Many
Santa Barbara residents are familiar with the 1969 oil spill that triggered the
city’s first wave of environmental activism, a movement that has continued to
gain traction over the course of the subsequent 46 years. For a community that
has long given the ocean a starring role in the development of its local
culture, the emotional effects of the oil spill were dramatic and left many
residents feeling devastated.
Out
of all the negative consequences caused by the Union Oil Company’s ruptured
pipeline came a single silver lining: the crisis inspired a zealous interest in
environmental protection within the Santa Barbara community. One year after the
oil spill occurred, the Community Environmental Council (CEC) was established,
hosting an event for the United States’ first-ever celebration of Earth Day on
April 22, 1970.
Since
its foundation, the Community Environmental Council has launched a number of
initiatives, projects, and events in the interest of maintaining the health and
prosperity of Santa Barbara’s local ecosystem. The CEC continues to honor its
commitment to environmental health through the following current initiatives:
1. Drive Less
Automobiles
are responsible for approximately a third of the air pollution in America,
contributing carbon monoxide and other toxins to the environment and creating
smog and ozone damage that can drastically impact all life forms. However, the carbon
footprint left behind by cars stems from more than just their operation. The
plants that produce the steel, rubber, plastics, and paint used in automobile assembly
require large amounts of energy and emit significant air pollution in the
process.
The
CEC’s Drive Less initiative encourages Santa Barbara residents to limit their consumption
of fossil fuels and improve air quality through the use of alternate
transportation modes. In order to make the reduction of car use as simple to
implement as possible, the organization has developed resources like the
Bicycle Master Plan, which outlines a long-term strategy for effectively and
affordably making Santa Barbara more bicycle-friendly. Additionally, the organization is focused
on establishing an efficient ridesharing project for the city, and offers tips
on how to reduce car use through its Drive
Less blog.
2. Choose Electric
The
CEC’s ultimate goal is to eliminate Santa Barbara’s dependency on fossil fuels
within one generation, and doing so requires the group to provide residents who
cannot reduce their use of automobiles with a green alternative. The CEC’s
Choose Electric initiative helps frequent automobile users be ecofriendly by
providing informational resources about clean energy cars.
Through
the Plug in Santa Barbara program, the group has established more than 300 area
charging stations for electric vehicles and continues to work with local
businesses to locate additional viable sites for green cars to replenish their
energy. Additionally, the three annual green car shows hosted by the CEC bring
a wide range of clean energy car models to the streets in order to allow
residents to observe and learn about the benefits of using these alternative
vehicles.
3. Go Solar
Residents
know that Santa Barbara’s climate is one of its most endearing assets, and with
an average of 300 days of sunshine each year, the region is an ideal candidate for the
implementation of solar energy. The Community Environmental Council aims to put
into practice a system of zero-net-energy buildings in the Santa Barbara area
within 20 years through its Go Solar initiative.
Through
a proposal submitted to the city government in November of 2007, the
organization outlined its reasoning behind the plan, and provided the city of
Santa Barbara and its residents with a feasible plan of action to begin moving
the region away from its use of fossil fuels. Additionally, as of June 2015,
the county arranged funding for the CEC to conduct a feasibility study for its
plan, and inspired two additional California counties to the north to
participate in the study as well.
4. Ditch Plastic
The
use of plastic is so widespread that the amount of plastic in the environment
is incalculable. In the United States alone, the average citizen throws away
185 pounds of the polymer each year, and as a country we reuse only 5 percent
of that waste annually. These habits of overproduction and under-recycling have
resulted in five “plastic islands” floating in the world’s oceans,
contaminating the global ecosystem and ultimately endangering human life.
The
CEC has taken action against the unnecessary use of plastic in the Santa
Barbara community through its Ditch Plastic initiative, introducing programs
like Rethink the Drink, which installs water refill stations in county schools.
Likewise, the organization’s Ban the Bag program played a part in legislation
that will reduce the amount of plastic bags in the region each year by over 100
million. The Water Monster program also helps local event hosts to make their
occasions plastic-free.
5. Eat Local
In
addition to encouraging the production of fresh fruits and vegetables for Santa
Barbara residents, the CEC’s Eat Local initiative focuses on diminishing the
use of fossil fuels local businesses need by decreasing the amount of produce
transported into the region from far-away locations. It also aims to stimulate
the local economy by providing additional jobs for Santa Barbara farmers.
To
accomplish this, the organization has partnered with local nonprofits to
combine resources and develop a viable food system for the area called the
Santa Barbara County Food Action Plan. The CEC also hosts events and has
published a paper on the effects of food waste in the county in an effort to
reduce the amount of food waste produced locally.
