Sydney Read, Author at Community Environmental Council

How Daniel C. was saved by a blueberry

October 8, 2014
Sydney Read

Just a few years ago, Daniel Corry would have been lost at the farmers market. He never went, he wouldn’t have known where to start, and he would have been astounded that someone would pay that much for a box of blueberries. He was happy with Trader Joe’s. Now, Daniel is a farmers market regular; he goes at least once a week, he has his favorite stands, and he happily pays that much for a box of locally-grown blueberries. He wouldn’t dream of buying produce at Trader Joe’s anymore. “It has no taste!” he says.

The Probiotic Woman

September 24, 2014
Sydney Read

There are people who hear "fermented" and think "spoiled." Not only would they avoid eating something fermented, they would steer clear of a festival dedicated to all things fermented. But those are people who haven’t yet met Katie Falbo.

The Accidental Chef

September 19, 2014
Sydney Read

Leslie Thomas does not just have a green thumb. It’s more like a green arm. Her backyard is overflowing with kale, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, artichokes, strawberries, eggplants, tomatoes, ghost peppers, and 35 different grape vines -- just to name a few.

Ditching Plastic from Day One

August 28, 2014
Sydney Read

3,292. That’s how many disposable diapers the typical baby uses in its first year, and all of them go into a landfill.

80. That’s about how many cloth diapers Dexter used in his first year, and none of them went into a landfill.

Drinking It In: Eliminating Single-Use Plastic Bottles

July 9, 2014
Sydney Read

Rethink the Drink started in 2010 with a simple concept: provide schools with an alternative to single-use plastic water bottles and see if habit change followed. Four years later, we are proud to report that habit change is indeed possible. There are now 39 water refill stations in schools and community facilities across Santa Barbara County, and they have been used more than 870,000 times. Creating a single plastic water bottle emits 2.6 pounds of carbon dioxide, thus the amount of carbon dioxide emissions mitigated by our refill stations is more than 2 million pounds.