>> Katherine Butler at EcoSalon’s put together a fantastic list of the best green deodorants, all of which she’s tried out herself before ranking them. Anyone who’s tried Tom’s of Maine deodorant will be happy to know that the useless crap’s at the very bottom of the list, right under this headline: “The Reason No One Thinks Natural Deodorants Work.”

>> Earlier, Kate Sheppard at Grist also ranked greenish eco-deodorants. Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal won out there. The comments are pretty entertaining too — complete with dust-pits-with-baking-soda advocates and the inevitable vegan professing one doesn’t even need deodorant after cutting out animal products.

>> Missed the great lectures about Local Government Climate Action Policies at UCLA? Hear them on iTunes.

When: Wed., Nov. 18, 4:30 pm
Where: University Hall 3226, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr., Los Angeles
Cost: FREE — and refreshments will be served

The two other panelists are Richard Kearns, a blogger and activist on HIV and AIDS issues at aids-write.org and HAVVACC; and Simon Samano, associate editor of NFL.com.

Yes, this panel’s an LMU event, so most of the audience will be students. However, everyone’s still welcome to hear the panel — and enjoy the refreshments. Hope to see you there –

Image via LMU

>> Eco-friendly home products company Amenity’s having a Fall Sample Sale party! Stop by for huge discounts on organic bedding and other eco home accessories — plus champagne — on Sat., Nov. 14 from 4 pm – 6 pm at 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles. The sale happens all weekend, even if you can’t make it to the studio during champagne hours.

>> Learn about Transportation Alternatives and the Future of Los Angeles at an event in conjunction with Diane Meyer’s photo exhibit, Without a Car in the World: 100 Car-less Angelinos Tell Stories of Living in Los Angeles). The talk happens Sat., Nov. 14 at 2 pm at 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th St., Santa Monica.

Image via Amenity

Men: Cut back on the canned food! Your sex life could depend on it. A new study links high levels of BPA (bisphenol A) — a controversial chemical that’s found in the lining of most canned foods and some hard plastic containers — to male sexual problems.

According to The Washington Post, the researchers behind the study found that male factory workers in China handling BPA “were four times as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and seven times as likely to have difficulty with ejaculation.”

Drank out of a #7 reusable water bottle that’s not labeled BPA-free? Ate canned tuna today? Don’t panic yet, lest the anxiety create more sexual dysfunction. While more than 93% of Americans have traces of BPA in their urine, those levels are about 50 times lover than the levels of BPA found in the urine of the Chinese workers in the study, according to NewScientist’s Short Sharp Science.

BPA worries have often focused on the effect of the chemical on babies — which has prompted many baby bottle manufacturers to switch to BPA-free products — but this new study prompts some eco-sexual anxieties for adults — even though the U.S. Federal Drug Administration still maintains that the chemical doesn’t pose risks. I guess my complaints about anti-BPA initiatives being too baby-focused wasn’t too off base after all!

Read the original study published in Human Reproduction (PDF) for the hard data on men gone soft. Since another recent study reported finding BPA in most canned foods, A Man, a Can, a Plan may not make the best holiday gift for your favorite lover. Eat fresh and keep your evening plans from going south.

Photo by istorija

Angelenos apparently can’t get enough of green films, because we have about a green film festival a month in this town. Following closely on the heels of Blue Planet Film Fest, Bicycle Film Festival, and the green Downtown Film Festival comes The Green Screen Environmental Film Festival & Salon, promising 4 days of films and fun.

When: Thurs., Nov. 19 – Sun., Nov. 22
Where: Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice in Los Angeles
Cost: Some events and screenings are free (keep reading below), but in general, pay $5 per screening, $10 for 3 screenings, or $15 for a festival pass excluding special events. Get tickets through Brown Paper Tickets.

Produced by the Electric Lodge — a performance, visual, and educational center in Venice with an environmental mission — the goal of Green Screen is to use “the power of film to bridge distances and reveal our common deep connection to our planet and each other.” Festival films — grouped into 6 programs with themes like “blue water” and “green earth”– will screen all afternoon on Saturday and Sunday — but lots of other fun and free events are happening outside the screening rooms.

In fact, Green Screen will kick off off with a free Sustainable Drive-In on Thursday, when everyone’s invited to a free outdoor solar-powered screening of Flipper , preceded by a concert by Tom Freund. The kid-friendly event will offer face-painting and a “giant jumper” — which I assume to be something like a bouncy house.

Then on Friday, the film fest will celebrate Amazon Night with live Brazilian music and dance — followed by a screening of Crude. Cost: $12 ($10 for the screening only, $5  for the performance only).

A free Celebrate Earth environment and arts fair happens Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm, featuring food, games, entertainment, local arts and crafts, shopping from eco-vendors, and a mini-electric car show.

On Sunday, festival goers will be able to burn off all the organic snacks they’ve eaten by joining the Watershed Bike Ride to cycle from the upper Santa Monica watershed to the Ballona Wetlands to the Electric Lodge — to fill up again with a brunch. Cost: $20 for the bike tour, brunch and reusable water bottle.

Go for the films, the fair — or the free reusable water bottles given out to the 100 first people at the Saturday fair!

Image via Electric Lodge

Today’s freebie is an eco-friendly spa kit from Oikos organic Greek Yogurt! One lucky winner will get:

>> a “Take- 5″ Anti-Stress spa kit from Earth Therapeutics, which includes a loofah massage sponge, Anti-Stress massage soap, a body brush, Anti-Stress massage lotion and a soothing gel eye mask.

>> 4 coupons for free Oikos organic Greek yogurt

>> a reusable Oikos tote bag

Want it? Comment by Tuesday to get into the drawing, which’ll happen Wednesday (more info on freebies here). US addresses only.

When: Tues., Nov. 17, 7 pm – 10 pm
Where: The Organic Panificio, 4211 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey
Cost: $10 in advance via eventbrite, $15 at the door

Organized by Girls in Tech, a networking group for women in technology, this event will discuss the intersection of the tech industry and social good and green movements — as well as how girls in tech can do some good and make some green in the process. I’ll be moderating the panel, featuring:

>> Tracy Helper, co-founder of Your Daily Thread (Earlier: YDT launch party)

>> Sandra Sanchez, creator of orGlamic.com and reality TV host/producer

>> Sarah Townsend, editorial Director of Social Vibe and blogger at The One in Pink

Afterwards, we’ll mingle and chat over cocktails. About 10% of the proceeds from the tickets will go to Free Arts For Abused Children, which provides at-risk kids with counseling and support through art.

>> Salon explains what’s happening with healthcare reform. Catch up on abortion coverage and the public option — and find out what to expect in the coming months.

They say nobody walks in L.A., but at least a galleryful of Angelenos would like to walk in L.A. — enough to spend their Wednesday evening listening to a couple panels about the topic. Car-free and car-free curious Angelenos packed the 18th Street Arts Center last night to talk about living and moving in L.A., sans car.

Those panels were organized in conjunction with Diane Meyer’s photo exhibit, Without a Car in the World: 100 Car-less Angelinos Tell Stories of Living in Los Angeles). And the “Walking in L.A.” panel — featuring Holy Land author D.J. Waldie and a number of L.A.-area professors — showed that walking’s actually quite the hot topic and subject of study here.

In fact, Nigel Raab, a history professor at Loyola Marymount University, went so far as to walk 70+ miles over 4 days — all the way to San Bernardino — to discover Los Angeles! Herbert Medina, a math professor at LMU, has put together a series of walking excursions from the university to various spots in the city. UCLA professor of urban planning Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris talked about her work studying the politics behind sidewalks, and LMU art history professor Damon Willick examined the historical iconography of L.A. from both a driver’s and walker’s perspective.

D.J. Waldie closed the panel by urging people to locate themselves in the city without having their experience of space mediated by the automobile:

I would also urge you to wander in the city and wander in your neighborhood. I would urge you to become an expert flaneur. I would urge you to acquire not only pedestrianism as a vice but flaneurie as a vice as well — the ability to walk into your community and expect something to occur to you as you found your way to some undiscovered part of your neighborhood.

Before the “Walking in L.A.” panel was the “How to Live Car Free or Car Light” panel — which I was on along with Chris Balish, author of How to Live Well Without Owning a Car, and Paula Hess, real estate magazine editor. I felt a bit weird being on the panel because I’ve reacquired a car — but really enjoyed hearing from Paula, who lives car-free in Koreatown with two kids, and Chris, who’s not only car-free now as a Santa Monica resident, but also lived car-free in St. Louis before he moved to SoCal a few years back.

And thanks to Santa Monica Urban Forest Task Force member Linda Piera-Avila, who was at the event, I discovered that I’m on the cover of last week’s Santa Monica Mirror. The weekly zine chose my portrait to go with its story on Diane Meyer’s exhibit!

Don’t miss the next two exhibit-related talks. Be there on Sat., Nov. 14 at 2 pm for a panel on Transportation Alternatives and the Future of Los Angeles, then come back on Wed., Dec. 2 at 7 pm to see a Comedy Slideshow by Kristina Wong, whose Car Free Mondays interview you can read here. Both events happen at the 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th St., Santa Monica, where you can also see the Without a Car in the World exhibit until Dec. 11, 2009.

And if you’re ready to hit the streets, put The Great Los Angeles Walk — happening Sat., Nov. 21 — in your calendar. The annual walk put together by Franklin Avenue gets Angelenos together to experience walking down one major street in L.A. — though this year, we’re doing two streets, Adams and Washington. Last year, I only walked the tail end of Santa Monica Blvd. — but plan to walk the whole walk this year!

>> Missed the Green With Glamour PopUp Party? Your Daily Thread has pictures of the eco-wares at the pop-up store — which will be open for business until Nov. 15. Earlier: 4 Fab eco-fashion and beauty events in L.A. this week.

>> Missed Opportunity Green? Reports the L.A. Times, “The event held at UCLA drew nearly 600 participants, including 45 companies displaying the latest green products and technologies.” Nick Aster at TriplePundit reveals what was in the OG gift bags. Earlier: Tour de OG: 12 eco-preneurs bike 450 miles for L.A.’s Opportunity Green.

Photo via santamonica.com