LAF Reception Aboard Queen Mary Made Special by Keynote Speakers

From left: Keynote speakers Calvin Abe, FASLA of AHBE Landscape Architects, and Andy Lipkis, founder of TreePeople; Barbara Deutsch, FASLA, LAF executive director; George Schmok, publisher of LASN magazine, and owner of the Landscape Architects' Expo, Long Beach.

The special evening event for the Landscape Architects' Expo in Long Beach was the Feb. 8 Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) charity reception aboard the Queen Mary in the Long Beach Harbor.

The evening was memorable, thanks to the keynote presentations by Calvin Abe, FASLA of AHBE Landscape Architects of Culver City, Calif., and Andy Lipkis, founder of the TreePeople.

Mr. Abe's presentation was "The Strawberry Patch: A New Urban Paradigm." As a youth growing up in California's Central Valley, his family had a strawberry field. Now, living in the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles, he has replaced his front lawn with a strawberry patch, an edible garden that has drawn attention from his neighbors"?uhis small part in making the urban setting more sustainable. Calvin traced his path to studying landscape architecture, giving the audience a very personal insight into his journey into the profession and his perceptions about landscape architecture and its environmental imperatives.

Calvin then introduced his invited guest speaker, Andy Lipkis. Andy founded TreePeople in 1973 at the age of 18. His story and commitment to improving the urban environment and sustainable landscapes is inspirational. Among TreePeople's work is training and supporting Los Angeles communities to plant and care for trees, and educating schoolchildren and adults about environmental issues.

Andy explained how school children of Los Angeles, through directed school programming, made the difference in getting Angelinos (their parents) to get on board for recycling. The city was ready to designate more landfills, knowing from surveys that this urban mass of people would not recycle their trash. Explaining to the children that landfills take away animal habitat was the key for children becoming passionate about recycling, which they in turn impressed upon their parents. To the amazement of L.A. County officials, a subsequent survey revealed a large percentage of people would recycle. Trash recycling in Los Angeles is now a model for other large urban areas to emulate. It was the children's educational initiative that made the difference.

Barbara Deutsch, FASLA, the executive director of LAF, thanked the guests and supporters of LAF. She encouraged LAs to be strong and brave in making the case for sustainable landscape solutions, and using the tools and information to quantify the benefits of what they do.

All the proceeds from the LAF Charity Reception went to support LAF's research and scholarship programs.