What can make our city green? Politicians and businesses and, the most importantly, you. There are local elections in November and if you want your city to become sustainable and green, now is your chance to talk to the candidates and present your concerns. Then vote for the greenest candidate.

It seems that everyday a green article appears about some new innovation or product. I recently attended the West Coast Green builders’ EXPO in San Francisco and wandered through two exhibit halls plus a balcony that were chocked full of companies that are committed to building with less impact. I decided to save a few trees and instead of picking up pounds of glossy brochures, I took only business cards of favorite exhibits and flagged others in the program. You can access the list of exhibitors at www.westcoastgreen.com. I’ll highlight some of my favorites here.

A California native plant company, Central Coast Wilds (www.centralcoastwilds.com) in Santa Cruz specializes in designing and building ecological landscapes that conserve water and encourage wildlife habitats.

Want your own street light? A San Francisco company, Global Green Energy (www.gg-energy.com), installs solar street lights using LEDs, the newest energy efficient lighting system. These street lights come with a three to five-day battery pack for cloudy days. If you want a little green in your old house consider Nature’s Hardware (www.natureshardware.com). They sell cabinet knobs and handles made from wood, stone, antler, bamboo or recycled glass. They also have a variety of natural basins for kitchen and bath. One way to green your roof is to install copper or aluminum shingles from Zappone (www.zappone.com). Debra Roofing systems (www.Decra.com) installs stone-coated steel roofing and EcoStar (www.ecostarinc.com) uses steep-slope roofing tiles made with recycled rubber and plastic.

There were many solar energy companies promoting their roof top systems to get homeowners off the grid. Vallejo has four locations with solar systems including city hall, JFK Library, the corporation yard and a field next to the fire station on Columbus Parkway. If you want environmentally friendly upholstery and wall coverings, go to www.clarkandburchfield.com for faux leathers, suedes, and vinyls.

Heartland Biocomposites (www.heartlandbio.com) has a factory in Wyoming that makes Prairie Picket fencing from wheat straw and recycled HDPE plastic. Several companies are returning to natural clay and limestone for wall coatings instead of paints. Clay plaster companies include www.americanclay.com, www.greenplanetpaints.com, and www.greenstonearts.com. Two lime plasters company are Eco Stucco (www.medcolors.com), and www.limes.us.

There are several services that pull many companies together to make it for easier for home owners to figure out what they want or need to be green. Contact Build It Green (www.builditgreen.org, 1 888 40-GREEN), wwwgreenbuildingpages.com, www.greenbiz.com, www.stopwaste.org, or www.goodtobegreen.com.

Reuse Award
I noticed a “Chamber of Commerce” neon sign at their York Street location. It turns out to be a recycled sign that Buck Kamphausen purchased at an auction. Check it out on the west side of the building.

Green Festival
Mark your calendar for November 9 to 11 to attend the Green Festival in San Francisco. Information about the event is at www.greenfestivals.org. 400 Exhibitors and 100 speakers will have information on green shopping, organic food, the natural home and more.

America Recycles Day
America Recycles Day is November 15. VALCORE is planning an environmental event for Saturday, November 17. Watch this column for details.