Keep Hope Alive — How You Can Do Your Part
By: Jennifer Pinkerton

With the holiday season underway, calendars are filling up with parties, shopping, gifts and get-togethers. It's a wonderful — and usually wasteful — time of year. According to some estimates, Americans throw away nearly a million extra tons of trash each week between Thanksgiving and January 1. Much of that is, not surprisingly, packaging, including gift wrap, and food.

Here are some tips to keep trash bins from filling up and overflowing, without sacrificing any of the fun.

Feast and Donate

Is your management office hosting a holiday party?

The first step is to avoid unnecessary leftovers by purchasing the right amount of food. A good rule of thumb is 4‑6 appetizers per person per hour when you're serving only appetizers. Along with the food, purchase some inexpensive containers so leftovers can be divvied up and taken home, not pitched into the trash.

If you're hosting a catered event, tell the catering company that you require that all leftovers be donated ‑ and put that in the catering contract. If someone raises the issue of liability, rest assured that the California Good Samaritan law (officially, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act) shields you.

Food for Thought, a guide published by the City of Los Angeles's bureau of Sanitation (available online), and first authored by yours truly more than a decade ago, lists organizations that can accept leftovers.

You may think that leftovers from your small party won't make a difference, but you couldn't be more wrong. The UCLA Center for Health Policy and Research states that 1.3 million children are going to bed hungry tonight in California.

Christmas Trees

Paper or plastic? Real or artificial? Opinions are divided on this one. Many artificial trees are made of plastic, a nonrenewable resource, and some older models may contain lead. Small (potted) live trees are one option, but how many of us have the space or the appropriate climate to plant a tree that may grow to more than 50' in height? Cut live trees can always be recycled, but keep in mind that petroleum is consumed to transport live trees from a tree farm to your neighborhood tree lot. Those who do opt for live, cut trees should go the extra step to make sure they're recycled.

For those buildings without curbside recycling, tenants can locate nearby drop-off recycling locations by logging on and entering "Christmas trees" in the find recycling centers for their block, and then their zip code on the right. Buildings participating in the City of Los Angeles' curbside recycling program can recycle trees by removing all decorations and cutting the trees into pieces that fit inside the green bins. The trees will be recycled into compost and mulch.

Star Bright

Light the way to a more energy‑efficient holiday season with LED (light emitting diode) lights. LEDs are 90% more efficient than traditional incandescent lights. At the minimum, purchase outdoor lights with parallel wiring. If one bulb burns out, the rest will keep twinkling.

Donation Made Easy

Along with bowls of candy in your office, why not offer an easy way to do some real good? Pick a worthy charitable organization like Hope-Net, with which AAGLA participates to help feed hungry families. See Hope-Net for the full story on this worthy organization. Ask for your Food Party Piggy Bank if you have a rental office or business, and let your tenants and customers feel the spirit.

White Elephants

Why not declare a White Elephant Week sometime in January? Make sure you have some items to donate, then schedule a pickup with a nonprofit organization. Tell them you've asked your tenants to participate, but don't know how many will join in or how much will be donated (it will be a learning experience for everyone).

Then ask tenants to leave their unwanted items on their doorsteps or in a common designated space. The latter approach may preclude the charitable organization from providing receipts to individual tenants. Make sure you inquire and let your tenants know what you're doing. If you manage a small building, why not ask neighboring apartments to join in?

Send your suggestions to us at SustainableLA@live.com and we'll forward them to the appropriate parties.

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