"BEAUTY IS AS BEAUTY DOES: THE MARRIAGE OF VISUAL APPEAL AND SUSTAINABILITY' FREE PRESENTATION ON TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 7PM AT DOWNTOWN LIBRARY

 

 

As part of its Sustainable Small Cities project, Santa Barbara think tank For the Future (www.forthefuture.org) will present a FREE panel discussion of “BEAUTY IS AS BEAUTY DOES: THE MARRIAGE OF VISUAL APPEAL AND SUSTAINABILITY” on Tuesday, June 14th at 7pm in the Faulkner Gallery at the downtown Santa Barbara Public Library. Co-sponsors include The Sustainability Project, the Santa Barbara Permaculture Guild, the Santa Barbara Organic Garden Club and the International Association for Ecotherapy.

 

Speakers will include landscape architect Owen Dell, permaculture designer Larry Santoyo, LivinGreen’s Ellen Strickland, evolutionary psychologist Dr. Peggy La Cerra and landscape and architecture designer Carlene Ramus.  The moderator will be Linda Buzzell-Saltzman, MA, MFT, Fellow at For the Future, founder of the International Association for Ecotherapy and co-founder of Santa Barbara Organic Garden Club.

 

They will discuss the fact that although beauty has been a core community value in Santa Barbara throughout our history, superficial "prettiness" may no longer be enough.  For Santa Barbara to be a truly viable city in the future, beauty must find a way to combine with sustainability.  True beauty isn’t just skin deep -- a lovely surface covering a multitude of dark secrets -- but must also be deeply healthy for people and our environment.

 

So by this new definition:

    * ... a gorgeous red rose dripping with toxic pesticides doesn’t smell as sweet...

    * ... a bright green, highly manicured lawn soaked in imported water and drenched in toxics that flow into our creeks and the ocean isn't really beautiful...

    * ... an exquisitely arranged plate of artistically-presented food full of toxics isn't beautiful...     

    * ... hairdos, manicures, face lifts or silicone breasts aren't beautiful if they harm the client or the professional who works on her...

    * ... a mansionized architectural masterpiece isn't beautiful if it uses unsustainable woods, poisons the house's inhabitants or workmen, covers over every inch of plantable land on the property, becomes an energy-hog or sends a tear-down to the landfill...

    * ... a shiny, bright red apple sprayed with pesticides and waxed with petroleum-based paraffin isn’t appealing…

 

Beauty is not only an aesthetic value, but a quality of experience that we need just as we need clean air and water.  Panelists will discuss how Santa Barbara can become a truly, deep-down beautiful city that is also sustainable.

 

For more information, contact Linda Buzzell-Saltzman at 563-2089 or lbuzzell@aol.com