By Hannah Guzik, News-Press Staff Writer

 

Despite the cold, rainy conditions, thousands converged at the Courthouse Sunken Garden on Sunday to celebrate the environment at home and around the globe.

The South Coast Earth Day Festival, estimated to have drawn more than 8,000 people, focused on global warming and ways to reverse effects of cataclysmic climate change that some say could leave much of Santa Barbara under water in coming decades, according to the Community Environmental Council, which organized the event.

A "green" car show, sustainable living exhibits, children's area and a solar powered stage with environmentally-friendly entertainment were all part of the daylong festival.

"I think global warming is a pretty pressing issue," said Sigrid Wright, assistant director of CEC, on the selection of this year's theme. "We really wanted to highlight that there are local solutions to this problem and that we all can make changes that impact the environment."

Booths on energy efficiency, green building, organic farming and alternative fuel sources aimed to educate the public and provide them with a means and motivation to live greener, she explained.

The gloomy weather didn't seem to hinder turnout or the festive atmosphere, said Dave Davis, executive director of CEC. "There's no question, this is the best year yet."

He hopes the booths allowed locals to network with community groups and businesses providing ecologically sound services and products.

One of the most pivotal sections of the festival showcased the premier of Howard Ruby's "Global Warming Crusade," the largest polar bear photograph exhibit in the United States, with 70 photos on display. Polar bears are one of the first species to face extinction directly as a result of global warming, Ms. Wright said.

Colette Brown, 9, who stopped by the display with her family, was especially interested because she did a report on polar bears last year, as a third-grader at Peabody Charter School.

"Polar bears are really affected by the ecosystem," she said. "I like this festival because it's really good for us to be able to get together to try to make the Earth better."

Even at such a young age, Colette said she was concerned about the environment her generation might be left with if steps aren't taken to reverse any climate change.

"In saving the Earth, we can save ourselves as well," she said.

Her father, Paul Brown, said is motivated to save the environment because of his children.

"Everything affects everything else," he said. "We are able to have a positive effect and we can hand that down."

William Friel, a volunteer at the photo exhibit, called them at once beautiful and sad. "We are hoping that we will somehow be able to intervene and raise awareness."

Mayor Marty Blum presented awards to students who engaged in environmental service learning projects. Santa Barbara Middle School student Clay Suttner, 15, was helping out at the Light Blue Line booth, a community project that hopes to put a wave shaped line across city streets, showing what areas would be underwater should the ocean rise 21 feet, as predicted by some climate change scientists.

"If we have something so obvious and unavoidable there in the street, it becomes much more apparent to the average Santa Barbaran that this is something of paramount concern," he said. "It enables them to take action."

As a member of the teen press at his school, Clay plans to film the process of placing of the blue lines and create a documentary. The lines should be on the streets in a month or two and last five to 10 years, said James Frew, associate professor of UCSB's Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, who created the maps for the project.

Santa Barbara residents are poised to make change on behalf of the Earth, noted the CEC's Ms. Wright.

"People want to protect what they love and Santa Barbara is an easy place to love. A lot more needs to be done but Santa Barbara is a place where it can be done."