By Gene Williams

September 3, 2010 -- Santa Monica likes to think of itself as a city always open to new ideas when it comes to protecting the environment. Across the city, people are taking steps to reduce waste and consumption, ease congestion and eliminate pollution. And a few are coming up with some novel ways to do it.

Following are the stories of two businesses that are offering interesting solutions right in Santa Monica to such commonplace problems.

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Imagine touring Santa Monica on a bicycle without the tiring work of having to pedal. That’s the vision behind Pedal or Not, an electric-bicycle tour and sales business located in the Vons building at 7th Street and Broadway.

The brainchild of Barb and Stephen Wittels, a Santa Monica couple who opened the venture one year ago, Pedal or Not runs a small fleet of Pedego electric bicycles – bikes which you can either pedal or not – to give visitors a clean, fun and easy way to see the city.

“We’re for the traveler who wants a unique experience,” Stephen Wittels says. “You can ride a tour bus anywhere in the world. Our goal is to get you out of your tour bus or your car and get you onto a bicycle.”

Given the hassles of traffic and parking, the Wittels see their business as part of a larger trend away from automobiles to more sustainable modes of transit. Bikes often offer greater flexibility and access to more places than cars, the Wittels say, and the option of electric power makes biking even more attractive.

“We’re offering an affordable urban transportation alternative,” Stephen says. “For example, if you travel five or six miles to work, even if you wear a suit and a tie, you can get to work just as easily on one of these.”

To introduce people to the bikes, Pedal or Not offers three tours for couples and small groups each day. The tours start Downtown, then turn west to the beach, stopping at attractions which include the Annenberg Beach House, the Santa Monica Pier and the Venice Canals. The tour takes three hours and costs $79 per person.

Once people find out how great electric bicycles are, chances are they might want to buy one, the Wittels say. That’s why Pedal or Not also sells its bikes. “Our concept is, if you loved the bike on your tour, let us mail it home to you,” Stephen says.

The business grew out of Stephen’s life-long fascination with mechanical gadgets. “I’ve been interested in electric bicycles for years,” Stephen says. But he really became hooked on the idea during family bike rides when he couldn’t keep up with his wife and their 14-year-old daughter. “They would always end up a mile ahead of me,” he says. An electric-powered bike seemed like a good way to level the playing field.

Stephen and Barb looked at 10 different bike manufacturers before deciding to go with Pedego based in Irvine, California. The Pedego’s classic beach cruiser styling, solid construction and top quality components make it an ideal choice for Santa Monica, the Wittels say. The lithium battery will go 20 to 30 miles between charges. Top speed for the bikes is about 20 miles per hour. Pedal or Not sells Pedegos for about $1,500.

Visit www.pedalornot.net

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Guests at Santa Monica’s Fairmont Miramar Hotel might be surprised to learn that the soap and hand lotion in the hotel’s restrooms are made from a byproduct of recycled kitchen waste – some of which comes from the hotel itself.

The product – Further Soap – is the creation of Marshall and Megan Dostal, a Pasadena couple who fuel their vintage automobiles with used cooking oil from some of Los Angeles’ best restaurants. Further Soap is a hand cleanser born of biodiesel.

Working with Fairmont chef Ray Garcia, each month Marshall Dostal collects about 100 gallons of waste oil from the hotel’s kitchen. Marshall then processes the oil in a makeshift home-laboratory, where it is converted into biofuel for his ’84 Mercedes. The process also yields a fair amount of glycerin -- the base for the soap which he sells back to the hotel.

“We’ve been working with the Fairmont about six months now,” Marshall says. “It’s been a great experience. To get the stamp of approval from such a well-respected hotel is just phenomenal.”

Marshall says the Fairmont buys about 20 gallons of the soap and 10 gallons of the lotion each month, depending on seasonal demand.

“They seem to love it,” Marshall says. “They keep reordering, so that’s a good sign.”

As do most of Marshall’s customers. That’s because, contrary to what you might expect, Further Soap doesn't smell or feel like a product made out of used cooking oil.

Using a recipe crafted by Megan Dostal – Marshall’s wife and a former event planner for Vogue Magazine – the purified glycerin is combined with essential oils of bergamot, olive and exotic grasses to produce a soap that is light, fresh and mildly aromatic. Further products have won rave reviews from greenies and soap lovers alike and are now featured in fine establishments across the country.

In what can best be described as a true cottage industry – most of the work is done in their home – the Dostals stumbled into the soap-making business by accident several years ago.

Marshall had been routinely home-brewing his biodiesel for some time, until one day Megan became alarmed to see all the containers of residual glycerin that had piled up in the family’s garage. Megan told Marshall to clean up his act, and that’s when Marshall decided to take his recycling efforts one step further -- hence the name of the product line.

Because Further Soap is used in the same establishments from which it originated as waste, the process is a perfect, sustainable circle, the Dostals say.

“It’s a closed loop system,” Marshall explains. “We take their waste and create a product they can use.”

Visit www.furtherproducts.com

"We're for the traveler who wants a unique experience. You can ride a tour bus anywhere in the world. Our goal is to get you out of your tour bus or your car and get you onto a bicycle."
    Stephen Wittels