Earth Day: Car-Free Day LA

Since 1970, “Earth Day”, a day set aside internationally to recognize and formulate solutions for our planet’s environmental issues and problems, has been celebrated each April 22nd. On April 22nd from 10 am to 5 pm , the Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corporation (WCBIC) will host a Wilshire Center “Earth Day” event during which Wilshire Boulevard between Western and Harvard will be closed to all vehicle traffic (a map of the street closure area). The day will highlight Wilshire Center as a great place to work, live and shop, include discussions concerning the future of our area, and conduct tours of selected landmarks. Events will include: live music performances, demonstrations, green information, a street bike raffle, and a reuseable grocery bag give away.

The City of Los Angeles has declared April 22, 2008 as a Car Free Day in Los Angeles. How can we all help make our community and planet better environmentally? Encourage workers on this day to use public transportation, MTA, carpool, alternative fuel cars, bike and walk – a car free day exception would be carpools and electric and hybrid cars. We have asked Congresswoman Diane Watson to get a resolution passed by Congress to declare April 22, 2008 as a car free day nation wide.

WCBIC represents a District of over 33 million square feet of residential, office and retail space/users and has been working diligently to improve our community for the past 11 years. These 33 million square feet is bounded by Wilton Place, Hoover, Third Street and Seventh Street. It is time to take the next steps in reducing our community’s greenhouse gas emissions, our carbon footprint, by at least 2% per year over the next 20 years.