Shelby Woods and Jessica Merturi
Staff Writers
After Jo Giese’s dog died, she planted a garden, and when her husband died she started to landscape Malibu, one of Giese’s friends observed.
Giese, previously a resident of Venice, has a successful history in making Southern California a little greener. It all began when Giese helped plant trees to enhance the area around her Venice writing studio.
After moving to Malibu, Giese faced the loss of her best friend, her dog. “I knew I needed a project to occupy myself,” Giese said. “My front yard was a real eye-sore so I decided to whip it all up and plant a garden in my dog’s honor. It really helped my grief.” That garden turned out to be 100 feet of white roses surrounded by striking trees.
Less than four years later, Giese suffered another tragedy when her husband died. “I needed something to do for his memory,” she said. This aspiration led to the beginnings of the Malibu Green Machine.
The Malibu Green Machine, founded on Jan. 6, 2005, is a non-profit group of residents who devote their time to restoring Malibu. They believe in the power of a beautiful native landscape, and are willing to personally roll up their sleeves to improve the community that they call home.
“We are a young group that has been successful because we are a strong team force,” Giese said. The members include residents Madison Hildebrand, vice president; Anne Payne, fundraising; Bo Meyers, community relations; and Shelby Basso, treasurer.
“You know when you volunteer for something you just pick up whatever can happen,” Meyers said. “In theory, I’m supposed to handle things with community relations that come up, but it’s mainly a group effort.”
The organization’s original goal was to revitalize the islands in the Zuma beach parking lot with new vegetation. The plan for improvement was “developed quite fully” but the Green Machine “decided to pull back” because of difficulties with their partner on the project, Los County Department of Beaches and Harbor.
“For our first project it made more sense to do something that had higher visibility,” Giese said. They turned their focus to the central part of Malibu, specifically the median strips along the Pacific Coast Highway.
“I’ve always looked at the highway as an eye-sore and a civic embarrassment,” Giese said.
The group sought the help of ValleyCrest Companies, the largest landscaping company in the nation, whose founders happen to be residents of Malibu. Burton and Stuart Sperber were more than willing to help by donating their services. The Sperbers believe that a landscaped highway is a safer highway, and development will decrease fatalities on the PCH.
The renderings for the project were released at the Green Machine’s first fundraiser on St. Patrick’s Day. The fundraiser’s theme, “greening Malibu,” revealed that the landscaping would contain both hardscape, done with stones and boulders that offer permanence to the landscape, and softscape, which includes trees, bushes, and other vegetation.
While the selection of hardscape was easy, a wavy pattern that mimics the ocean, there were more restrictions when it came to softscape. Caltrans, an organization that monitors transportation regulations within the state, stipulated what could be planted. “The softscape had to be kept low for evacuations in case of an emergency,” Giese said.
The cost estimates will be assessed in two to three weeks, spurring the Green Machine’s fundraising.
Likely to help with these costs is the Malibu City Council. The council members set up the Malibu Green Machine Trust fund on Oct. 10, 2005, which allows people to make tax-deductible donations through the city of Malibu.
Although they have progressed in the last year due to excellent coverage, Green Machine proponents are still working to gain support for their cause. “Awareness is our problem now, soon it will become money,” Meyers said.
“All money will come from the community,” said Alice Starr, the wife of Dean and Professor at the Pepperdine Law School, Ken Starr. Starr has been active with Malibu Green Machine for about a year.
“When we lived in Virginia, I had some projects that were similar,” recalled Starr. There, she helped enhance a town park by raising money through private citizens—similar to what Malibu Green Machine is planning for their upcoming project.
“It’s kind of fun if the community comes together and works at it,” Starr added. She even suggests that this is also a great way for Pepperdine students to get involved in their community.
“It’d be great to have a car wash or a bake sale in the fall to raise money for this because it would be just a tremendous project,” Starr continued. “There are all sorts of ways students can get involved and have fun doing it.”
“It’s wonderful to go work downtown and help the homeless, but sometimes students can’t afford the time on a regular basis,” Starr said referring to Pepperdine student’s custom involvement in causes within Los Angeles. Starr suggests that this could be a very fun easy way to help close to home.
Since most of the median repairs will take place from Webb Way to John Tyler Drive, Pepperdine University itself may become involved due to their close proximity.
Preliminary talks with Pepperdine have shown “a positive response to what we are doing,” Giese said. According to Meyers, there is even speculation that Pepperdine will be interested in donating to the project.
Giese and the other Green Machine members invite students to attend their Earth Day event on April 27 at 10 a.m. The Malibu Green Machine and Los Angeles County Public Works Department will be planting shrubs and trees on Kanan Dume Road. Interested students should wear work clothes and bring shovels, if available.
For more information on Malibu Green Machine, students are encouraged to attend the next meeting at Giese’s home located at 31500 Broad Beach Rd. or visit www.malibugreenmachine.org
06-18-2006
