Islandwide food projects, community gardens, green roofs and more are topics on the agenda at the Sustainable Food Systems O'ahu Conference, a daylong event beginning at 8:30 a.m. July 31. Mark Winne of Hartford, Conn., will discuss "Closing Hawai'i's Food Gap" at the KEY Project Multi-Purpose Center, 47-200 Waihe'e Road, Kane'ohe. Register in advance: $50 (discounts available). Info: David A. Santistevan, executive director of Laulima Eco-friendly Alliance of Farms, 389-1819 or http://www.leafhawaii.org.

SAVE THE PLANET

ED WOULD GO GREEN

With his Discovery Channel Planet Green TV show in the can, Ed Begley Jr. now struts his eco-stuff in book form, "Living Like Ed." The guide gives useful tips for how to cut back on our carbon footprint, along with glimpses into the world of Hollywood, where it wasn't, as first, so easy to be green. The paperback ($18, Clarkson/Potter Publishers) is available online, too: www.livinglikeed.com.

FINAL WORD

"As far as my life goes, I'm totally focused on eliminating roadside refueling, with a big car, not some little rinky-dinky thing that you can't get in. An American car that doesn't need oil, that doesn't need gasoline, that doesn't pollute and doesn't need gas stations. ... We can change the world. That's bigger than a song."

— Neil Young , in Billboard