GREEN SANTA BARBARA WEBSITE PROVIDES VISITORS WITH ECO-MINDED RESOURCES

Simple Shoes and Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau Partner to Make it Easier (and Fun!) for Locals and Visitors to Go Green

SANTA BARBARA, CA —  With environmental sustainability moving to the forefront of national awareness, the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission (SBCVB&FC) and Simple Shoes (a Santa Barbara-based brand) are pleased to present www.GreenSantaBarbara.com, a fun, informative, Earth-friendly web site that serves as a comprehensive guide to all things green here on the American Rivieraâ.

Often considered the birthplace of the modern environmental movement – one of the nation's first Earth Day celebrations was held here in 1970 – Santa Barbara's green roots run deep in an area that is an arena of endless outdoor attractions. The mountains offer miles of hiking and biking trails and a gateway to the wine country. Beautiful uncrowded beaches await wherever you turn. Channel Islands National Park & Marine Sanctuary sits offshore, just a 20-mile boat ride away. Whales and dolphin cruise local waters. Sailing and surfing, kayaking and scuba diving beckon the adventurous year round, and bicycle and running paths lace the city.

With so much to do, going green on www.GreenSantaBarbara.com is only natural. And with sections for "Green Living", "Green Tourism" and "Green Activities", all of which contain links to a wide green world of things to see and do, the site is the logical first place to start. The site is full of tourist attractions, but because it has so much useful information for locals who want to green their lives, the site provides an insider's look at what a city on the leading edge of environmental awareness is doing to fight climate change and preserve the natural world.

Green SB: In the Beginning

How did Santa Barbara earn its environmental stripes. Find out at the "Green History" link; then get up-to-date on sustainability lingo with a look at the "Green Glossary." The playful "non-granola guide to eco-ethics" defines green concepts that are as familiar as "organic," as newly emergent as "locavore" (anyone who consumes only food and drinks produced within 100 miles of where they live) and as subtly distinct as "biodegradable," "replenishable" and "compostable."

Forget the Freeway – Take the Green Way

Because Santa Barbara is small and easy to navigate, options abound for getting around via green means of transportation. Following the link to the Santa Barbara Car Free Project (www.santabarbaracarfree.com), visitors will find green routes to fun and famous sites, allowing them to do their part for sustainability while saving money, too.

The site has sections on walking, riding local buses (Santa Barbara's fleet of zero-emission electric vehicles is the largest in North America for a city of its size), going car-less, maps and walking-tour itineraries, Amtrak discounts, car-free resources and special car-free vacation packages. Find out where to rent not only bicycles, but also Segway Human Transporters, the futuristic-looking upright electric scooters with the gyro balancing system. Riding around town or out to UCSB on a guided tour aboard one of these smooth, quiet, comfortable eco-friendly vehicles is a unique experience not to be missed.

Itineraries

Having a plan for a green day helps get the most out of valuable vacation time. The tours listed on the "Itineraries" page (under Green Tourism at www.greensantabarbara.com) are perfect. One option is the Classic Santa Barbara self-guided tour. Just board the open-air Waterfront-Downtown Electric Shuttle (fare: 25 cents) and hop on and off to take in such attractions as the Ty Warner Sea Center at Stearns Wharf; waterfront Chase-Palm Park, with its kid-friendly play area complete with spouting life-size whale sculptures; and the Andre Clark Bird Refuge and the Santa Barbara Zoo, both across the street from East Beach, where pro beach volleyball players kick up the sand.

The Art, Architecture & Design tour offers an array of visual treats, many of which support green efforts, such as Art from Scrap, where castaway materials and objects are transformed into art. Or check out the Livin' La Vida Locavore to discover the joys of eating "local" while catching up on the burgeoning local organic wine industry and visiting the harbor to find out about sustainable local fishing practices – and then grab something freshly caught for lunch or dinner.

And don't miss the Eco-Tourism tour featuring many of the beautiful properties held and preserved by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, from the Arroyo Hondo Preserve 20 miles north of town to the Carpinteria Salt Marsh and the Coronado Butterfly Preserve. These are among the most treasured properties in the area, and the Trust makes them accessible.

The "Green Attractions" section (inside Green Tourism) overlaps with the Itinerary section described, but also extends it.Learn about sustainable agriculture at organic Fairview Gardens, or the Huerta Project, which is reviving Mission-era horticulture at the Santa Barbara Mission. Link here for information about the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden or the famous Lotusland Estate and Gardens in Montecito. Here's where you'll get the scoop on the L'il Toot water taxi, the town's first biodiesel-powered commercial vessel, for the ride between Stearns Wharf and the Harbor.

Eating Green

To continue the green theme while fueling your ventures around Santa Barbara, pull up a table at one of the many restaurants that do their part for sustainability by buying organic and local whenever possible. They're all listed in the "Eating Green" section, which also includes links to gastronome-led tours of the farmers markets, lists of organic and biodynamic wineries and listings of culinary attractions and events.

If You Build It, Make It Green

Many Santa Barbara residents have begun greening their properties by replacing lawns and thirsty exotic plants with drought-tolerant natives, adding solar panels to their roofs, introducing recycled-water and rain catchment systems. The "Green Buildings" section includes links to tours, architects and stores that are helping to turn Santa Barbara a deeper shade of green.

One link in this section leads to the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, which lies ten miles from downtown via a lovely bike path and is one of the most impressive examples of green architecture in the nation for its achievements in sustainability. The graduate school trains future environmental leaders and is housed in Bren Hall, which overlooks the ocean and was recognized as the greenest laboratory building in the nation when it was completed in 2002. Tours are available.

Afterward, spot dolphins, seals pelicans, egrets and great blue herons as you walk the beach, the estuary or the university lagoon. Or ride out to visit the protected snowy plover nesting grounds on beautiful Sands beach west of campus and, beyond that, the monarch butterfly preserve, where the migratory species spends the winter.  In spring and fall especially, keep your eye out for the telltale spouts of migrating whales.

Green Lodging

Every trip to Santa Barbara needs a home base, and if you want your lodging to be as green as your outings during the day, check out the "Green Lodging" link in the "Green Tourism" section. From furnished tents in a coastal oak canyon to homey lodgings, to opulent quarters, there's something for everyone here. Check out the link to see not only who is providing green accommodations, but how they're doing it too.

Finally, rest easy knowing that 2% of the local hotel taxation in the City of Santa Barbara goes toward a program designed to clean up local streams and waterways.

Information & Resources

Visit www.GreenSantaBarbara.com to learn about what you can do personally to lessen your "footprint" on the environment while experiencing the greener side of Santa Barbara. The website features self-guided tours and all things green including architecture, art, transportation, sustainable agriculture, biodynamically grown wines, recycling, nature preserves and ecotourism activities, "green" hotels, itineraries, tips on how to eat like a "locavore" and more.

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1/2008