Los Angeles Environmental Learning Center at Hyperion

The center is filled with "living" exhibits. You can walk through a life-sized sewer pipe, explore our indoor wetlands, or stand next to our 40-foot Trash Wall to see exactly how much waste one neighborhood creates in just one week.

Water's Many LA Ways
Discover how all water is recycled and sustains life on earth. Explore our urban and natural water cycles and see water in new ways! Our Clean Water gallery offers many hands-on learning experiences that teach the science behind LA’s stormwater and wastewater management programs, and reveals the unseen connections between LA Sanitation's mechanical treatment systems and nature’s ecosystems.

Each visitor will have the opportunity to understand where the water in LA comes from, how much water we get and use each day, and most importantly, the best ways we can conserve our water use on a daily basis.

Visitors will also learn about:

• the dangers of water pollution;
• the best ways to preserve our watersheds in Los Angeles;
• the process of wastewater reclamation; and
• explore new ways to ensure water safety.

Exhibits include My Water Footprint, Recycled Water, Down the Drain, All Streets Lead to the Ocean, Inside a Wastewater Treatment Plant, Urban Runoff, Biosolids, and Clean Water Careers.

On the Road to Zero Waste
Discover the connections between the products we buy and use, our waste and recycling stream, and LA Sanitation's systems designed to help protect public health and the environment.

Our Zero Waste gallery offers many educational activities that illuminate the transition from a focus on landfills to a network of facilities that recover waste materials.

Bring your curiosity and sense of adventure on the Road to Zero Waste!

Visitors will learn about how we all can play a part in getting to a Zero Waste City. Each visitor will learn the basic components of recycling, reusing materials and recovering certain items.

Through a variety of displays throughout the exhibit, visitors can:

• learn about S.A.F.E. Centers;
• play a one-on-one game in a recycling challenge;
• understand the process of a materials recovery facility; and
• learn about the changes that have been made in solid resource management and look ahead to new ideas.

Exhibits include Zero Waste Home, Recycling Challenge, Millions of Tons of Waste, S.A.F.E. Centers, Materials Recovery Facility, Looking Ahead, Wall of Fame, and Solid Resources Careers. 

Sustainability on the Rooftop
Discover how the Environmental Learning Center (ELC) at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant embraces sustainable practices along with providing interactive exhibits to create an immersive educational experience.

When we had the opportunity to transform this abandoned administration building into the Los Angeles Environmental Learning Center at Hyperion, we knew that meeting the US Green Building Council certification standards in the redesign would be a valuable demonstration in sustainability. This building incorporates the principles of environmental stewardship and shows how we can protect our resources. 

Look for tags throughout the building that feature:

• Building materials that conserve energy and save water
• Technologies that take advantage of sun, wind and rain
• Nature's filtering systems: wetlands and bioswales

We are proud that the ELC has achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.

Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant
Tours of the plant are available by appointment only and may be added to your ELC visit. Please allow one to two hours for a full tour of Hyperion. If your group would like to order a catered lunch, ELC staff can schedule a room where your group can comfortably sit to eat.

The ELC offers available space in the following rooms to qualified personnel and community stakeholders for various events. Please call for additional information or to reserve space.

Auditorium
Located on the first floor, the auditorium at the ELC has 87 fixed seats and a projector with full audio-video capability. The space is ideal for lectures and presentations.  Please note that in order to protect the upholstery, food and beverage are not permitted in the auditorium.

Learning Lab
The ELC's Learning Lab is a configu​r​able classroom on the second floor with a capacity for 97 people. This room also has projector with full audio-visual capability. It is a great space for professional developments and meetings. Food and beverage are permitted.

Indoor Patio
The ELC's Indoor Patio is on the first floor, displaying a custom​​ water feature. The perfect spot to meet and greet before events, this space also allows food and beverage with a a capacity of 260 guests.

The ELC does not provide catering service but we can offer suggestions of companies we have successfully worked with for other events. Should you decide to have food and beverage at your event, please coordinate details in advance with your ELC representative.

As a reminder, food and beverage are not permitted in the following areas:

• Auditorium
• Exhibit area
• Green roof 

Our dedicated ELC staff is committed to exceeding expectations and ensuring a memorable educational experience for all visitors.  If you have any questions before or after your visit, please don't hesitate to contact us via phone or email.

Phone: 310-648-5363
Email: san.elc@lacity.org