Bottom Line: Experts from all branches of science meet monthly to discuss a wide variety of topics with interested community members at SRI International in Menlo Park.

When Roger Whiting and Nancy Peterson founded Café Scientifique Silicon Valley in 2004, science cafés were nearly unheard of in the U.S. For its first event, Café Scientifique invited Stanford physicist and Nobel Laureate Doug Osheroff to discuss "The Columbia Accident Investigation and the Future of Human Space Flight.”

Bottom Line: The City of San Mateo and Shelter Network team up to renovate a city-owned single occupancy hotel to help get chronically homeless people off the street.

In 2007, the City of San Mateo and Shelter Network, launched a new program to help meet the needs of the chronically homeless population in the city (those who typically do not benefit from traditional shelter services due to multiple barriers including mental health or addiction). The centerpiece of the program is the newly rehabilitated Vendome Hotel. This single-occupancy hotel, owned by the City of San Mateo, was renovated with the help of local community members and businesses, and is now operated by the Shelter Network.

Bottom Line: City governments make it easy for residents and businesses to stop the flow of junk mail to our mailboxes.

Junk Mail is a big problem. We all get it, and 9 times out of 10, that piece of junk mail goes right to the recycle bin. Every year about 42 billion pieces of unsolicited mail are sent to unwilling recipients in the US. This plethora of unwanted mail has immense costs. It robs our forests of over 100 million trees every year. Then it costs us $320 million annually nationwide to dispose of it all. According to San Francisco Department of the Environment’s calculations, it costs each American about 234 minutes a year to sort through the junk.

Bottom Line: Building a disaster preparedness kit for your home or business is a fast and easy way to get better prepared for an earthquake, fire, or other natural disaster.

Living in earthquake country means that the next potential natural disaster is only a moment away. Assembling a kit that has at least three days of food, water, and supplies for every family member is one part of being ready. In a large disaster, it is likely emergency personnel will be overwhelmed with duties and unable to help everyone immediately.

It’s been said that you can measure the compassion of a community by the way it cares for its elderly. Two non-profit organizations on the San Mateo Coast address those needs by providing seniors with health care, camaraderie, education and a hot lunch every day.

Have you got a fireplace? Do you know what effect wood smoke has on our air quality? Do you know who’s most at risk to poor air quality?

Have you ever wondered how your garden might look if you switched to native species -- less care and water needed – or what it would take to compost your own mulch for soil amendment? How do you start thinking about these things? Who can help?

The "SMC Ready" program is part of the County’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) which is funded through a Joint Powers Agreement between the 20 incorporated cities and the County of San Mateo. The SMC Ready program has a great website that provides tips and resources for businesses, households and communities in the event of an emergency.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors recently made a joint statement: "There is no excuse for domestic violence. If you know of someone who is currently in an abusive relationship, please share this information with him or her. You may save a life."

By now, most of us are probably familiar with the iconic 3 R’s of early environmental and waste prevention slogans: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The 3 R’s have provided a simple, yet solid foundation on which consumers can base their purchasing and disposal-related decisions. However, when the focus of waste prevention shifts upstream to the world of design, manufacturing, and industry, the 3 R’s often fall short of achieving their mission.