California Life News Room

Highland-Fairview is one of the nation’s leading commercial and real estate developers and recently, Moreno Valley had the honor of hosting an awards ceremony dedicated in the company’s honor.
The real estate leader was recognized for its trailblazing efforts in innovative and environmentally competitive building construction for its Skechers Footwear distribution center property in Moreno Valley.
The facility was awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification. The 1.8 million square foot building is the largest of its kind in the United States, making this accolade even more significant because of the level of difficulty in meeting the LEED’s standards.
On earning this prestigious honor, Highland Fairview President and CEO, Iddo Benzeevi says, “It’s very satisfying to know that the tremendous effort, work, innovation, and engineering that went into producing this building actually is now certified and produces the result it is intended to do so we’re very happy it worked so well and is recognized for the innovation and technologies that was put together to make this happen.”
The year-old facility is not only appealing to the eye, but its eco-friendly design is crafted so innovatively that it is in a distinguished class by itself due to its size and structural complexity.
Adding to its achievement of surpassing the LEEDS strict system of defining ‘green buildings’, the site is also creating thousands of new jobs in the area.

Tiffany S. Carter California Life HD, Reporter

This month on Healthy RC Living the mayor enlightens residents on bringing attention on where the community is taking its road reforms and a safer route to school also Plus what the true benefits are for taking your business “green” with a special spotlight on Vince’s Spaghetti and how important it can be to stay involved with your child’s PTA~ A fun family fitness night at Summit Intermediate School~ a cancer screening fundraiser at Los Osos High School and a “Jumpathon” at Cucamonga Elementary School! You can catch Healthy RC Living all month long airing daily 3 times a day at 8 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon and 7 in the evening right here on Channel 3 except Wednesdays or watch all episodes online at www.healthyrc.info

This is the most party packed time of the year! Lots of food, drinking and tons of waste going on. So however you choose to celebrate, do your best to be nice to the earth while you’re at it! Here are just a few tips to help you green your holiday celebrations!

Eco Invites – As nice as it is to receive a hand written invite, we all know they end up in the trash. Use Evite or Ping and get the job done quick without spending a dime of wasting paper.

Real or compostable dishware -Sure, cute holiday plates and napkins are adorable and festive but they are expensive and fill landfills like nobody’s business. Do your best to use real dishware by investing in some fun holiday dishes or even mix and match by borrowing from friends and neighbors. But if you’re not in the mood to wash a truck load, opt for compostable dishware or dishes such as VerTerra.

Personalize glassware – A great way to keep folks from wasting cups and glasses is to be sure that they keep theirs the whole night long. Ask that folks bring their own glasses or get creative on ways to personalize their beverage containers. From wine glass charms to simply writing their name on them, this will do the trick if you’re using disposable cups or just trying to conserve on washing a ton of glasses.

Green Decor – See last week’s Eco Holiday Decor post ; )

Gift your decor – Solve 2 problems at once by gifting your decorative items instead of purchasing separate gifts and wasting on decor. Decorate with plants and ornaments that can sevre as take aways at the end of the night. They are great mementos for guests and help with costs and clean up.

Lighten up on lights – Shoot for candles and low lighting to keep the energy costs down and the ambiance up. This time of year, fireplaces and outdoor fire pits are wonderful as are candles and sparse LED fixtures.

Eco Fashion – I know it’s tempting to run out and buy a new party dress but there are greener and cheaper ways to sizzle this season. Jazz up clothes by mixing an matching or have fun if you know how to sew by trimming and embellishing. Or better yet, do a clothing swap with friends so everyone saves some money while getting to rock new threads!

Shop locally for your holiday treats – Whether you’ll be slaving over a hot stove or just picking up some delicious dishes, do your best to shop and support local vendors. From produce to baked goods, buying locally grown and made food stuffs not only helps boost the local economy but lessens the energy in shipping conventional stuff to the big grocery chains. Plus it tastes way better! This goes for wines too! Go organic and local!
Clean up Green – Compost food and clean with green cleaning products. Do your best to recycle or reuse items such as tablecloths, napkins, etc. You can green everything from the food waste to the trash bag (go biodegradable) and start the new year on the right foot!

Of all the seasons, green is the color that suits this one best! very happy & merry holidays to you and yours!

Watch A Special Holiday California Life airing across the State or visit www.californialifehd.com

For more information, visit www.healthyvoyager.com

Just because you can claim you are possessed by demons on this time of year, it’s no excuse to ignore your carbon footprint or your health. There are so many ways to green your Halloween, keep fit and save money. Here are just tips that will keep you from the frightening realities of an un-green Halloween!:

Keep It Local – Block and community parties not only help in alleviating the stress of throwing one big party yourself but it keeps everyone local. Instead of driving all around or busing your kids to the best candy neighborhoods, make it a groups affair that saves money, time, the planet and will be more unique then anything else across town! Each home can host a different part of the evening’s festivities. One can do drinks while another hosts games, one can do the costume contest while the other has the potluck food. To keep it healthy, snacks and candy can be found at all of the stops but the main food should be at one that starts off the evening so no one is overeating throughout the night.

Treats – Speaking of treats and over eating, here are some of my favorite healthier Halloween treats:
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Crudite Skeleton
Shredded carrot salad (shaped like a pumpkin with raisin eyes)
Baked apples with cinnamon
Heirloom Pumpkins stuffed with Risotto
Orange bell pepper and black olive pizza
Air popped pop corn
Guacamole Brain Dip
Pumpkin or Butternut Squash soup
Pumpkin Cornbread
Simple Spooky Slaw
Pretzels Witch Fingers
Cider made with 100% organic apple juice, simmered with cinnamon sticks
Also opt for natural and organic candy as opposed to the conventional stuff.

Decor – Nothing is more fun then making your own decorations, especially if you have kids. It’s cost effective when using materials you have at home as well as eco friendly since you’re reusing items that would normally end up in the land fill. Make headstones from cardboard boxes that you collect from things you’ve received in the mail, save your raked leaves and toss them out on your yard for a “dilapted, unkempt house look”, build a scarecrow or ghosts out of old sheets & clothes, and decorate with lots of gourds & fall veggies as they can be planted or composted after the holiday. In addition, opt for LED lights and eco bulbs for your outdoor decor.

Costumes – The best rule is to shop year round at thrift stores and garage sales. Keep a costume bin so come October 1st, you’re all set with all sorts of odds and ends to put together a screamin’ good outfit. If you or a friends knows how to sew, it’s easy to customize garments to suit your new identity. Re-using old clothes and costume pieces keeps you from spending gobs of money on a store bought costume that is made of cheap, un-eco friendly materials that come wrapped in plastic. Besides, you will be unique instead of being 1 of 10 other sexy nurses at the party ; )

After the Ghoul Fest is Over – The most important part of a green Halloween is how you wrap it up at the end of the season. If you’ve bought things that come in boxes, break them down and store them so that they can be used again next year for decorations. Compost left over veggies from the dinner, prep and decor. If you ruined your costume, don’t toss it as you may be able to use fabric scraps for next year’s costume. It’s also a good time to take inventory of what worked and what didn’t so you don’t waste money on things next year that weren’t such a hit. Save your time and energy on the things that rocked and plan ahead for next October!

Check out the most haunted places in California on our Halloween show by visiting www.californialifehd.com

Just because Halloween is supposed to be spooky, doesn’t mean it has to be scary to your health, the planet or your bank account!

For more Halloween tips, tricks, treats and recipes, be sure to visit www.HealthyVoyager.com

First off, the “Little Mermaid” introductory music during Monique Soltani’s story on California Life, creates an energetic vibe that is appropriate to the story’s subject: the CA Academy of Sciences. This aquarium/museum seemingly offers an impressive array of exhibits. As a world traveler and science geek, I look forward to checking them out! Perhaps the most captivating feature is the “living roof.” Soltani cites it as the “steepest living roof in the world,” so I’d like to know how steep it actually is. Also, how many living roofs exist worldwide and where can we find them? (Maybe the exhibit will tell us!) In any case, Soltani’s description of how the roof exemplifies “taking goin’ green to the extreme” nicely transitions the interviewee’s germane discussion of sustainable lifestyles. The interviewee makes a great point: it’s difficult for people to care about threats facing unknown species/locations. Knowledge and familiarity definitely make a difference. For example, being Thailand last summer exposed me to mangroves – vegetation that buffers against storms, purifies rivers, etc. – and how they are being converted into aquaculture farms due to global demand for seafood, particularly shrimp. This discovery prompted a drastic reduction of my shrimp consumption (and let me tell you – shrimp has been on my “favorite foods” list for a while!). Nonetheless, you don’t have to traverse oceans to learn about the world. As depicted in Soltani’s story, the Academy brings Southeast Asia, Africa and other regions directly to you.

Having been around the performance side of the automotive industry for a number of years, its fairly common for automotive aftermarket companies to pitch their products to those of us in media to hopefully test and see of if their claims pan out. Some do and some don’t but I have come across one product which has lived up to the billing.

Royal Purple Oil first started their company with the whole focus being on the racing and performance side of the industry. I have had the opportunity to put their products through the test at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, using both their racing engine oil, transmission oil and Purple Ice radiator treatment. When you are revving an engine consistently in the 6500 to 7000 rpm range and the outside temperature is 90 degrees, its not uncommon to see the water and oil temperature gauge go through the roof.

That simply wasn’t the case in my scenario and I must say it left me quite impressed. Temperatures remained consistent like a normal day on the freeway and here I was putting the car through a fairly extreme workout and the oil came through with flying colors. Now, Royal Purple is adding another element to their product line which looks impressive.

It is a new extended life oil filter which combined with their every day synthetic motor oil, helps extend the normal oil change interval from the standard 3-months 3,000 miles, to 12,000 miles. This means a potential for more savings for the motorist while at the same time, being sensitive to the environment as now you are no longer disposing of waste oil and a dirty oil filter several times in a driving year.

Our recent feature of this product on California Life is now a test bed for us to see if this new offering by the Texas based company will live up to its billing. Based on past experience with Royal Purple, I would believe that any motorist who uses this new filter or simply utilizes their motor oil, will find the performance and fuel economy gain to be worth the price.

Going Green with Royal Purple

J.R.Ybarra
California Life Motorsports Reporter

Imagine if back in the 1980′s, “going green” had been as popular as it is today? Who knows where we’d be as a society? Well, fortunately, 20 years later, we’re seeing a big change in the way children are being taught about Saving the Planet. Although recycling programs may not have been in place when I was in elementary school, it’s wonderful to see that it’s becoming common in schools across California today. Now more than ever, educators are doing their best to get the kids in their care excited and interested about caring for Mother Earth and it’s clearly paying off. After visiting an elementary school last week in San Bernardino County, I was able to see first hand how a group of kids from kindergarten to fifth grade are cleaning up their school.

Teachers have colorful recycling bins everywhere, and the children are encouraged to toss their bottles and cans into the proper containers. You can see the look of pride in their eyes as they talk about “being kind” to the environment and helping their school and community be a cleaner, more eco-friendly place to live. The faculty and children at this particular school have committed to a recycling and reducing waste program all year long, and the money received from recycling is helping fund a new large garden project. For the kids, seeing how you can recycle an object, then receive money to buy materials to plant a tree and a garden is a wonderful lesson.  
The educators and kids at Etiwanda Colony Elementary School are an inspiration, and as a mother myself, we all have to do our part to work together to send a positive message to our kids that every bottle and can counts!

Jennifer Quinonez

There was a reason our first Good Life segment at Ecoterra, a health food store in Claremont, California. Joy begins with good health. After you turn 30, that takes a conscious effort. Start by eating good food. Fruit, salads and raw vegetables are wonderful for your body. Sugar in almost any form is not. Disease loves sugar. You want an alkaline balance in your body, not an acid one, and sugar is acidic. A PH above 4.0 is good. To get there, eat lemons, watermelon, papaya, oranges and grapefruit, or drink their juices. Any successful health program must be well-rounded so if you have never gotten a colonic, you should. They cost anywhere from $50 to $75 but are worth about $500 each to your health. Nothing is more important to your health than a clean colon because this allows you the full benefits of the good food you eat. Exercise and good thoughts contribute mightily. You should consider a health clinic, if you can afford one. They cost anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 a week, half that amount if you share the room with a friend. Health is a lifetime commitment that takes thought, planning and commitment. You have to really want it to achieve it but if you make it a priority in your life, the rewards in energy and vitality are very much worth it.

Check out our special Detox story on this week’s episode of California Life airing across the state or visit www.californialifehd.com