SGA’s ‘Whistle While You Work’ Vol. 3


Break out of your normal pattern of thinking. According to an article published by The New York Times, when the mind is wandering, music can bring you back into focus and “make a repetitive job feel more lively.” Enliven the post-Holiday lows, expand your mind and listen to SGA’s personally curated playlist to boost 2017 as a year of energetic change in the world.
SGA’s “Whistle While You Work” Vol. 3

STAFF Songs in Playlist (Title/Artist)
Lauren The Imitation Game Soundtrack
Megan “Work on It” by Alicia Keys 
Jackie “Selfish” by Slum Village ft John Legend & Kanye West
Angie “Blessings” by Chance the Rapper ft Jamila Woods & Byron Cage
Carolina “You Can Go Now” by Schmieds Puls
Paloma “History Has It’s Eyes on You” by John Legend
Joy “There You Are” by Pogo
Ly “Dancing On My Own” by Calum Scott
Jessica  “My Favorite Part” by Mac Miller ft Ariana Grande 
AND “Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur

Sign up for SGA’s newsletter to keep up with the latest in community-based social marketing and behavior change.

7 Green Holiday Tips for Your Business

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” -Rumi

People may mistakenly believe that they have to make grand, life-altering changes to make a difference. This can lead to frustration and disappointment. SGA believes that true change begins with a series of small steps — little things you do everyday can make an impact. Small steps turn into daily occurrences and daily occurrences turns to change.  This concept can also be applied to businesses. That’s why this holiday season, we are sharing 7 small steps you can take to help your business become a little greener.  Start implementing these changes now to lay the foundation for a greener tomorrow.

  • Donate to your favorite environmental organization this holiday season. Choose a non-profit that is local to your community to make the most impact. Want to donate products to needy communities and other non-profits? Consider donating via good360.org.
    • Bonus: Donate in your employee’s name and bask in the feel good nature of giving.
  • Volunteer time at soup kitchen or shelter. Need more inspiration? If you’re in the Los Angeles area, there’s an annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count that will be held in January. SGA staff will be grouping together to make sure everyone counts regardless of where they live. Get a group of your coworkers and go together!
  • Donate leftover holiday party food. If food is being served in abundance, refresh trays rather than putting all of it out at once to prevent spoilage. Any food that has not been put out at the end of the party can be donated to a local shelter or food pantry. Not only will this reduce waste, but this will enhance the spirit of Christmas giving to those in need. Call ahead for details on what the shelter can use and how to deliver.
  • Decorate the office with natural or recycled items. It is completely possible to turn trash into treasure. It’s called upcycling. If you need any last minute gift ideas with a more personal and eco-friendly touch, this is it. Get started with a mason jar. Use it to gift baking sets, remake your desk lamp and more. Get ideas here. If you’re wrapping last-minute gifts, use recycled paper or organic material to wrap a gift instead of using a new roll of wrapping paper which can save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
  • Don’t use disposable utensils for lunches or dinner.
    Twenty-five percent more trash is discarded from Thanksgiving to New Year’s than any other time of year. Let’s apply positive behavior change within ourselves and not add to that percentage.

    • Bonus: Before the year ends, set up a casual potluck with your coworkers and aim for a zero-waste shared meal.
  • After the season ends, recycle your Christmas tree. Yes, it’s possible to recycle your Christmas tree. Live trees are biodegradable. In the Los Angeles area, there are many locations where your tree can be turned into mulch. Find a location near you.
    • Bonus: If you don’t have a recycling program in your area, contact the National Christmas Tree Association: info@realchristmastrees.org to learn how you can begin one in your community.
  • Green employee gift ideas. Give gifts of locally produced food and products in cloth shopping bags or baskets with your company’s logo. Reusable coffee cups or travel mugs can also be purchased with company logos.

SGA’s ‘Whistle While You Work’ Vol. 2

With an entire Slack channel dedicated to exploring other music, SGA employees are verified audiophiles. Working in an office with people of varied backgrounds and an eclectic taste in music means a constant supply of fresh new music to listen to as we make the world a better place.
When your mind starts to wander or you’re in need of some inspiration, pop on a pair of headphones and discover your new favorite song below, courtesy of SGAers!

SGA’s “Whistle While You Work” Vol. 2

STAFF Songs in Playlist (Title/Artist)
Angeline Lee Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
Anya Liddiard The National- I Need My Girl
To be completely honest, “The Good Dinosaur” is what my daughter likes, so I have to listen to:
Homestead (From “The Good Dinosaur” Score)
Caitlin Dunham Miike Snow- My Trigger
Carolina Gonzalez Alexandre Desplat – The Danish Girl Original Soundtrack
Jackie Ayala Isaiah Rashad (Ft. Kendrick Lamar & Zacari) –  Wat’s Wrong
Judy Seitelman Gipsy Kings-Bamboleo
Joy Contreras Silversun Pickups- Circadian Rhythm
Lauren Palmerino DVBBS & Borgeous – Tsunami
Megan Kang Alt-J – Dissolve Me
Paloma Rosenbaum Sia- Reaper
Thomas Kim Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah
Roanel Herrera: Gotan Project- Diferente
Stephen Groner Johnny Cash- God’s Gonna Cut You Down

Sign up for SGA’s newsletter to keep up with the latest in community-based social marketing and behavior change.

SGA’s ‘Whistle While You Work’ Vol. 1

Every week the Economist magazine (one of my favorite reads) puts together a music playlist to go along with their insightful, often cutting and highly influential articles about the world and economics (their most recent cover story on China’s President Xi Jinping, resulted in their website being blocked).

Well, at SGA, we love our music and while we might not make it onto China’s blacklist, we thought, why not create a playlist to help influence some positive change here at home.

So here goes, some music to do a little social marketing by. Tap your toes as we help build a better world.

SGA’s “Whistle While You Work” Vol. 1

STAFF Songs in Playlist (Title/Artist)
Adam Quinn The Temptation of Adam” by Josh Ritter
Andy Luo Knock You Down” by Keri Hilson
Carolina Gonzalez “Don’t Want to Fight” by Alabama Shakes
Chris Koenig Hold on, Hold on” by Neko Case
Dani Schmulevich Beautiful Life” by James Morrison
Erin Rode Ragged Wood” by Fleet Foxes
Basil Mangra “Stella”  by Jam and Spoon
Jackie Ayala “Spottieottiedopaliscious” by Outkast
Judy Seitelman Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Sara Bareilles
Rachel Dowd “Who You Are” by Jessie J
Rose Solis “Work” by Rihanna
Sarah Catallo “Worry” by Jack Garratt
Stephen Groner “So What” by Miles Davis
Thomas Kim “If I’m Unworthy” by Blake Mills
Whitney Schmucker “Hurricane” by Halsey

Sign up for SGA’s newsletter to keep up with the latest in community-based social marketing and behavior change.

Tips Before Taking Out Your Greenway Lawn

California residents know that having an environmentally friendly lawn is important during this ongoing drought. However, before you dig up the lawn and make changes, have a plan in place. I did, but I also learned a few lessons along way. Here, I offer some insight that might save you from headaches.

Knowing I could do more to save water beyond our low-flow showerheads and low-water toilets, the L-shaped greenway lawn bordering the street was fair game for saving on weekly waterings.

Deciding to go lawn-less, I had two goals:

1) Save water.

2) Save money by having lower water bills and by reducing gardening expense by selecting every-other-week maintenance for my remaining landscaping.

Before deciding how to go about the task, I did a fair amount of internet research. I looked around my neighborhood, snapped photos and figured out what I wanted to do. I spoke with my gardener and a landscaper, and I checked with the city to learn about suggestions and rebates.

The easiest (though not cheapest) route was to remove the grass and plants completely. (Your city may require a percentage of planting in order to qualify your project for rebates). Just four bubbler sprinklers now support two, native, drought-tolerant trees in wood-chip planter areas. The remaining greenway contains decomposed granite with intermittent three-piece pathways of bouquet canyon stone.

The good news: I am saving water and money (though it will take a while to recoup my investment).

Not-so-good news: I need to tuck away some money to improve my design because it didn’t work out exactly as I envisioned it.

What you can learn from my mistakes:

1)    Think about the daily foot traffic along your greenway. If you have a lot of pedestrians, consider how they might impact your landscaping choices. In my case, once the rains began, the decomposed granite proved to be an irresistible target for footprints and gouges. In all fairness, passengers exiting cars along the no-longer-greenway had no choice but to step onto the wet surface. In retrospect, it’s not the ideal surface to use in this much-traveled space.

2)    Consider how a zero-plant greenway will affect your home’s curb appeal. I have abundant plants surrounding my home; nonetheless my initial reaction to losing the border greenery was “uh oh.” Incorporating even a few drought-tolerant plants along the greenway would introduce some height variation to the border; I’ll plan to purchase a few when the budget allows.

All said, once my new trees mature and I’m able to install enough stone and a few plants to eliminate the foot traffic and curb appeal issues, I’ll feel good about having made changes that are water-wise, functional, and attractive.

Sign up for SGA’s newsletter to keep up with the latest in community-based social marketing and behavior change.

The Growing Experience

What do two SGAers do when they have time on their hands? They start a nonprofit using community-based social marketing (CBSM). Say hello to Appleseed!

Philip Kao, Adam Quinn and pediatrician Ruth Chiang Kao founded Appleseed, a nonprofit with SGA roots that aims to inspire the choices and actions that matter most for the future of our children and planet. They’re doing this through projects that improve nutrition and agricultural sustainability.

Their first project brought them to The Growing Experience farm in the Carmelitos housing development. Once an abandoned field of sod, The Growing Experience is now an urban farm operated by Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles. The farm was facing a particular problem: minimal participation in their fresh fruit and vegetable programs from the surrounding community.

Appleseed saw the potential of this farm, along with its untapped benefits for the community, and suggested a solution: CBSM! Using the tried-and-true methods of CBSM, Appleseed gained insights from residents of the housing development and quickly realized that residents felt that the garden wasn’t theirs. Not only that, but the concept of sustainable food felt foreign to them. Learning this, the Appleseed crew immediately set out to bridge these gaps by planning and organizing an event that would A) give residents a chance to connect with their local farm and its farmers, Jimmy and Holly and B) signify to residents in this community that this garden was open—for them!

The very first annual Community Cook-Off event was held at The Growing Experience and was a great success. Six residents participated in a cook-off competition, where they prepared delicious dishes using fresh vegetables from the garden. An amazing turnout of over 60 guests and kids came to visit the garden for the first time, where they tasted and voted for their personal favorites in the competition. An awesome community member, Purpose, volunteered to MC and DJ the entire event. Did we mention there was a talent show for the kids?

With stomachs full and new relationships formed, the event came to a close with an air of excitement for next year’s cook-off. And just recently, Appleseed received word from farmer Holly that a number of the cook-off guests had begun stopping by the garden to pick up their fruits and vegetables! If success was a picture, I think it would look something like this:

For an inside look into the event, check out:

Bravo, Appleseed! To follow Appleseed’s progress and hear about their upcoming project in Guatemala, subscribe to their monthly newsletter at www.appleseedimpact.org.

Do We Get Happier With Age?

What makes us happy? Is it lots of money and a big house? How about a cute puppy or a hug from a loved one? Perhaps it’s a combination of things, which varies for everyone. Even so, there is a common theme when it comes to how people perceive happiness – a thread that can tell us a lot about our own emotional state.

Or perhaps it is something even simpler: maybe we just get happier with age. It makes sense if you think about it, we learn how to enjoy life more the more practice we have at it. Stanford University psychologist Laura Carstensen explains in the following TED talk that research demonstrates that as we get older we become happier and more at peace with the world at large. Not a bad thing to look forward to, as we all get older by the year.

Three Myths of Happiness

In recent years, happiness has become an increasingly popular topic in the field of psychology.  But as many researchers have found, it is a tricky topic to study. Happiness is easily misread, difficult to measure, and often created by counter-intuitive actions.
One researcher at the University of California Riverside, Professor  Sonja Lyubomirsky, has made some significant strides towards understanding what makes us happy.

In her book, “The How of Happiness” she creates an interesting and somewhat counter-intuitive guide to understanding what happiness is – and what it isn’t – based on her cognitive research of thousands of individuals.

To start, her research suggests that 50% of our happiness is set based on our genes, 10% is based on life circumstances and 40% is based on intentional decision we make. So while 60% of our happiness is out of our control, 40% is in our control… and yet many of the decision we make do not align with increasing our happiness. And to compound that problem, many of the expectations of society (i.e., societal social norms) push us towards a path that actually decreases happiness. Continue reading “Three Myths of Happiness”