As a recent transplant to LA, I came with reservations of my ability to explore without a car. Coming from the east coast and living in cities with widespread access to public transportation, I was pretty spoiled. However, to my surprise, LA can be a very pedestrian friendly city. And with the weather perfect year 'round, it's easy to plan a day to do it. Some of my favorite walking neighborhoods include West Hollywood, Silverlake, Beverly Hills, Downtown and Hollywood. All you need to do is check a bus or metro route and get on your way.

In general, here are some tips for planning a good walk:

· Bring water. Use a reusable bottle (duh).

· Wear comfortable shoes. I can't stress this enough. I once did a walk around Paris in loafers. I was hobbling like Quasimodo by the end of it.

· Aimlessly wander, but bring a map. Serendipity is fun, just be aware of your surroundings.

· Enjoy an urban oasis. Try to integrate some urban green spaces in your itinerary.

· Bring a camera. You never know what you're going to see.

I've found two websites that can plan a good walk:

Google Maps. They've recently introduced a function that gives you directions on how to get somewhere on foot.

Walkscore (http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/Los_Angeles). This website has a Google maps mashup that rates how walkable a neighborhood is and provides points of interest in the surrounding area.

For the really ambitious, here's the itinerary if you decided to walk from LA to New York.

At a rate of 3 miles an hour, 24 hours a day (apparently, it doesn't understand the concept of sleep), Google estimates that it would take about 38 days and 3 hours to walk the 2,800 miles. Good luck keeping up the pace through the Rockies.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=los+angeles&daddr=new+york+city&sll
=40.720136,-74.010944&sspn=0.029273,0.063171&ie=UTF8&dirflg=w&z=4

Phillip Javellana
NBC.com Intern

You hear that phrase thrown around a lot, but I'll bet you rarely stop to think about what each of the three elements really means. We typically just lump it all together and assume it means to put your cardboard, scrap paper and empty bottles and cans into the recycling bins. But we tend to forget about the first two parts of the phrase. Reduce and reuse…how exactly do we go about doing that?

Reducing and reusing actually go hand-in-hand rather conveniently. If you can think of ways to reuse the things you already have, you will reduce your consumption. It's as good for the environment as it is for your pocketbook.

I'm sure you're already thinking of all the wasteful things in your life that you wish had more than one use. The one that always comes to my mind are those pesky plastic bags under almost every kitchen sink. First of all, shame on you for not using reusable shopping bags in this day and age. But I get it…things happen and we all end up with an excess of these things.

Avoiding purchasing new items and start reusing those plastic bags:
- as trash bags in small trash cans, such as in the bathroom or laundry room
- in lieu of packing peanuts when shipping fragile items in the mail
- to pick up your pet's poo after walks through the neighborhood

Here's an example of how I recently began reusing these adorable glass yogurt containers that were piling up after several months of eating the most important meal of the day…

Oh look…this tasty yogurt just happens to come in rather tasteful glass containers!

They're too cute to recycle or (heaven forbid!) throw away, but they sure do take up a lot of storage space.

Here's a great idea! I can use them as votive or tea light candle holders. To be really festive, I could tie a decorative bow around the top to dress them up a bit.

There's always the utilitarian route. They're perfect for storing nail scissors, clippers and tweezers in the medicine cabinet, or for buttons, thimbles and snaps in the sewing room.

Then once you've identified all the many ways to reuse things that were intended to be single-use items, you can find one last way to reuse...a vase! Not only will it brighten up the room, it'll be your own little reward for helping your both your finances and the planet.

Meet Pucci. She is an adorable pug, who at only 9 months old is already on her way to becoming totally "green." She already has an organic chew toy – a monkey we’ve named Charlie.

Her food, by Wellness, is filled with all-natural antioxidants and nutrients. And on the other end of the spectrum, her poop bags are 100% biodegradable!M

Pucci’s latest way to go green is to help save energy around the house. We used to leave a door open for her to go in and out at night, because we don't have a doggie door yet. Recently, I bought bells for the French doors instead and now Pucci rings the bell when she wants out. Some might say she has her humans well trained!

There are lots of ways, big and small, to have your pet go green. The array of green pet products available now is amazing. There are eco-friendly toys, leashes, beds and treats for not only dogs, but cats and birds as well! You can even make your own pet food or treats if you have hours of free time on your hands. I think even a simple change – like switching to biodegradable poop bags – can have a big impact.

A few great sites that will help you get started on going green with your pets are below. There is even a whole blog site devoted to Raising a Green Dog! One great tip they offer is to convert an old suitcase into a dog bed!

Eco-Pet
http://www.shop.ecopetlife.com/main.sc

Great Green Pets
http://greatgreenpet.com

Pucci wants you all to be her friend on Dogbook, so be sure to visit her online and tell how you and your pet are making the change to a green lifestyle!
http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/profile/view/5197693

Carole, A. - Los Angeles, CA

1. The obvious, you save A LOT of money on gas. The metro website has an actual calculator to show you exactly how much money you are saving when you map out your trip.
2. LESS STRESS! What’s worse than having a long aggravating day at work and then have to fight packs of disgruntled road rage filled drivers to get home for an hour? Not much in my book! Having been a heavy commuter at least 2 hours of driving a day to and from work for many years I can happily say that the metro experience is completely amazing! Instead of high stress precautious driving, you can zone out, be in a mix of crazy people, listen to your favorite tunes in your headphones and read your favorite book. It’s a super safe atmosphere and there is tons of security everywhere for all you skeptical girls out there. And you might even meet new friends!
3. EXERCISE and Good health: If you happen to work in an office sitting at a desk all day working long hours like me, than you know that there isn’t much exercise going on in your life. By bringing some walking time into your life on a regular basis, you are being proactive toward being a healthier person. I’ve already felt a great difference and am siked to keep it up in my life.
4. Helping Traffic and supporting an LA Cause. Not only are you helping to take one car off of the roads, you are voting for a better LA by supporting a mode of transportation that is environmentally friendly. Less Smog, less Cars, and choosing a healthy form of transportation. Pat yourself on the back! By riding the Metro even one day out of the week, you are adding yourself to the legions of community and health conscious citizens of LA. Which hopefully will be even more recognized and get even more metro stops out into LA for those not fortunate to live by one at the moment.

Alternate forms of transportation: THE BIKE. This morning I rode my bike to work. This is a 14 mile jaunt for me. Some along the roads and mostly along the LA bike river trail. Biking is a totally cool niche in LA. Most of the trails are paved really well and my bike trail goes through Griffith Park which is really beautiful to cruise through. If you are looking for bike paths that might lie between your dwelling and work, check out: http://www.labikepaths.com/

For lots more info on biking events and resource links I really like this site:
http://la-bike.org/index.html

There is a really cool community of people in the bicycling realm and they have workshops, if you want to build your own bike, or trick it out so that it has all the bells and whistles you want. You can check this out at:
http://www.bicyclekitchen.com/who.html

There is a really cool article that was written on why biking in LA rocks here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2130978/

So Why bike in LA?
1. For all you skeptics out there that know how car congested LA is, then you might be concerned about biking next to cars. I say…Find the trails! Believe it or not, they exist! And then you won’t have to feel stressed out biking next to cars, which I admit is not so great. But the trails are amazing and they go for long stretches car free. If you happen to be on a road though, USE THE SIDEWALK. Because no one else does! In LA it’s a well-known fact that no one “walks” anywhere. Steve Martin did a whole bit in it in LA Story because it was such an absurd fact about LA. So get on the sidewalk if you feel uncomfortable next to the cars.
2. It’s GREAT for you! Talk about getting healthy and in shape, you’ll lose a ton of weight doing this activity and get your stomach and legs toned. I highly recommend it for getting in shape!
3. GREAT WAY to DESTRESS! It’s so easy at work to get wound up and stressed out. This is another fabulous way to take out your pent up energy and funnel it into a work out. I like to sweat out all the stress and take all the thoughts out of my head, plug into my music and get into an exercising rhythm. So for me it is a mental health thing too, because after I go biking, even though I’m physically tired, I feel really good mentally and physically which makes everything just a notch better.
4. It’s FREE. After you get the equipment of course. But after that, no gas to pay. Not much else to say here.
5. Helping Traffic and supporting an LA Cause. Not only are you helping to take one car off of the roads, you are voting for a better LA by supporting a mode of transportation that is environmentally friendly. Less Smog, less Cars, and choosing a healthy form of transportation. Pat yourself on the back! By biking even one day out of the week, you are adding yourself to the legions of community and health conscious citizens of LA. Which hopefully will be even more recognized and get even more bike trails out into LA for those not fortunate to live by a good bike trail.

And that’s my 2 cents for today!

::Alexis::
Senior Designer, NBC.com

Don't live every day like it's your last one!

Morbidly boring, I know, but if we want to have any chance of ensuring that the southern third of Louisiana and the majority of Florida aren't under water by the time my kids start having kids, we need to buckle down on the choices we make. We need to really come to grips with the fact that today is not the last day we're going to be on this planet, and that the decisions we make DO matter and WILL affect the future course of things to come.

It's all about choices. So, with that, I'd like to offer up a list of choices you can make in your life that will help reduce your consumption of energy and natural resources and slow down the toll we're waging against our Earth (it's our only one, by the way, did you know that? We don't get do-overs with planets. I checked as part of my research). I am going to try to steer away from the obvious ones, like "Don't Drive an SUV", or "If you do, for the love of all that is holy, would you please carpool!?", or "Buy GE energy saving light bulbs." You already know all of this, and I don't need to berate you some more. I'd like to offer you some less traditional methods to achieve the same result. So, in no certain order, here goes:

It's what I'm doing! My lady friend works in the biofuel industry. Her work advances the research needed to end our dangerous dependency on oil. But, the work isn't as glorified and sexy as it might sound (does it really sound that great? You might need to get out more). So, part of my contribution to the environment is to support the sciences by supporting my science girl. I tell her things like, "You're going to make the world a better place" and, "Please pass the barbeque sauce, this chicken is a little dry." And one of those things usually encourages her to succeed at her work. I'm not sure which one, so I usually try variations of both.

2. Turn the water off when you brush your teeth.

Seriously. What phantom need does this serve? I can't even imagine how many thousands or millions of gallons of water are wasted every day, by the flowing faucet beneath the toothbrush holder. You don't need to run the water until the very end. So stop wasting water and money!

3. Pretend that your washing machine is missing its soul mate.

The essential pieces for a clothesline cost like $10. And with them, you can save a ton of money and energy by hanging your clothes to dry instead of tumbling them for 50 minutes. If you don't have a yard to hang a line, then get a clothes rack. Don't want to buy a rack? Hang things over doors. Don't have doors? Well … how do you stop people from stealing your washing machine? I hang as much of my laundry as I can. Some people don't like to, with their counter-argument being, "It makes them stiff and uncomfortable." I usually follow that up with a, "That's what she said," and the conversation tends to get awkward and it basically ends shortly thereafter. (Note: not the best use of "That's what she said", but I don't care. It's my blog).

4. Buy plants and keep them alive. And then buy them brothers and sisters!

Plants are like bizzaro humans. They breathe CO2 and exhale oxygen. We need more of these guys around, and the way that you can ensure this is to go to your local nursery (not the kind with kids), farmer's market, or even places like Home Depot or Lowes, and pick up a couple of house plants. While you're at it, pick up some for outdoors, as well. They're great for the environment, they're fun to watch grow, and they don't usually develop personality disorders. Win-win-win! At home, I keep no less than 7 indoor plants and at least 2 outdoor plants at all times. I keep one at my desk at work as well. That's a total of 10. Not a requisite number, but it's better than 9.

5. Own a dog.

This has no real effect on the environment, but I feel like everyone should own a dog. There are over 9 million dogs euthanized in the U.S. every year. Sad face. There's got to be something un-environmental about that many dead things. But, moreover, having a dog will force you to spend time outdoors (unless you're like my neighbors who just leave their dog outside and ignore it. They're going to pet-owner's hell) and by being outdoors you will realize that this planet is a place you want to save, so that generations down the line can enjoy living with their dogs without having to wear biohazard masks every time they step outside. I don't know what possible scenario that would fall under; I just wanted to use some scare tactics. Didn't turn out too well. I could never work in politics.

I'm just a guy trying to live in this world the right way. I think that we as people need to be cognizant of the things that we do and the effect it has on the environment around us. I know I'm not alone, but I'm also aware that I'm still in the minority. We have a situation in the U.S. where electable candidates are forced to shy away from being truly environmental, due to their loyalties and obligations to the economy, industry, and the forces of evil. I always vote for the greenest candidate I can justify voting for, but in reality, that isn't going to get us very far. We have to take environmental issues into our own hands, and you can start by trying out any of the five suggestions I've made above.

Did you know that laughing doesn't contribute to global warming? It's true! With that in mind, check out this clip from a performance by Chris Porter, a contestant from Season 4 of Last Comic Standing, for his opinions on how we can lower gas prices. (Slightly NSFW, but it aired on NBC in primetime, so use that as your barometer). Enjoy!

Mike Avitable
Video Producer, NBC.com

Don't hit your brakes while driving uphill. It not only causes you to burn more fuel to get back up to speed, but the domino effect has caused others to come to a complete stop a half mile behind you.

Similarly, accelerating downhill is just as wasteful; you'll just rush up on the traffic up ahead and hit your brakes.

Rather than speed up to change lanes, ease back on the accelerator to let the car next to you go by first.

A half tank of gas weighs less than a full tank, so it's no surprise that you get better gas mileage while driving in the bottom half of your tank. Rather than topping off when you refuel, just take it to the half tank. You may have the inconvenience of having to refuel more frequently, but over a month's time, you'll notice more miles per gallon, and a lower overall fuel expense.

Richard Cortes
Web Producer, NBC.com