I love L.A.?

Back in May when we started to mold our vision of what we thought bGreen was going to look like, we decided to take a trip out to LA to do some research.  There was an expo on alternative building materials and design taking place in Santa Monica (Alt Build), which was right up our alley, and it was the perfect opportunity for us to check out the green movement in California.



And here are our findings:



1. They just get it out there.  Well, they get it to a point.  They have recycle bins everywhere, special parking spots for drivers with hybrids, easily accessible organic food, and the list goes on.  But don't ask any of the locals to walk somewhere.  Walk?  What's that?  Despite being ahead of the times, they can't seem to shake the "drive everywhere" mentality of L.A.



2. Green stores are everywhere in L.A. and not one of them is doing the same thing. This peeked our interest. When McDonald's started, there were burger joints all over the place but not one of them ran the type of efficient operation that McDonald's did.  Once McDonald's came out with a successful model, everyone copied it.  From our tour of L.A. green stores, we have come to the conclusion that what we have are a whole lot of "burger" joints but no McDonald's.



3. Boston is better.  OK, we'll admit when we first stepped off the plane (and for the entire first day), we felt like idiots.  All we could think about was how much better life in L.A. was as opposed to the Northeast.  The sun was shining, the people are relaxed, palm trees are everywhere.  You get the picture.



[caption id="attachment_48" align="alignright" width="112" caption="Our first stop from the plane"][/caption]



Once our initial excitement wore off, we realized that Boston is better for the type of business we envision.  It's easy to be green in L.A.  In fact, if you're not, you might want to have your head checked.  Being green in Boston or any other Northeast city isn't as easy.  But why? We are educated, live in smaller homes, and probably have a smaller carbon footprint than our friends on the west coast, yet we aren't as green.  (Editor's Note: Yes, having a smaller carbon footprint does technically make us greener.  However, imagine how much smaller our footprint could be if you lead the "green" lifestyle they have on the west coast).  We have yet to answer this question and hope to do so through bGreen. Green as a way of life.



All in all, our trip to L.A. was a great success.  We learned a lot about what is already happening in the green industry and a lot about how we want to be a part of the green movement.  We also got addicted to Coffee Bean Iced Tea.  This has proven to be a serious issue as we cannot find anything nearly as good in Boston.  I guess we'll have to plan another trip to L.A. Yes, for Iced Tea.