April 21-22 — Bright Ideas to Light Up emPower Earth Day Booth

Courtesy photo.

CENTRAL COASTemPower Central Coast, part of the County’s Sustainability Division, will participate in the Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival April 21-22 at Alameda Park. Staff will be offering information on creating an energy efficient home, and giving away some green goodies.

Program representatives will be at the emPower Central Coast booth (#398) located in the Public Square to provide home energy efficiency tips and information on incentives for making home upgrades. Visitors can also share their own conservation thoughts at the “Bright Idea for Energy Efficiency” board and take part in fun photo ops.

While supplies last, emPower is handing out free reusable water bottles, bags and biodegradable bamboo utensil sets to booth visitors. Visitors to the booth may also schedule a free home site visit with an emPower Energy Coach, who can identify common energy efficiency issues including inefficient appliances and poor insulation levels. emPower can refer homeowners to participating local, qualified contractors and connect them with utility incentives up to $5,500, as well as low-interest, unsecured financing with interest rates that start at 3.9 percent.

“Home energy efficiency goes well beyond flipping off the lights when you leave a room,” said Marisa Hanson, emPower Central Coast Program Specialist. “There are ways to really take charge of how your home uses resources, and we want to share how and what programs are available to help. We look forward to talking with and assisting residents who want to learn more about what they can do.”

The Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival is scheduled 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday, April 21; and 11 a.m. -6 p.m. Sunday, April 22 at Alameda Park, 1400 Santa Barbara St.

For more information or to schedule a free home assessment with an emPower Energy Coach, please visit http://www.empowersbc.org

About emPower Central Coast: The emPower program offers voluntary incentives, financing and other services to help single-family homeowners in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties make home energy upgrades easier and more affordable. emPower was established by the County of Santa Barbara to help the community preserve the environment by helping to lower energy consumption and stimulate the economy by creating jobs through innovative, voluntary solutions to support a sustainable building performance market.