For several years, the online learning company lynda.com has provided free daily lunch for employees. Now the Carpinteria-based company is helping employees Ditch Plastic by piloting a reusable container system for those who want to take their lunch to-go.
When retirement knocked on the door of Arroyo Grande residents Angela and Mark Goble, solar answered.
When a Solarponics representative flipped on the solar array at Ed and Irene Rush’s Atascadero home, it fulfilled a dream 35 years in the making.
In 2011, assemblyman Das Williams purchased his Chevy Volt and became one of the first locals to start driving electric. A politician with a strong environmental ethic, he was driven by a desire to live by those values in his daily life, starting first by minimizing his use of gasoline.
A weight belt. A pair of long fins. A snorkeling mask. A wetsuit. A spear gun that looks like an underwater crossbow. A strong set of lungs. A clear, calm day. A high tide. A steady arm. A day off from work. A little luck.
That, says Eric Lohela, is his recipe for a good day of free-dive spearfishing.
Last March, Kent Epperson bought a house in Ojai after months of fruitlessly searching for an affordable place in Santa Barbara. With that move, his short bike commute to his office near the intersection of Calle Real and North San Antonio Road in Santa Barbara abruptly changed to an hour and a half drive every day between the two cities.
Recently, Eva Inbar and her husband, Michael, purchased a set of road bikes. Avid cyclists, the two have been biking for decades, and they don’t have plans to quit anytime soon. No matter that they are in their late 60s.
Becky Dempsey works as the Marketing Programs Manager for GreenBiz Group in the Bay Area. Becky completed a six-month internship at CEC following graduation from UC Santa Barbara with a double major in Environmental Studies and Business Economics.
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.
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.
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.
For many people, the words ‘food network’ bring to mind faces of celebrity chefs like Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, and Emeril Lagasse. When Alison Hensley, local food enthusiast and co-founder of the SOL Food Festival, hears those words, she sees a different set of faces.
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.
Despite their appreciation for the environmental benefits of solar power, Donna and Patrick Will thought converting to solar energy would never make financial sense for them. However, after hearing about the Solarize Santa Ynez Valley program, the Wills decided to take another look at solar.