Plastics are not your friend.

A couple of weeks ago in Long Beach came the culmination of several months worth of planning on a big event I'd produced, the Plastics Are Forever International Youth Summit. The name says it all in regard to the conference's environmental focus. Plastics, as it should no longer be a surprise to you, do not go away. The science of it all is far beyond my meager, layman brain. But the simple facts are pretty darned simple. People use and trash disposable plastics like they are going out of style. And the truth is that they've been way out of style ever since we learned about recycling some odd decades ago. What happens to your discarded Diet Coke bottles, straws, and shiny plexi things, you ask? Well, the ones you don't recycle end up in our oceans, in the fish, and on your dinner plate (not mine, of course as I'm a vegetarian, but I digress). But recycling is not alone the answer. Reduction in consumption is the real key to solving the plastic problem and it begins with YOU.

How can you help?

* Carry your own, reusable water bottle. I love my Nalgene that I picked up at Target.
* REFUSE to accept plastic bags when shopping. No, you do NOT want a bag for your gum at 7-Eleven. Keep a canvas tote in your car. Okay they're not all that cute. So buy yourself a fancy one. The FEED Bag will make you feel trendy while you shop in eco-style. Do whatever you need to.
* Support organizations like LA's own Plastic Pollution Coalition that are taking strides against the plastic problem. You can help PPC's efforts by donating, volunteering, or even buying some pretty incredible art by the likes of Raymond Pettibon (see image above), Pam Longobardi and the org's founder and artist Dianna Cohen.

Do Good: score tickets to Coachella in an artsy-fartsy, clean-green way.

You're pretty handy with a paintbrush, you love the earth (in a totally platonic way), and you're dying to go to this year's Coachella (we've all seen you seat dancing to Jay-Z on your ride to work). But, sadly, tickets are expensive and you wouldn't dare to go without VIP access, you poor, broke snob, you.

Enter, Global Inheritance's 'Get TRASHed' contest.

We invite you to submit your artwork and be considered to design one of the 20 recycling bins featured at Coachella. What's even better is that the non offensive redesigned bins will be placed in schools throughout Southern California after Coachella to inspire the future recyclers of the world! Next steps? Send us a link to your artwork, concept and/or website.

Find out more and enter to win on Global Inheritance.

Earth Day. Let’s fix this sh*thole up.

Happy Earth Day everyone! In honor of our planet--and it being the only on we can live on and all--here are my 10 tips for cleaning up the sh*thole we’ve let the place become.

1. Recycle your paper. Those flirty emails from your boyfriend that you printed when you first starting dating? He dumped you already. Chuck the evidence. And recycle all your old porn while you’re at it too.

2. Turn off the lights when you leave your house. I know your mother taught you this was a good idea so burglars would think you were home. But you and I both know that no one wants to steal your crap.

3. Use less toilet paper. I know with certainty that many of you are TP offenders. None of your parts are that delicate. You do not need half the roll to wipe.

4. Take the stairs. Your office is 5 flights up? Well, let’s be honest—your gluts could use the workout and that elevator could use the rest.

5. Hug a tree. No, don’t really please. Plant one with Forest Aid. Or pay someone else to plant one for you.

6. Stop buying leather bondage gear. And other leather goods. I know—they’re soft and supple. But they’re not eco (or animal) friendly.

7. Reduce your water consumption. I’m not suggesting you stop showering. No, no—none of us would want that. Just don’t shower for soooo long. It will help the water drought AND will save neighbors extra minutes of hearing you sing Les Mis in the bathroom.

8. Use a re-usable tote at the store. You’ve probably been given a hundred free ones by now. Stop using them for dirty laundry and start taking them to the bloody grocery store.

9. Don’t have 20 kids. I know babies make you happy. They make me happy too. But you don’t need that 20^th one. Seriously. I’m talking to you, Octo-Mom.

10. Utilize public transportation. Public can be frightening, especially here in LA. But no one told you to start dating that chick who lived all the way across town. And the mileage is putting a serious damper on the ozone.

* Feel free to ‘recycle’ these tips for green living with your not-so-green friends. Even your pals who hate granola and think organic is for dirty hippies can start to clean up their act.

xo * Jessie B. R.