Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara.

Last time, you heard about Christa’s favorite gardening book and today, we're hearing from Megan Birney, CEC's Renewable Energy Specialist.

Favorite eco-product: Detours Toocan Utility Pannier
Price: $57.00
Owned it for: 2 years

When I switched from gas power to pedal power over 3 years ago I began a love affair with my bike.  It gets me where I need to go without much effort, saves a ton of money, actually slices my commute time to work (park and walk vs. pedal to the front door), and is a heck of a lot of fun.

But like every relationship there are ups and downs.  My issue was transporting life’s necessities: groceries, work computer, beach volleyball, and more.  The little basket on the front just wasn’t cutting it.  I found myself hauling a backpack and fearing the basket was going to break while speeding downhill on De La Vina from Trader Joes.

That is when I decided to convert my beach cruiser into a commuter bike.  The secret ingredients?  A rear bike rack and panniers.  As it turns out, it is much easier to pull cargo than to push it!  Not only did this upgrade double my cargo area, it also made it easier to tote my load from anywhere in town.

The rear rack provides a great base, but any old pannier just wouldn’t cut it for my needs.  I needed flexibility and longevity – and it needed to look good.  A survey of local bike shops lead me to the Detours Toocan Utility Pannier.

I love the storage capacity of the pannier, but importantly the design made it practical for almost anything.  With a hard, rubber bottom and an adjustable/removable shoulder strap, the bag stands on its own but is easy to carry. The design works great for the farmers market; it is sturdy enough to protect peaches and avocados and easy to clean. It also comes with a rain cover for those days when you forget to read the weather report and get caught in a downpour. I also love that it comes in a lot of different colors.  I got mine in mint green to match my bike – the “mint julep.”

Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara.

Last time, you heard about Kathi’s reusable produce bags and today, we're hearing from Christa Backson, CEC's Office Manager.

Favorite eco-product: “Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” by Toby Hemenway
Price: $19.77

I’ve been an avid gardener since childhood, and for years have grown most of my family’s produce in our own backyard. Several years ago, my daughter, husband and I dug up our front lawn and planted food there as well. This gave us much more land to work with and also reminded passersby that there were other options besides maintaining a water-wasting stretch of grass.

Santa Barbara is the ideal place to grow fresh, healthy food year round.  In our yard space we are able to seasonally harvest, beets, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, string beans, tomatoes, squash, berries, apples, plums, apricots, kale, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, potatoes, lemons, limes, oranges, avocados and many other vegetables, herbs and flowers!

By growing so much of our own food, we support a locally sourced food community. Not only is this a delicious way to eat, but it also helps reduce my family’s dependence on fossil fuels. Think about all the gasoline needed to transport food into Santa Barbara -- not to mention the amount of plastic packaging and shipping materials that are involved in transporting produce from out of the area. A short walk from the garden to the kitchen is the only transportation that our food needs, no packaging necessary! We’re also helping eliminate the fossil fuels used in big agribusiness’s fertilizers and equipment.

Get started on your own edible landscape by reading my favorite eco-smart product: “Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” by Toby Hemenway. It is an excellent book full of practical information for the beginner, as well as a great resource for more experienced gardeners. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to develop a healthy food production ecology in their own back (and front) yards.  And along with the healthy harvest, you will be contributing to a cleaner, fossil fuel free environment.

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You can get a copy of Christa’s book recommendation at CEC's Amazon Store in the Books (Food) section. We hope you'll find an idea to inspire you. If you find something you like, a percentage of your purchase comes back to CEC.

Did you miss one of our favorite things? Catch up and read them all in Our Favorite Things blog category.

Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara. Last time you heard about Eileen's favorite clothesline. In this edition of Our Favorite Things, we're hearing from Kathi King, CEC's Rethink the Drink and Donor Relations Manager.

Favorite eco-product: Mesh produce bags (also good for delicate laundry and travel toiletries)
Price: $10 for five
Owned it for: 2 years

As an advocate for alternatives to plastic grocery bags, I'm often asked about the plastic produce bags on rolls inside the market. Those are not likely going anywhere soon, even if communities ban the carryout bags. Produce bags also generally fly under the radar when we talk about plastics data.

We know that in California we use about 16 BILLION plastic bags per year (that's 600 per second), but the numbers don't get crunched on produce bags.

Both types of bags are made from non-renewable resources (oil and natural gas) and, if they enter the environment, they photodegrade into tiny bits, creating pollution for hundreds of years.

The good news is there are reusable options for produce bags just as there are for carryout bags. They are reasonably priced, durable and very lightweight. I even stick one inside the Chico bag in my handbag so there's one handy for those unexpected stops to the store. They also wash and hang dry nicely.

While reusable bags are becoming wonderfully ubiquitous in local stores, produce bags are only beginning to find an audience. No one asks me about the reusable bags in my cart, but I get frequent questions about my collection of produce bags, even at the farmer's market. Last weekend my husband gave one away to an especially inquisitive woman!

The one drawback to reusable produce bags, whether made from mesh, muslin or nylon is that they don't keep refrigerated produce quite as fresh as the plastic bag. My family's solution to this is to take a produce bag from the grocery store every once in a while and reuse it as long as possible. Shaking them out, turning them inside out and air drying them before reusing are all ways to lengthen their life span. We keep a bag of produce bags in a kitchen drawer and transfer our perishables to them once we get home. A side benefit of this is we've become quite creative about saving and reusing other types of plastic packaging (e.g. bread wrappers).

If you're already in the habit of remembering your carryout reusable bags to the store, it's easy to increase your environmental halo by adding a handful of reusable produce bags to your collection.

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You can get a few reusable produce bags at CEC's Amazon Store in the Reusable Bags section. If you find something you like, a percentage of your purchase comes back to CEC. We hope you'll find an idea to inspire you.

Did you miss one of our favorite things? Catch up and read them all in Our Favorite Things blog category.

Stay tuned to hear from our next CEC staffer, Christa Backson, about her favorite energy-smart product.

Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara.

Last time, you heard about Michael's favorite LED lightbulb and today, we're hearing from Eileen Daley, CEC's Accounting Specialist and lifelong clothesline owner.

Favorite eco-product: Brabantia Lift-O-Matic All Weather Rotary Dryer – clothesline for outdoor air-drying
Price: $149.97
Owned it for: 5 months

I've been hanging my clothes on a clothesline to dry for years. Clothes dryers are one of the most energy intensive appliances in a household, and all that energy's not cheap or environmentally responsible. Not only that, but I like to air dry my clothes because they smell fresh from the breeze without having to use dryer sheets. Nothing quite beats sliding into sheets that have been hung in the sun!

Recently, my trusty clothesline of 22 years came apart and I needed a new one. I enlisted some help from my friend Mike, a retired engineer and all-around genius who likes to build things.

My favorite part of the old line was that it had two straight lines close enough together that you could hang items on both lines for maximum drying. I was hoping he could build a similar one for me. A couple of days later Mike brought me the "plans" for my new clothesline. I was expecting some sketches, but instead he brought me a print out from Amazon for an "umbrella like clothesline".

Needless to say, I was skeptical. I've used clotheslines my entire life and have never used one like this. But I trust him, so I went for it. The install went faster than I would have ever imagined – all it took was a couple of hits with a sledgehammer and POOF it was up and running.

Now that I have been using this clothesline for the last 5 months I have to admit it has surpassed anything I could have asked for or thought possible in a clothesline.

It holds just as much as my old lines did and the rotation component really dries things faster with a little breeze. The best part is I can collapse the line (like an umbrella) and bring it inside when I'm not using it. This has opened up the backyard in a way I never would have expected. I no longer have to remind my tall friends at a BBQ to duck under the lines, and can enjoy my cup of tea and look into the backyard with an unobstructed view.

I have since called Mike and thanked him profusely for convincing me that this is the next big thing! I am happy to once again be living my simple life. Now, maybe I can get Mike to build me a new fence....

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You can get a clothesline of your own at CEC's Amazon Store in the Gadgets section. We hope you'll find an idea to inspire you.

Did you miss one of our favorite things? Catch up and read them all in Our Favorite Things blog category.

Stay tuned to hear from our next CEC staffer, Kathi King, about her favorite energy-smart product.

Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara.

Last time, you heard about Michelle’s favorite reusable bags, and today, we're hearing from Michael Chiacos, CEC's Transportation Specialist. We hope you'll find an idea to inspire you.

Favorite eco-product: Pharox LED Bulb
Price: $29.99
Owned it for: 8 months

Some of you may have heard about LED light bulbs, which are the most efficient lighting available (twice as efficient as a CFL, around 10 times more efficient than an incandescent). The problem is that they’ve been quite expensive, and light quality wasn’t as good as incandescent bulbs.

Now there is a new generation of LED light bulbs just hitting the market that are less expensive. I’ve been trying out a few of them and have been quite impressed with the Pharox line of LED bulbs, which dim smoothly and have a color rendering quite similar to an incandescent. They only use 6 watts to light an area comparable to a 60 watt incandescent, and are just slightly warm to the touch. Apparently they last 35 times as long as an incandescent, so if you have any light bulbs that you need to get a ladder out to change, this bulb might be what you are looking for.

I also have their Pharox Flame bulb, which produces a very yellow/orange light. On the reviews many people didn’t like this, but I find it makes a great ambient light to put in a bedroom or any other table lamp where you just want enough light to see, but not to read by.

In my mind, LED bulbs are now ready for primetime, though they are pretty expensive at $29/bulb. If the bulb does really last 35 times longer than an incandescent, there is quite a bit of savings - you could save $200-$300 over the decades. They also make a great house “cooling” gift. A friend gave me one 8 months ago upon moving into my new place and now I have a bunch of them!

 

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You can get a LED light bulb of your own at CEC's Amazon Store in the Lighting section. We hope you'll find an idea to inspire you.

 

Stay tuned to hear from our next CEC staffer, Eileen Daley, about her favorite energy-smart product.

Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara.

Last time, you heard about Sigrid's favorite water bottle and today, we're hearing from Michelle Kitson, CEC's Online Marketing Coordinator. We hope you'll find an idea to inspire you.

Favorite eco-product: Chico Bag - It’s a reusable bag that stuffs into a 3”x 4” pouch.
Price: $5.99 each
Owned it for: 3 years

I love my Chico Bags.

I bought my first Chico Bag with the intention of using it for grocery shopping. I was frustrated with the amount of plastic bags I would carry home from the store every week and wanted to make a change. Before the Chico Bag, I was using ~720 plastic bags every year. Here's the math:

 

Grocery Bags = 6 bags/week (double-bagged) = 12 bags/week
                          + Miscellaneous Bags = 3 bags/week                       

Total of 15 bags/week, 60 bags/month, 720 bags/year. Yowza!

 

Although I knew reusable bags would displace much of my plastic bag use, I dreaded having to remember my bags. What if I forgot them and what if I didn’t have enough? As it turns out, all the benefits outweighed my worries. Making that small change was way better than I thought.

• You can carry a ton of groceries (25 pound capacity!) in just one bag. I live in an upstairs apartment so I used to get everything double bagged to prevent a torn bag disaster. Now I just need one bag and it’s not plastic.
• The polyester fabric handles are much more comfortable than plastic bag handles cutting into your fingers.
• They are super compact so I can carry them everywhere.
• I ended up using them for everything. Grocery stores aren’t the only places that give you plastic bags. I use them for clothes shopping, the drug store, the copy shop, carrying my yarn to craft night… everything.

I’m definitely a reusable bag convert.

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You can get a Chico Bag of your own or a different type of reusable bag at CEC’s Amazon Store in the Reusable Bag section. If you find something you like, a percentage of your purchase comes back to CEC.

 

Stay tuned to hear from our next CEC staffer, Michael Chiacos, about his favorite light bulb.

Almost every product and service we rely on today is manufactured with or transported by some amount of fossil fuels. Of course, the most important thing we can do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is to use less. However, when you do make a purchase, we encourage you to shop for energy-smart products that use less energy to produce.

Here at CEC, we're all about energy-smart products that help us move towards a fossil-free lifestyle and a fossil-free future for Santa Barbara. This is the first in a series of blog posts from CEC staff and supporters about their favorite eco-smart products and we hope you'll find an idea to inspire you.

Today, we're hearing from Sigrid Wright, CEC's Assistant Director.

 

Favorite eco-product: Lifefactory Water Bottle – reusable water bottle made with glass
Price: $21.99 for 22oz, $19.99 for 16oz
Owned it for: 3 months

There are very few "things" in the world that I would say I love, but this Lifefactory bottle is one of them. In the process of trying to solve one problem that had been bugging me for a while, this product helped me resolve a whole other issue.

My original problem was that I wanted to get away from plastic water bottles as much as possible. There's just so much wrong with them (e.g. that we use 17 million barrels of oil a year in the U.S. just to transport water bottles from one place to the next).

However, I don't like the taste of drinking out of stainless steel containers, or even reusable BP-free plastic bottles -- so I would fill various glass bottles that had originally contained tea or Pelligrino. These worked all right, but they were hard to clean and the caps weren't very durable so half the time I wasn't motivated to carry them around. As a result I often ended up not having water when I needed it.

When a friend brought one of these Lifefactory bottles to a meeting, I immediately bought one. It has a wide mouth so it's easy to clean and add ice, and a durable screw cap with a handle. It also has a silicone protective sleeve, so I'm not afraid it will break tumbling around in my bag. (Although I did drop one full force on pavement and had to replace it.)

But the reason I love it (and why I want to put three little hearts after this post) is that I drink much more water than I did before. It's always with me, and I now drink about three full 22 oz. bottles a day. The Lifefactory bottle has now become one of my favorite presents to give friends.

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You can get a Lifefactory water bottle of your own or a different type of reusable water bottle at CEC's Amazon Store in the Reusable Water Bottle section. If you find something you like, a percentage of your purchase comes back to CEC.

Stay tuned to hear from our next CEC staffer, Michelle Kitson, about her favorite reusable bag.