I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Community Environmental Council this past weekend at Earth Day and had a wonderful experience. In honor of the 40th year, and due to the increased showing over the years, the city of Santa Barbara decided to move the event to Alameda Park and hold it over two days. There were so many booths and people there that at some points it was overwhelming. In the end however it proved to be a wonderful experience that truly highlighted how committed people were to change.

From the first teach-in put together by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, Earth Day has been a symbol for the environmental movement. Santa Barbara in particular has been very progressive in the green front since the oil spill in 1969 from Platform Holly. This year's event brought people from all sectors, including local farmers, general contractors, architects, publications, media stations, and non-profit groups just to name a few. All were concerned with the direction the world was headed and wanted to make a difference through their own efforts. One notable standout among many was the Green Homes Pavilion, a replica home built on park grounds that reflected different building techniques and environmental measures. Inside each visitor could learn about subjects such as insulation, lighting control, building envelope, low-flow fixtures, low- to no-VOC paints and much, much more. It was very impressive to see such a structure built as they started on Thursday of this past week! Some of the main contributors to the project were Allen Associates, Ward Building, and the Santa Barbara Contractors Association. What struck me the most however was the reception by people visiting the event. My girlfriend and I could hardly walk through the building without bumping into people, dogs or little children!

In addition to this there were several solar thermal and solar electric companies displaying their services and solutions. Even Clipper Windpower was there with a miniature Liberty wind turbine (I wish the wind was blowing more that day...). All in all there was a great deal of education to be had in the realm of green building, design, and renewable energy. The event itself was designed to be as low impact as possible, although many people understandably drove their products and setup there by car. I did notice however that many locals chose to walk or ride their bikes to the event, which says a lot about the city trying to encourage greater personal mobility and low-carbon travel. Let's hope next year is just as big and I hope events all over the country were equally as successful. Now the hard part is keeping up this momentum all year! Next month we will have our online green building expo which we hope will carry interest and enthusiasm for green building and design forward through the summer.

I'm very interested in hearing about events in other areas. What experiences did you have?