something smells different in silverlake

anyone exploring silverlake, will likely notice something different lurking 'round these parts....my streets are lined with mercedes benz's and there is a peculiar smell in the air! (it smells pretty damn good actually... like french fries) it only takes a step out of my door to sniff to the source: lovecraft biofuels, another one of my fabulous green neighbors. lovecraft specializes in mercedes benz, but can convert any diesel vehicle to run on 100% veggie oil (new or waste), biodiesel, or regular diesel in any combination. since dr. diesel himself designed the diesel engine to run on straight peanut oil for the 1900 world's fair (um, walk in: big oil), lovecraft is really taking the diesel engine back to it's roots here in the driver's paradise (or hell depending on how you look at it) el lay. now, there's an urban greening project which gets a big thumbs up. check out treehugger tv's awesome interview with lovecraft's owner, brian lovecraft.

there are a lot of environmental pluses for getting behind the biodiesel revolution with big-name environmentalists like willie nelson (who has his own brand of biodiesel) and darryl hannah. biodiesel is a much cleaner fuel, it's non-toxic and biodegradable, and the source crops can be grown right here in the u.s. reducing our need for foreign oil. there are a lot of financial pluses to biodiesel as well. many biodiesel users match up with restaurants to collect their waste vegetable oil. the restaurants are stoked because they no longer have to pay a buck a gallon to have the oil hauled away; and the drivers are stoked because they get clean burning fuel for free. sounds like a win-win to me!

i am making the commitment to switch over within the next 6 months from my honda civic (which gets an above average gas mileage) to one of lovecraft's lean mean biofueled machines...i just can't decide which one to claim...they're all so pretty :)


this is a great article from city beat on the el lay biofuel scene as well as information on homebrewing.

get converted at lovecraft biofuels, 4000 sunset blvd. el lay, ca

back! from outer space

sorry for the gap in posts...i've been up to my ears in moving and working the past days. i have been clearing out the non-moving energies in the process and have found myself with a pile of stuff to hand over to the donation gods...

i have to say though that i'm loving the new digs...and for good reasons...it's a co-op!! yay, i love co-operative living! i haven't been in one since n-street up north, so i was stoked to come across such a sweet situation here in el lay. whereas n street was a grouping of 16 individual houses that broke down their fences to form a community, my new co-op is a 10 bedroom house and each roommate has their own room. there's a large communal living space and big front and back yards with a food garden :) we also have 1 chicken, 1 duck, and 1 piglet. the house gets together on tuesday evenings for meals and meetings and i have a weekly chore to keep up on. aside from that, i get a great room in a sweet house and an amazing support network of 9 other fabulous and conscious roommates...yay!

i took a walk around the new hood thursday night to check out my neighbors and get a bite to eat around the corner. on my way back home, low and behold, i ran into something that i have dreaded being sent to: reform school. i was relieved to discover that this reform school is a crafty little shop with a focus on indie artists who "reuse creatively." it's full of sustainable goodies. here you can find local art, recycled pencils and sketchbooks, re-used skateboard purses, and their children's section is a-dor-a-ble! the woman working told me that they had just opened the store about a month ago, so we welcomed each other into the neighborhood, and i assured her that i would be back to see them soon...and you should too!!

get edumacated at reform school:
4014 santa monica blvd. (@ sunset blvd. in silverLake)
los angeles, ca 90029
(323)906-8660