When friends recently suggested we meet for Sunday brunch, I turned it into a challenge. How could we have the most fun with the smallest carbon footprint?
The weather was beautiful that weekend, so I knew the plan had to involve the beach. I live only a few miles away, but the more sustainable choice was to not take my car: According to the EPA, if I drive just ten miles less each week, in a year I’ll save 500 pounds of CO2 — about as much as four trees sequester over ten years. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, consider this: If all Americans drove just ten miles less each year, we’d save 116 billion pounds of CO2, which equates to so many trees I can’t even calculate it.
What’s a carbon footprint, you ask?
A carbon footprint is the impact that a person or business has on the environment, measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide. It’s a calculation of the amount of non-renewable energy it takes to support your lifestyle. So if you drive a gigantic car and leave your lights on all day, your carbon footprint would be calculated somewhere along the lines of an Ugg boot. But if you’re an eco-obsessive who bikes everywhere and burns soy candles to light your home, it would look more like a stiletto. (In 2008, I co-founded EcoStiletto, a now-defunct sustainable fashion and beauty website, based on this concept.)
Aside from walking, which would have taken too long, there is no more sustainable mode of transportation than riding a bike. (Skateboards and human-powered scooters count, too.) From my house in West Los Angeles, we headed south to the Ballona Creek Bike Path. This is a scenic, seven mile, paved, two-lane stretch that follows the north bank of Ballona Creek from East Culver City to the Marina peninsula. It dips underneath the streets, so there are no stoplights (unlike on the new Expo Line bike path), and provides an added cardiovascular benefit when you have to climb back uphill.
After stopping at the end of the Jetty to watch the sailboats motoring through the Marina and out to sea, we headed south on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, which stretches twenty-two miles along the beach from Torrance to Pacific Palisades. From there, it was just a few blocks to our first destination: Brunch at Playa Provisions, (which consists of several choices for brunch in Playa del Rey). There there’s plenty of bike parking, and nobody cares that you have helmet head.
Developed by “Top Chef” winner Brooke Williamson, Playa emphasizes locally sourced and/or organic ingredients and makes the best Bloody Mary in Los Angeles (the matcha is great, too). Earlier, we had decided against the self-serve Dockside restaurant, because it serves food and drinks in single-use containers It does, however, feature fire pit seating that’s perfect for cozying up to while the fog burns off, so after our meal at Playa, we grabbed a zero-waste, house-made ice cream cone from the to-go window before getting back on the road.
Heading east on the bike path for about ten miles, we followed the river and exited at Duquesne. Our destination? Equator Coffees, a chic café smack dab in the middle of downtown Culver City with plenty of bike parking nearby. Equator is a certified B Corporation, which means that they are focused on making the world better through fair trade practices and organic sourcing. Plus, they make really fantastic coffee, served (for on-site consumption) in reusable glass or ceramic cups.
Across the street, we discovered the locally owned book/gift shop Lundeen’s, where there were plenty of organic and clean beauty offerings to choose from — and they wrap for free. Luckily, our bikes had baskets! After a quick sprint, we arrived home, pleasingly tired after a roughly twenty-mile ride, and content to know we had tread a little more lightly on the earth.
Don’t own a bike? Rent one at Ray’s Rentals Venice, 21 Washington Boulevard. Ray’s is located in the beach parking lot, which makes it super convenient to hop on the bike path and head south to Playa Vista.
