gra

or printed displays that are much more

informative and creative than signs. Ther

is an added benet of reducing enforcem

needs because the display is limited to th

case size. Electronic video displays woul

also be allowed in a window case andcontrolled as to their brightness, duration

imagery and content. Video window disp

could be regulated by the Design Review

Committee to govern appropriateness, siz

and to maintain transparency at front doo

The examples that Scott showed were ve

compelling and

offer benets to retailers while improving

visual quality of our environment.

Press Release

No trees. No plastic. No kidding, says

Jimmy Young enthusiastically to his favo

customer Avery and her dad at the newes

McConnells ice cream and yogurt store

Ventura, California.

I think its just as exciting to tell people

about whats NOT in our new cups, add

Our Mission: Preservation, enhancement and revitalization of Midtown Ventura

Letter from the Chair

PO Box 1041, Ventura, CA 93002

Midtowns Ocean Friendly Gardens Photos Kurt Pre

McConnells Ice Crea

Biodegradable Cup

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David Ferrin, Chair: 653-5088

Pamela Hazard, Vice Chair: 570-7423

Karen Flock, Treasurer: 407-2716

John Jones, Corresponding Secretary:628-2520

Nora Paulson, Secretary: 677-7300

Dan Long, Historic Chair: 653-6573

Jerome Holt, Community Pride:453-8513

MVCC Contacts:

Publication Credits:

Preissler Media Services

Print states a few words, A picture a thou-

sand; While a video provides millions... Lets

expose your organization

643-5902

www.midtownventura.org

By David Ferrin

Create a new Midtown community park

In June we submitted an Urban Greening

Concept proposal to the state of California

for a grant that would fund a portion of

the design and construction of the park.

Submitting our proposal was a group effort

by our Community Pride Chair Jerome Holt,

Ray Olson from the citys Environmental

Services Division, Heather Miller from the

city Public Works Department, Dan Long

and me. We are very condent that our

application meets the goals established by

the grant committee. If youd like to see a

concept drawing of the park proposed

city parking lot on S. Katherine Drive

Hartman Drive the current version can

viewed on our website or Facebook pa

Make improvements to at least one Mi

school per year

Individual efforts continued in June to

complete the painting of the rainbow b

playground at Blanche Reynolds Scho

and it looks great! We expect that the s

playground lights will arrive in July an

be installed before the kids return to sc

We have received numerous donations

for this effort and are very appreciativ

to everyone that helped-out. We are sti

accepting donations to help pay for the

MVCC Goals forVenturas 150thAnniversary

Young, Vice President of McConnells

Fine Ice Creams of Santa Barbara, CA.

Young is responsible for retail store

development of the corporation and is a

ontributing developer of the newly released

iodegradable and compostable McConnells

Earth Cup.

Ive learned its not easy to be rst at

nything but I can honestly say that the

arths very rst biodegradable bamboo and

apioca cup was just served right here on

Main Street, USA in Ventura, California.

How cool is that? says Young.

ames McCoy, McConnells President,

ontributes For 62 years, weve worked

hard to craft the purest and most natural

ce creams and yogurts imaginable. It only

eemed logical to us that we would extend

ur principles to nding a perfect serving

up.

Regarding McConnells quest to nd thearthsperfect eco-friendly cup, Young says,

We still think the perfect cup is actually a

one but in seeking the second most eco-

riendly cup, I visited every booth of every

rade show I could

nd and also scoured hundreds of websites

round the globe and it turns out, quite

ncredibly, that the perfect cup was invented

ight up the road by some really smart folks

t a company called Biosphere. These cups

These rst-of-a-kind cups are created b

baking, under pressure, a proprietary m

of food-grade bamboo bers with the s

of the Cassava root (where tapioca com

from). The manufacturer states that the

natural and non-genetically-modied p

are grown on practically every continen

that

much of the bamboo ber used is yearrenewably harvested meaning the pl

is not summarily destroyed in the proce

harvesting.

Helou explains, Our goal at Biosphere

provide the worlds most environmenta

sustainable and economically viable

packaging material to help mankind kic

its tree and oil habit and we are incredi

excited to introduce new applications f

Biosphere line of products.

are not oil based, they dont use any trees and

they are specically designed to disappear

back into the earth when you are done with

them. Thats perfect in my opinion.

Elie Helou, Founder and Chief Technology

Ofcer of Biosphere Industries in

Carpinteria, CA, comments, Our products

are highly engineered to not hurt the

environment. A tremendous amount ofdevelopment resources have been invested

in the McConnells cups - and all of our

products - so that they dont last. Thats

the point right? says Helou. What we are

doing excites us and it seems our technical

processes are of great interest to others too

now. Lets just say that not just one country

has sent, well, uninvited envoys to try to

gure out how we do what we do. Helou

adds that they are now capable of making

hundreds of biodegradable single-use

products for the food service, healthcare,

industrial, and even aerospace industries.

Just about any human activity that

repeatedly casts quantities of petro-plastics

and tree-based materials into our landlls can

be served with our products, Helou explains.

Biosphere claims the McConnells Earth

Cups, part of their expanding Biosphere

line of plant-based single-use cups, trays and

other containers, posses the worlds leading

composting certicates and even the US

Navy has given them a seal of approval for

ocean biodegradability. Biosphere says their

new products are earth and ocean friendly.

MVCC Newsletter, July 2001 P

Photo McConnell Ice

There will be no Gen

Summe

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Summertime and produce is abundaWhether you buy your ve servingsa day of fruits and vegetables at theFarmers Market, local produce stan

or supermarket, you may want tocheck out the Environmental WorkiGroups 2011 Shoppers Guide toPesticides in Produce(www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary

before you shop. The Guide rankspesticide contamination for 53 popuproduce items based on an analysisof 51,000 tests for pesticides on foodconducted by the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture and the Federal Foodand Drug Administration. It reectsthe overall pesticide loads of commo

fruits and vegetables. Most of thetests were run on the produce after ihad been rinsed or peeled. Althoughit is always important to rinseproduce before consuming, it is nota guarantee that all pesticide residuis eliminated. Pesticides are toxinsthat have the possibility of causing

birth defects, nerve damage, can plaa role in endocrine function and macause cancer. After all, they do kill tpests. The caution is to minimize yoexposure and especially that of youn

children.

The Guide lists The Dirty Dozenof the most contaminated produceas well as The Clean Fifteen whichare the least likely to test positivefor pesticides. Although certiedorganically grown produce that donot use chemical pesticides may cosa little more, if some of the produceon The Dirty Dozen list are among

your favorites, these may be worth textra price. Perhaps you may chooseonly consume the ones on The CleaFifteen list. Another option is to gr

your own where you control what goon your plants. Great produce can ev

be grown in pots if you have limitedspace. Remember this Guide is just and should be used along with your common sense.Christine Wied, Environmental Specialist

City of Ventura, Environmental Sustainab

Division

(805) 652-4584

Greentip For

July 2011

paint, lights and other

supplies if you are able

to contribute.

Expand our volunteerpower by adding 200

MVCC members

f you can provide

your time, expertise,eadership or donations

n support of any of the

bove goals please contact any MVCC board

member, and tell a friend or neighbor about

what we are doing to improve the community.

The 150th anniversary of the City of Venturas

ncorporation is on April 2, 2016.

Pag

eting in July

A Small token of

appreciation to the

Midtown Council

from the pupils of

the Blanche Reyn-

olds Elementey-

School.

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Agenda:

NO MEETING IN JULY-SUMMER BREAKnext meeting Aug. 11Cooper Hall at Grace Church65 South Macmillan Avenue

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