Caltech established its sustainability credibility by building Pasadena's largest solar-power facility on one of its parking lots and operating a thriving campus recycling center, the sorts of initiatives that are common across the nation's campuses. But the university's most original green venture is its annual Olive Harvest Festival.
A sidewalk that for years was smeared with rotten produce from the campus' 130 olive trees today will fill with students, faculty and volunteers who gather annually to harvest the savory fruit. The olives are picked by hand, then pressed into oil that will be sold in the Caltech bookstore in about a month.
Members of the public are welcome to participate.
Here's a schedule of some of the events. A complete list can be found at olives.caltech.edu.
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Harvest olives by hand.
10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Ten people will push a 1,600-pound wheel to manually press oil.
11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Tastings and sustainability exhibits by student clubs.
Noon to 4 p.m.: "Green" tour of campus.
-- Margot Roosevelt
Electronics disposal
On Feb. 18, little more than three months from now, your old analog TV may not work well without a converter. Millions of people in the U.S. will be nudged into scrapping their old sets and buying digital. (Check out latimes.com/digitaltv for more about the digital conversion process.)
But before you dump your old television at a landfill -- where its toxic innards, including lead, mercury and cadmium, can contaminate your air and water -- check out the Environmental Protection Agency's Plug-In To eCycling website, epa.gov/ecycling.
Not only will recycling help the environment, but the plastics, metals and other components in the old TVs can be reused, thus cutting back on greenhouse gases from manufacturing that are disrupting our climate.
Besides factoids, podcasts, a video and a moderate dose of feel-good propaganda, the EPA's website directs you to local programs to assist you in donating or recycling your old electronics, including old cellphones and computers.
-- Margot Roosevelt
Bird rescue
Getting scooped up from the oily muck didn't ensure salvation for birds in last year's San Francisco Bay oil spill. Fewer than 40% of the oil-coated birds rescued made it back into the wild. The state Oiled Wildlife Care Network collected 1,068 live birds and was able to save 418 of them for later release.
