Sustainability Now News
by Maryann Ridini Spencer

“Caution,” “Toxic,” “Danger,” “Keep out of reach of children,” are common words found on traditional cleaning product labels sitting on store shelves waiting for a purchase. However, exposure to harsh chemicals can not only potentially irritate our skin and burn our eyes, but research now indicates that long-term exposure may also result in significant adverse health consequences.

Aerosol sprays, cleansers, disinfectants, air fresheners, and a host of other common household products are also known to release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. When these types of products are used, the air quality inside our homes can be up to 1,000 times more polluted than the air outside our homes.

Leaving the harmful chemicals behind for safer, non-toxic choices is wise in the best of circumstances, but especially if you or a family member has a health condition such as asthma or allergies, or if you have small children or pets, where contaminants can hang low in the air, or on the carpet or floor where babies and pets play.

The extent and nature of health effects depend on many factors, however, why risk exposure to harmful chemicals that can cause such potential ailments as “eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, nausea, damage to the liver, kidney, and central nervous systems,” if exposed?

When a product is legitimately labeled “safe” and “green” it will be certified by one of the nationally recognized independent standards and certifiers. Look for the UL logo (industries.ul.com), the Green Seal (greenseal.org), and Safer Choice imprint (epa.gov/saferchoice).

To help consumers navigate what products are eco-friendly, and which are not, there are also extremely helpful sites like ewg.com, which delves into product ingredients and rates household items in addition to offering healthy alternatives for everything from cleaning products to dishwashing liquids and detergents, to furniture and floor care, as well as other products. For personal products such as makeup, hair, nail, and other care, Ewg.org/skindeep also describes and rates items.

Some of the best, safest choices to opt for consist of DIY mixes created at home using such items as baking soda (deodorizes, cleans, scours), lemon juice and white vinegar (cuts grease, removes mildew, odors, even stains), olive or coconut oil (for polishing wood), hydrogen peroxide (a disinfectant and stain remover), and the list goes on. Google homemade DIY eco-friendly cleaners and a host of informative websites pop up.

Here are just a few DIY recipes you may want to try:

• Air Freshener – small bowls of fragrant dried herbs or your favorite blends of essential oil. Sites like Scentsy sell essential oils which you may want to take a look at if you’re looking to give this DIY recipe a go.

• Wood Polish– olive or coconut oil make excellent polishing agents

• Dish cleaner – castile soap, Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds

• Window cleaner – 2 tsp. white vinegar with one quart of water in a spray bottle (use a cotton cloth to wipe)

• Title and Tub Cleaner – baking soda on a damp sponge (for tougher jobs, wipe surfaces with vinegar first using vinegar sparingly around tile grout as it will cause the grout to break down).

• Steam Cleaner – If none of the above sound like a good solution. You may want to find the best tile steam cleaner in your area. Go onto eBay, Amazon or go to your home depo and see what they have in stock to help. A Steam Cleaner can be very useful around the home including the bathroom, kitchen and living quarters.

Keep it safe. Keep it green.

The Ventura County Leadership Academy (VCLA), founded in 1994, delivers on its mission of connecting people and issues to strengthen our county by developing, educating and inspiring a diverse group of leaders who aspire to enhance the quality of life in Ventura County. The curriculum of the year-long Academy is delivered through ten full-day interactive sessions and exposes the cohort members to critical issues in the region as well as current leaders in their fields of expertise. One of the sessions takes place in Sacramento where the cohort is given a detailed overview of the legislative process and the opportunity to meet with government officials. Other session topics include education, public safety, health care, housing, transportation, economic development, arts, environment, infrastructure and agriculture. Cohort members also complete an immersion activity in the community; examples of past immersion activities reflect the diversity of the cohort members’ interests, such as a police ride along, shadowing an elected official, volunteering at a non-profit organization, and others.

VCLA infuses personal leadership development throughout the curriculum with the goal of ensuring that its graduates recognize that leadership is a relational process and that leading at any level within any organization is a choice one must intentionally make.

The members of this year’s cohort include:

Ashley Bautista, Community Outreach Specialist, City of Ventura Police Department

Carol Ramirez, Business Office Director, Vista Del Mar Hospital Kat Selm, Stewardship Coordinator, The Nature Conservancy

Monica White, President/CEO, FOOD Share

For more information about the Ventura County Leadership Academy please contact: Melissa Baffa (805) 665-3504 or [email protected].

The Ventura County Reproductive Rights Network (VCRRN ) is hosting its signature Write For Your Rights event to bring together our community’s collective voice during a time when threats to reproductive rights are at an all time high. Attempts to block Planned Parenthood’s funding on the federal level continue in Congress, while women’s health still remains at risk at the state level. Write For Your Rights gives Ventura County the opportunity to tell our local and national legislators that we stand in support of women’s rights and believe reproductive rights are human rights.

The event will be from 12:30 – 2:30pm on Sunday, August 26th at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura (5654 Ralston Street). VCRRN will have letters on a range of reproductive health care topics prepared for the public to sign. In past years, they have collected as many as 1,500 letters during a WFYR event.  By bundling the letters, they are sending a strong message from our community to our elected representatives.

The event is free of charge and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Ample parking is provided in the lot in the rear of the building

The Ventura County Reproductive Rights Network is a countywide umbrella of organizations and individuals committed to educating the community about reproductive health issues and mobilizing its members in support of reproductive freedom, rights and access. In addition to the annual Write for Your Rights event, every January the VCRRN gathers signatures for its annual Roe v. Wade signature advertisement and event to raise social awareness about the ongoing assault on reproductive freedom.

by Venturans for Efficient & Responsible Government (VREG)

The Ventura City Council stated building a pipeline for state water was Ventura Water’s number one priority. We’re pleased with the result. VREG promoted and encouraged state water over Direct Potable Reuse (DPR).

Water is a regional problem. Ventura should be a leader in working with all surrounding water agencies and cities to solve the problem.

Even with the Council’s decision, though, Ventura Water projects will cost Ventura’s 32,000 water customers $538 Million. Spread the costs over ten years, and Ventura Water will charge each customer $140 extra per month. Spread over five years, it will cost customers $280 per month extra. Moreover, those costs don’t include the State Water delivery costs we pay for the water we use.

There’s no way around it. Plan on skyrocketing water costs in the coming years.

The Channel Islands YMCA is proud to announce the election of Lucy Thoms-Harrington and Daxter Gulje to its Board of Directors.

Mrs. Thoms-Harrington has been on the Board of Managers for the Lompoc Family YMCA for over 15 years where she has served as past Board Chair, Campaign Chair and Board Development Chair.

Thoms-Harrington is an independent business consultant assisting businesses expand their markets and product portfolios. Prior to this position she was the Product Line Director for Raytheon Vision Systems in Santa Barbara.

Thoms-Harrington earned her Master in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and her Bachelor of Science from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo where she met her husband, Tim.

She has a daughter, Hope, who attends Stanford University.

Mr. Gulje is the Director of Enterprise Sales and Strategy for RightScale, which is a SaaS-based cloud management platform.

Gulje attended UC Santa Cruz for his undergraduate degree, discovering a knack for computer engineering at the dawn of the modern Information Age. Parlaying those skills into a career as an IT Director for UC Santa Barbara, changing career direction from engineering to sales. He has spent the last 15 years leading sales teams of local tech companies like Curvatore and RightScale.
Gulje occasionally appears on KEYT 3 & KKFX 11, to help explain breaking technology stories and their impact.

Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation announces the addition of Luz Soto as its Director of Property Management and Resident Services. Soto returns to Cabrillo, where she previously served as Director of Property and Asset Management from 2005 to 2013.

Soto oversees Cabrillo’s residential portfolio, which includes 26 affordable communities that serve nearly 1,200 low-income families.

“With more than 20 years of property management experience, Luz’ strong leadership skills ensure the successful operations and management of Cabrillo’s rental portfolio,” said Cabrillo Chief Executive Officer, Margarita H. de Escontrias. Using the assistance of apartment rental management companies, when it comes to finding a place for you and your family, hopefully, this process will be a lot less stressful.

Overall, Soto is responsible for the oversight of property budgets; the timely turnover of vacancies and delinquencies; and all legal matters related to tenant-landlord laws and fair housing issues. She will also manage Cabrillo’s Resident Services program, which provides ongoing resources as well as social and educational programs to provide a ladder of opportunity for residents. It is important for residents to know what they can about property management, so they are aware of the changes that happen around them which in relation to the property they live in. See more details at https://www.pcfmanagement.com/glenwood-property-management for more information.

Most recently, Soto served as Senior Vice President of Property Management and Resident Services with Abode Communities, where she managed 35 affordable housing developments with 2,319 homes that served 6,300 low-income people.

Prior to 2005, Soto worked as the District Property Manager for the Brackenhoff Management Group, where she managed a 1,300-unit tax-credit portfolio throughout California. She also worked with Goldrich & Kest Management, Inc., where she oversaw a residential portfolio consisting of 8,000 units, including HUD Project-Based Section 8, Tenant-Based Section 8, and Sections 202, 811, and 236.

Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation’s mission is to provide comprehensive housing services and community economic development activities through a community-building approach that facilitates self-sufficiency for individuals and families who are most lacking in opportunity in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Incorporated in 1981, Cabrillo’s early roots were in response to a farmworker community’s demand for secure housing. Although this continues to be important, today there is a more widespread need for affordable housing in this region. As such, Cabrillo now provides housing for low- to moderate-income residents and families, including farmworkers, seniors, veterans and individuals with special needs.

Standing at the fire engine is Firefighter Josh Bethea, son Scott Hunt, daughter Erin Wise, Firefighter Ron Ramirez, Firefighter Brian Muluchille and Firefighter and bagpipe player David Mendoza .

On September 25, 1936, Paul Richard ‘Dick’ Hunt was born at home 180 Palm Street to Robert and Nettybelle Hunt. He was the last of eight children. He attended May Henning and Lincoln Elementary, Ventura Jr. High, and graduated from Ventura High School in 1954

He worked in various automotive supply shops before working at Shell Chemical. In 1958 he enrolled in the army. On April 26, 1958 he married Janet Fraser. They made their home in Ventura and Dick joined the Ventura City Fire Department.

In 1964, Dick and Jan welcomed their son Scott to their family. Daughter, Erin, was born in 1966, two years later.

Dick was a very artistically talented person and he had lots of hobbies that he enjoyed: calligraphy and designing patterns for his stained glass windows and beautiful sun catchers. He took such pride in his hobbies. He retired from Ventura Fire Department after several years of service and continued time with the Department with weed abatement services.

He passed away quietly at home surrounded by his family on March 10th. In lieu of flowers, the family requests for donations to be made to Serra Conservatory Cross, PO Box 48, Ventura, CA 93002.

On July 18 a wonderful memorial service was held for him at the cross.

His best friend and mother of his children, Jan survive him; his son, Scott; his daughter, Erin; his son in law, Richard Hernandez; his granddaughters, Lauren and Brittany; many nieces and nephews, friends. He will be dearly missed.