Santa Barbara Earth Day Celebration Focuses on Efforts to Mitigate Climate Change
Photo by Carolyn French
Programming at Saturday’s Santa Barbara Earth Day Celebration focused on local environmental groups’ role in climate change mitigation.
The Community Environmental Council held its annual event at the historic Arlington Theatre in person for the first time since 2019.
Events and speakers were scheduled throughout the day in the theater while display tables with climate-focused action plans greeted guests at the front. The Green Car Show entertained in the parking lot nearby.
Speakers from the CEC highlighted the system changes, policy implementation and individual action needed to meet the urgency of the climate crisis.
The on-stage program began with a Chumash blessing and comments by Chumash elder Art Cisneros. Cisneros has spoken across the country about giving back to the land and sharing the giving values of the Chumash people.
“We should be celebrating, every day, the trees that provide all of the oxygen that we use that betters our lives with one breath,” Cisneros said. “This celebration of Earth Day, which is every day for an indigenous person, is to remember that our responsibility is to take care of all. “We have forgotten our responsibility to take care of everything that takes care of us.”
Community Environmental Council CEO Sigrid Wright and Policy Director Michael Chiacos spoke next with a summary of the organization’s “Reverse, Repair, Protect” mission.
“You’ve probably heard that for the last few years the window of opportunity is closing,” Chiacos said. “Globally, we’re now in a position where we have to do twice as much twice as fast. We basically have 10 years to bend the curve towards net zero to avoid the worst-case scenarios.”
The CEC strives to reverse the trajectory of the climate-crisis, repair the damage already done, and protect communities from extreme weather and other climate impacts.
“We’re really experiencing those local impacts, with the Thomas Fire, the Montecito mudslide, the extreme heat,” Chiacos said. “The Thomas Fire was the largest fire in history in 2018. Now it’s the eighth largest. If it feels like it’s getting nuts out there, that’s because it is.”
Chiacos emphasized that despite dire conditions, the CEC sees hope on the horizon because of the organization’s understanding of what needs to be done and the restorative climate action plan under Joe Biden’s presidency.
“We know what to do,” Chiacos said. “We know why the carbon cycle is disrupted, and we know what needs to happen to repair it. It’s science, but it’s not rocket science.”
UC Santa Barbara global studies student Maria Lampariello pulled together a fashion show for Saturday’s celebration. The show presented a mix of thrifted clothing from vendors such as Buffalo Exchange and The Closet Trading Co., as well as sustainable brands such as Blumaka and VanJaneLA.
The show featured UCSB students as models, who donned outfits featuring anything from comfortable athleisure-wear to avant-garde runway-esque pieces.
The show kicked off with a brief presentation from Lampariello, discussing the issues with the fast fashion industry.
According to her, fast fashion vendors such as Forever 21, Shein and Zara roll out collections based on shifting fashion trends in real time. About one micro-collection a week will come out of a fast fashion business model, creating lots of inexpensive yet non-durable inventory that contributes to a majority of the country’s clothing waste, she said.
“A slow-production business model usually comes out with two to six collections a year,” Lampariello said during the introduction. “Fast fashion businesses produce 52.”
The Santa Barbara Earth Day Celebration traditionally has been located at Alameda Park with a whole weekend of events.
The CEC moved the event to The Arlington Theatre because of COVID-19 regulations. The organization plans to host the celebration in the fresh air of the park next year.
