Since founding TreePeople in 1970, Andy Lipkis has put his heart—and time and effort—into greening Los Angeles (two million trees and counting). Lipkis talked to Greenopia about his work and living green in L.A.

What are some of your favorite local green businesses?

Groundwork Coffee, where I buy green organic beans and roast them at home. Also Soaptopia for bath items.

What is your favorite local green restaurant?

Axe. I love everything they serve. Also Leaf.

Where do you shop for organic groceries?

The Venice and Mar Vista farmer’s markets, plus Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and the organic sections at Ralph’s and Albertson’s.

What are some of the things you do to help make the world a little bit greener?

Obviously my work is about that. In my home life, I drive a Prius and I keep analyzing how to raise the stakes. I try to use my bicycle one entire day a weekend and do all my shopping on my bike.

What’s the best part about your job?

I love so many aspects of it. Right now I like giving people a chance to see and understand that they are managers of the ecosystem.

Is there a particular environmental non-profit you support?

I’m on the board of the L.A. Conservation Corps.. There’s also a spiritual community called Nashuva that’s run by a woman who lives down my street—there’s lots of music and meditation and other good stuff.

What’s your favorite thing about living in L.A.? Least favorite?

There’s a community here from nearly every country in the world and I love to sample and participate in that community—usually by eating and integrating the food into my own cooking. My least favorite is having to commute by car.

What would you say is the city’s undiscovered or underrated jewel?

One is TreePeople’s headquarters: Coldwater Canyon Park. We have trails and a little amphitheater nestled in the woods that’s like a mini Hollywood Bowl.

Where do you like to take out-of-town visitors?

Almost anywhere in nature that will blow their minds. We might bike through the Ballona Wetlands or walk through the Venice canals or take hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains.

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

The Metasequoa Glyptostroboides. It is know as the dawn redwood and it looks like coast redwood. It was only known in fossils until about a hundred years ago when living ones were found in China. They are beautiful with leaves that are soft and bright green until autumn when they turn red. There are a couple in the UCLA Botanical Gardens.

Describe your path to green: how and when you became eco-conscious.

I grew up in this city when the air pollution hurt and I watched open spaces I had played in disappear. I started planting trees when there wasn’t a professional for it and as a teen I had quite the crisis in following a green path when it wasn’t a known one. Back then I kept saying, I’m only going to do this for a while and grow up to be a professional of some sort. Now it’s a different story./p>