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A letter from this year’s Santa Barbara Green Guide, a collaboration between Bluedot Living and the Santa Barbara Independent.
Dear reader,
Spring is here!
Once again, we’re delighted to bring you the Santa Barbara Green Guide, published by the Santa Barbara Independent and Bluedot Living. This is our third edition, arriving just in time for Earth Day, and we’re proud to present it together.
We probably say too often that Santa Barbara is the birthplace of Earth Day, but it is, after all, our history and deserves remembering. The environmental spirit that grew from the events in 1970 still shapes this community. When Vicki recently came through town with a group of folks on a Bluedot Living Travel excursion, everyone loved learning about Santa Barbara’s history and meeting people dedicated to conservation during stops to visit Marianne at her husband’s family ranch, Lotusland, Sedgwick Reserve, and the new Chumash Museum.
In these pages you’ll find a variety of stories, including profiles of farmers, abalone growers, and people tackling invasive plants that impact fragile ecosystems, as well as recipes like Vicki’s Andalusian gazpacho.
Speaking of invasives, the “invasive” federal government has falsely asserted the right to restart oil drilling off the California coast we’ve spent decades protecting. It’s been quite a year of hubris from Washington, and the Indy and Bluedot Living have worked together to tell the story. What gives us optimism is the pushback from Santa Barbara citizens, scientists from UC Santa Barbara, advocacy groups, and legal teams — lots of great people who continue to fight against the oil behemoth to protect our coastline.
We hope these pages leave you informed, inspired, and grateful for the many people in Santa Barbara working to protect our community.
Victoria Riskin (Vicki)
President and Founder
Bluedot Living
Marianne Partridge
Editor in Chief and Co-Founder
Santa Barbara Independent
P.S. This photograph was taken at the Independent’s new offices at 223 East DelaGuerra, where Marianne and Vicki are doing their best to hold up the building.
