Earth Day Vision Quests

It ain’t easy being green. And these days, with a barrage of news stories about melting glaciers, brimming landfills, and dying wildlife, it can be hard to stay hopeful enough to try. Luckily for us and the rest of the planet, Santa Barbara holds true to its environmental roots, with eco-minded visionaries constantly sprouting up with new ideas to live within our means. Their creative energy and singular drive are the tip of the sustainability spear, and in anticipation of Earth Day, we highlight four of them in the arenas of food, water, energy, and transportation.

• The Appeal of Apeel: How a company on Santa Barbara’s Eastside is fighting food waste, protecting produce, and potentially changing the world.

• Sweetwater Collaborative Are Water Wizards for Drought: Sweetwater Collaborative Keeps Backyards Alive and Well with Old-Fashioned Know-How

• UCSB Hyperloop Finalists in Worldwide Competition: The team of undergrads is helping write the next chapter of transport history.

• Next Energy Technologies Turning Windows into Solar Panels: The Goleta company cracked the code to making cheap, transparent solar cell ink.