"For more than a decade, the city has worked to drastically reduce single-use plastic, setting a goal of becoming a zero-waste metropolis by 2039. County data shows that 70% of all waste — including paper, aluminum, and yard clippings — is diverted from landfills, instead heading towards recycling centers, compost, or reuse programs.

But not plastic. Numbers from CalRecycle, the state’s waste-management agency, show that only 2% of #5 plastics, used for yogurt tubs and microwavable trays, are recycled statewide. And even clear bottles with a #1 label, the common plastic for bottled water and soda, are recycled only 16% of the time.

To make matters worse, plastic is considered a low-value recyclable, so there just isn’t much demand. Nations such as China and Thailand that used to accept America’s plastic trash have cut us off or severely restricted what they will accept. Most recently, as of last July, Malaysia ended plastic imports. And the cost of recycling plastic has risen.

...California is looking at new ways to reduce plastic waste. Senate Bill 54 would require all single-use plastic packaging and single-use plastic foodware sold in California to be either recyclable or compostable by 2032, while also mandating a 25% reduction in the amount of such materials entering the market. But in January, CalRecycle withdrew proposed regulations for the bill, saying the agency intended to improve clarity around food and agricultural packaging.

But there’s a big difference between recyclable and recycled, and the bill doesn’t address that.

[Jan Dell, a chemical engineer who founded the nonprofit Last Beach Cleanup] said Californians need to stop thinking there’s a technological solution coming to save humanity from single-use plastic. “There has never been, and never will be, a place to magically recycle all this waste,” she said. She favors strategic bans on some single-use plastics, banning false “recyclable” labels on plastic packaging that is not accepted into recycling streams, and pressuring companies to switch to materials that are truly recyclable, like aluminum and paper. If people could actually see the mounds of plastic waste, Dell said, they would probably change their ways.

[Daniel Coffee, a project manager focusing on plastics and climate research at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation] is more optimistic about the potential of recycling to be part of the solution. “Even if the problem is big, it’s important to recognize that taking the time to recycle the things that are recyclable is reducing the environmental burden, and that’s reducing the harm,” he said. “It’s a worthy endeavor.”"

"In Carson, voters actually passed a 1990 advisory measure expressing support for a ban, which the council did not implement at the time. Then, opponents made a familiar argument to Carson’s elected leaders: Ban all fireworks, and you’ll harm community group fundraisers.

...That’s because those sales from June 28 to July 6, the dates allowed by the state, are also limited to local nonprofits and other service organizations. The same goes in practice or by law for the other 33 cities in L.A. County, mostly smaller and working-class, that allow fireworks.

The stand in your neighborhood might say “TNT” or “Phantom” — the country’s largest consumer fireworks brands — but the people staffing the register and handing over boxes of sparklers are with the local Rotary club or high school marching band. So when a city council talks about banning fireworks, the people staring them down at meetings are less often company executives than pillars of the community who really need the revenue.

...the proliferation of “safe and sane” fireworks made it impossible for the sheriff’s deputies who patrol Carson to single out the larger and more dangerous explosives that have always been banned.

Municipal bans don’t stop residents from simply crossing city lines to make their purchases. At the 2025 meeting where the council took up the ban, Davis-Holmes said she saw someone passing out information on the closest stands where people could still buy fireworks.

...[Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes] and a spokesperson for the National Fire Protection Association rejected the idea that any fireworks, legal or otherwise, can be deemed safe. “Our message on all fireworks is pretty simple: Leave it to the professionals,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

“Safe and sane” fireworks are certainly safer, but not necessarily safe. Officials warn that they can cause brush fires as well as inflict burn injuries on celebrants.

...a leading researcher of Fourth of July air pollution sees “safe and sane” fireworks as particularly harmful.

“Street-level burning is bad,” said Dr. Jun Wu, a professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine. Since 2021, Wu has co-authored two papers linking the use of smaller fireworks to dramatically higher July 4 air pollution in cities across Southern California.

"Costs were the reason that the city’s streets bureau, also known as StreetsLA, halted its resurfacing efforts last year. The agency was too broke to take on new requirements involved in repaving, its general manager, Keith Mozee, said in a public hearing in January. These upgrades included striping for bike and bus lanes as mandated by Measure HLA, passed by city voters in 2024, and installing improved curb ramps that allow wheelchair access, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. At $50,000 per ramp, Los Angeles has some of the highest ramp installation costs in the country

...another reason why the city began its cheap-fixes-first repaving effort this spring. The city’s fiscal year ends on June 30^(th), and if StreetsLA ends the year with any extra money in its account, it could make itself vulnerable to bigger fiscal cuts next year.

“They don’t have the money for curb ramps but they don’t want to leave money on the table,” [Schneider, founder of local non-profit Streets for All] said. Plus, the city’s Department of Transportation, which oversees HLA restriping, is under orders from the mayor to not launch any new projects not directly related to the upcoming 2028 Olympics, according to Schneider"

San Gabriel Valley residents interested in riding an e-bike but discouraged by the cost have two new opportunities through GoSGV: reduced-price e-bike memberships and vouchers to help purchase select e-cargo bikes.

CA state legislation SB 1167 draws a clear line between electric bicycles and illegal high-powered electric motorcycles.

Do Americans mean it when they say they love dogs

July 19, 2026 | 10am-6pm (same day as CicLAvia - Meet the Hollywoods)

With existing Marina del Rey WaterBus operations already in place, this is a rare mobility idea that is both visionary and operationally straightforward.

July 19, 2026 at 9am–4pm

If you drive in Santa Monica, don't block a bike lane. Don't risk an automatic $93 citation!

Homeowners warn that blocking left turns on Ohio Avenue will divert heavy commuter traffic into quiet side streets.

Long Beach will let cyclists, pedestrians, roller-skaters and families roam major downtown streets on July 19 while it’s showing the World Cup championship match at a nearby park.

It’s the culmination of a string of free watch parties. To mark the occasion, Long Beach is combining it with its well-attended Beach Streets open streets festival.

The shuttle stays within the Manhattan Beach city limits except to pick up and drop off at the the Metro K Line Douglas Station in El Segundo.

>Despite multiple efforts to put reforms on the November ballot, Los Angeles voters will not get to decide whether to roll back the city’s controversial “mansion tax” on apartment buildings.

The vote: The L.A. City Council voted 14-0 to shelve a proposed ballot measure on Wednesday, the final day to send proposals to the city’s voters in the upcoming general election.

The context: The decision comes almost a week after a separate, statewide measure seeking to kill the tax — and other “mansion taxes” across California — was pulled from the November ballot.

Why it matters: Supporters of the tax have long opposed sending reforms back to the city’s voters. Advocates for reform said the council is failing to confront declines in new housing development, which they blame on Measure ULA.

Pro-Metro video from the California Post... I couldn't believe it either. And most importantly, a few regular users from this sub are interviewed in the video!

Ever felt frustrated by how much plastic you end up with after a trip to the supermarket? Join us for a supermarket audit so we can collectively demand change!