Category: Uncategorized

Highlights

• Celebrate the opening of the 19th Street Community Farm
• Take action on federal food labeling and food waste policy!
• SAMOCAN webinar at the end of June

CASM in the Community

Last month, CASM partnered with Downbeat 720 to host the Let The Youth Speak event. At this event, we featured wildflower seed ball making around some climate-themed posters. The open mic encouraged participants to share their ideas about how to grow community; a few newcomers as well as Downbeat regulars took the opportunity to share music and poetry from the heart. We look forward to co-hosting future climate-themed open mic events, so stay tuned if you or any youth in your life are interested in sharing at our next event!

Let The Youth Speak participants gather for a group photo after the show.

In May, a few members of CASM also gathered to celebrate the organization’s wonderful leadership. Our Executive Director and Co-Chair, Laurene Von Klan, has been in that role overseeing our grants and administration for 7 years. The evening was filled with laughs and good company – the perfect way to thank Laurene for her thoughtful and inspiring leadership!

CASM members smile around a shaded picnic table at Santa Monica Brew Works to celebrate Laurene.

In early June, CASM and Climate Corps Club members went on a tour of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Project (SWIP) on Main Street. The SWIP facility provides a drought-resilient water source for Santa Monica by recycling stormwater, urban runoff, and municipal wastewater into clean, drinkable water. SWIP has the capacity to treat and recycle up to 1 million gallons of wastewater per day and up to ½ million gallons of stormwater per day, providing a sustainable source of groundwater replenishment for the city’s drinking water supply. Touring this facility reminded CASM just how precious water is as a resource; as drought and extreme weather intensify, new, local water sources are a cornerstone of water resilience and help Santa Monica reach its goal of water independence. 

CASM members hear from Sunny Wang, the Water Resources Manager for the City of Santa Monica, about different stages of water treatment at SWIP. Pictured behind members of the tour is the reverse osmosis membrane system.

Upcoming CASM Activities

We will be bringing back our SAMOCAN webinars at the end of June! 

Our next SAMOCAN webinar will be on sustainable mobility in Santa Monica. The City of Santa Monica has an ambitious Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) that includes an overarching goal to “achieve an 80% reduction (below 1990 levels) in community carbon emissions by 2030.” Sustainable mobility is one of three sectors that is included in the climate action part of the CAAP to reach that goal. Vehicle emissions are Santa Monica’s largest source of emissions. This webinar will feature speakers from the Big Blue Bus team as well as the City’s Department of Transportation to discuss zero emissions transportation projects in Santa Monica. Please stay tuned for a specific date and time, likely during the last week of June!

Action Alerts

Take action to improve food labeling and reduce food waste!

In the United States, over 30% of food goes uneaten. Right now, there are two bipartisan bills in Congress with the power to cut food waste in half: 

• The Food Date Labeling Act standardizes expiration date labels nationwide. No more confusion about “sell by” vs. “best by” vs. “use by.” This will help you determine when food has gone bad versus when it just might not taste quite as fresh.
• The NO TIME TO Waste Act establishes a federal Office of Food Loss and Waste, funds critical research, and launches a national campaign to cut food waste in half by 2030. 

To get these policies into action, representatives need to hear from supporters like us. Sending letters to congress in support of these two bills will send a clear message that Americans are ready for coordinated effort to reduce food waste. To use your voice, visit the attached link from the World Wildlife Fund to use a template and send a letter to your representative. This action is quick, easy, and will have a meaningful impact on food labeling and waste policy!

Climate News

19th Street Community Farm:

The 19th Street Community Farm is finally opening! This community agricultural space was purchased by the City in 2019 and has gone through several phases of community planning and development to bring the project to fruition. The City is hosting a block party on June 14 to celebrate the opening of our new Community Farm and 50 years of Community Gardens in Santa Monica. To get involved with the Community Farm project, learn more by visiting this link.

CASM supports Resilient Palisades:

Are you curious about how Pailsadians are rebuilding their community?  Then you might want to follow Resilient Palisades.  Their work includes youth education, native plant stewardship and landscaping, electrification, and more.  They report great news in their recent newsletter: “As of April, LADWP’s HOME LA program has received 31 applications from Palisades-area home rebuilds, with 5 already approved and approximately $100,200 in rebates committed, pending project completion. That might not seem like a high number but 2025 ended with only 14 applications.   Hypothetically…If applications kept doubling every four months, we’d be looking at something like 5,600 applications by the 2028 deadline.”  Wouldn’t that be great?

To get the Resilient Palisades newsletter, visit https://www.resilientpalisades.org/join-us 

If you are a Palisadian, please reach out and share your ideas for how CASM can support the Pacific Palisades community.

Research on how ocean warming is weakening sea breezes:

The most recent volume of the Nature Climate Change journal features an open-access article titled ‘Ocean warming weakens the sea–land breeze in coastal megacities.’ In this paper, researchers use simulations to study how rising ocean temperatures may affect liveability in coastal megacities by reducing the number of days that the cities experience sea–land breezes. The study simulates that rising ocean temperatures will slightly reduce the number of sea–land breeze days in Los Angeles. To read the full paper, visit this link.

Upcoming in the Community

June 11: The Last Dive Film Screening and Panel Discussion

June 13: The Comedy Swap (clothing swap and comedy event)

June 14: The Garden Series at Tongva Park

June 14: 19th Street Community Farm Block Party

June 20: UC Master Gardeners at Pico Farmer’s Market

June 24: Annie Leonard & André Carothers present Protest: Respect It, Defend It, Use It book tour

June 25: Santa Monica Beach Cleanup

June 27: The Bay Foundation & Santa Monica Yoga Morning of Mindfulness and Dune Restoration

By Mackenzie Devilbiss

Some climate solutions are particularly potent because they are high impact and they can be implemented in the near future. Called ‘emergency brake’ solutions, these actions immediately curb emissions from highly damaging greenhouse gases such as methane. Emergency brake climate solutions include preventing ecosystem degradation, reducing methane emissions and leaks, and reducing food and energy waste. A few of these powerful climate solutions can be implemented at home, and one of them is already available to you as a resident of Santa Monica!

Green Bin Program and Food Waste

Two emergency brake climate solutions that go hand-in-hand are increasing the use of composting and reducing food loss and waste. When food waste and organic matter, like yard trimmings, are disposed of in a landfill, the organic waste decays and releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and has roughly 30 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. According to the US EPA, municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are the third-largest anthropogenic source of methane emissions in the US. The agency estimates that 24% of the MSW disposed of in landfills is food waste – and this food waste is responsible for a staggering 58% of methane emissions caused by unintentional leaks from landfills. The final product of composting is a nutrient rich product that can be used for soil amending. This beneficial soil additive produces less potent emissions as a byproduct and has the potential to store carbon in the soil long-term. 

In Santa Monica, the Green Bin program is available for all residents to separate organic waste from recyclables and landfill trash. The City of Santa Monica characterizes MSW into different categories and tracks how much of our MSW is food waste. In both 2023 and 2025, roughly 24% of Santa Monica’s MSW sent to landfill was food waste, matching the national average. The City also tracks how much waste is composted through the Green Bin program. Each resident in Santa Monica can support this powerful climate solution both by using the green bin in your home and by explaining the importance of the green bin program to your friends and neighbors. In addition, it is important to reduce the amount of food waste in your home by only buying what you need and planning meals in advance to prevent impulse food purchases. According to the US EPA: “One-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten. EPA estimates that in 2019, about 96 percent of households’ wasted food ended up in landfills, combustion facilities, or down the drain to the sewer system. The remainder was composted.” By maximizing use of the green bin program and reducing food waste in every home, we can each put on the emergency brakes to reduce climate-warming methane emissions.

Ballona Creek Wetlands

CASM has also taken action to preserve local natural landscapes by supporting closure of the operational oil and natural gas wells in Playa del Rey. The natural gas production and storage facilities in Playa del Rey have regularly reported large methane leaks, releasing methane directly into the air of the neighboring communities and the atmosphere. The area is classified as a ‘Level III methane hazard zone’, the highest methane hazard level recognized by the City of Los Angeles. CASM has taken a stance to support closure of the site.  At the very least, SoCal Gas should plug all leakages as soon as possible to prevent further uncontrolled methane emissions. Gas leaks in the area can be reported to South Coast AQMD by calling 1-800-CUT-SMOG, and advocacy groups like Protect Playa Now have organized petitions on closing the site in the past. Being informed about the Playa del Rey natural gas facility and advocating for reduction of methane leaks is another opportunity for local emergency brake climate action!