By Elena Zevallos
In honor of Earth Day, we’ve partnered with Isla Vista Food Co-op and Sun and Swell in the creation of our newest online campaign, Earth Month: Small Steps for a Better Tomorrow. Both businesses are dedicated to integrating local and sustainable food systems into the Santa Barbara community, and so we’re excited to have these members be an integral part of the challenge! From April 5-30th, you can take part in this free campaign involving daily Earth-minded actions such as conserving water, reducing food waste, eliminating single-use plastic, and prioritizing health and wellness. Join this fun challenge here!
We also invite you to share your ideas and accomplishments with others. We could all use each participant’s input and insight on ways to adjust our lives towards a more sustainable one. For example, what do you do with your food waste? Do you refrigerate and save it for vegetable stock? Or do you immediately compost it? What compost program are you signed up with? How do you reuse an old product so as to create something better out of it (also known as upcycling)? Even after the challenge ends, we can continue to spread our ideas with others while strengthening our sustainable living goals.
The theme for Earth Day 2021, is “Restore Our Earth”. The aim is to expand global awareness around the idea that instead of reducing human impact and adapting to the changing climate, we should focus on restoring ecosystems, oceans, forests, soil, biodiversity, and clean air and water. It also highlights the importance of our health and restoring it back to a place of high priority. So while we celebrate Earth Month, we can also emphasize this crucial concept that challenges the world’s sustainability model by making a difference in our lives and spreading information about this to others.