Helps residents explore actions to reduce carbon footprint
The County of Santa Barbara, in partnership with local cities, is making it easier for residents to take steps to address the climate crisis by launching the Climate Resilient Santa Barbara campaign (www.climateresilientsbc.org). The campaign provides an online platform with a comprehensive list of actions residents can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve resiliency and create stronger community connections. Each action category provides specific steps, educational tools and information on existing programs and financial incentives.
“Local residents want to take action to save our environment but aren’t always sure how. It is challenging to research electric vehicle or heat pump technologies and incentives. Climate Resilient Santa Barbara County provides them with a blueprint,” said Chair of the Board of Supervisors, Das Williams. “The County is transitioning our fleet to zero-emission vehicles, adding solar and storage to our facilities and diverting waste – we call upon our residents to take similar steps to meet our climate goals and we have incentives to help them do so.”
The first step for users is to create a profile and enter information about their home and activities to establish their carbon footprint. Users can then act on their own or create a team or community group and explore actions together. Action categories on the platform include topics like Clean Energy Home; Be Water Wise; Eat Green & Waste Less; Shift Your Ride; and Resilience. The online platform also tracks individual carbon reductions and financial savings which roll up to community-wide impacts.
“What I love about Climate Resilient SBC is that it empowers community members to become leaders and self-organize to take action on climate,” said Ashley Watkins, County Sustainability Division Chief. “County and city staff will support these efforts by helping to train community leaders and providing topic specific workshops”.
The initiative will help support the work of the County’s One Climate Initiative which includes the County’s 2030 Climate Action Plan among other climate related planning efforts. The County is launching the initiative in partnership with the cities of Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, the Tri-County Regional Energy Network, Central Coast Community Energy, Santa Barbara County Regional Climate Collaborative, Community Environmental Council and Ecology Action. It is part of a larger six county initiative called Resilient Central Coast that spans from Santa Cruz to Ventura. Residents located in other counties can connect with their local platform at www.resilientcentralcoast.org.
Santa Barbara County residents should check out the Climate Resilient SBC website, the website is also available in Spanish, Explorar acciones en español.