Blog
A space for learning.
From 47 Million Plastic Bags to Fewer Than 5 Million
The saying goes that ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ Sometimes it begins with a single plastic bag.
Climate Solutions for a Better World: Connecting the dots
On Thursday, February 13th, over 100 business leaders, nonprofit executives and 1% for the Planet members convened at Citrix in Goleta, Ca. for Connect the Dots, a conference that highlighted steps being taken by companies, NGOs and individuals to build resilient communities in an era of unprecedented climate change.
Thank You for Fueling the Clean Energy Movement
Thanks to our supporters we've been able to make some big strides in the clean energy movement on the Central Coast.
CEC's results in 2013
The Community Environmental Council (CEC) is a small and dedicated non-profit with a very big mission: ending the Santa Barbara region’s dependence on fossil fuels in one generation. It's been a busy year for CEC. After all, moving our region off fossil fuels is no small task.
Thinking Outside the Box and Bottle
To me, huge stockpiles of stuff is crazy making. What I see are expiration dates and things calling out “do something with me!” The idea of buying cases and pallets of merchandise individually packaged screams waste, so I prefer to source household staples in simple, sustainable quantities.
Students Are Part of the Plastic-Reduction Solution
“I want to do something about all the plastic waste. I want to be an environmental scientist.” Those words of wisdom and hope came from a seventh-grade girl at La Cumbre Junior High earlier this month. The Community Environmental Council’s (CEC) Rethink the Drink staff visited the school and spoke to over 300 students about the importance of reducing our dependence on single-use plastic products.
MedBridge Earns Green Business Status
When the Santa Barbara-based ambulatory surgical center (ASC) and physician practice management company, MedBridge, purchased a new building and moved its headquarters into the funk zone, the executive team knew they wanted the location to demonstrate the company’s “holistic approach to building and core values as a business,” said MedBridge Chief of Staff Ruth Loomer, co-chair of CEC’s Partnership Council.
Students Reduce Local Plastic Pollution by Reusing
With funding from local foundations, CEC's Rethink the Drink program has installed 16 refill stations on local elementary, junior high, high school and college campuses since the beginning of 2010. As of this month, schools have used the stations a total of 230,239 times and have dramatically reduced their use of disposable plastic water bottles.
Local Students Refilled Over 164,000+ Times
The project
As a part of an overall vision to lead the community away from energy-intensive products, CEC launched its "Rethink the Drink" campaign in January 2011, aiming to reduce single use plastic bottles by 75% in two pilot schools. With funding from the Orfalea Foundations and other local partners, we have thus far installed nine refill stations in local schools.
CEC Joins "SB Reads" to Quack about Plastic
When Moby-Duck author, Donovan Hohn, heard about the mysterious loss of 28,800 bath toys at sea, he figured he would interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers and read up on Arctic science and geography. Little did he know that he would be pulled into the mixed-up worlds of renegade beachcombers, Alaskan non-profit politics, Chinese toy manufacturers, and a massive environmental problem.
