GreenTrendSpotter

The annual EarthFair in Balboa Park, set for April 19, is entering its 20th year. Its longevity and success are due in large measure to Carolyn Chase, founder and CEO of San Diego EarthWorks, the nonprofit that puts on the festival each year with the help of hundreds of volunteers.

Chase, a Pacific Beach resident and UCSD graduate, has been involved with EarthFair from its inception in 1990. That’s just one small part of her resume in environmental activism. She is a former San Diego Planning Commissioner, past chair of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, a one-time City Council candidate, and publisher of San Diego Earth Times.

Chase has figuratively and literally worn many hats. In real life, she’s known for wearing sunhats just about everywhere she goes. Greentrendspotter recently had a chat via email with Chase about her work and life.

1) What is different about this year's EarthFair?

We are on track to break last year's record-breaking number of exhibitors, though we are still 4-5 weeks out and the deadline for a program guide listing has not yet passed. Ed Begley Jr. and Bridgett Luther, Director, California Department of Conservation will be the Grand Marshalls for the Children's Earth Day parade and The Puppet Insurgency will march in the parade with a representation of the North Pacific Trash Gyre (21 ft in diameter!).

The HUD Healthy Home will be a big new exhibit, along with others still tbd. We've also noticed a huge increase in early registration for our volunteers - each year we recruit approx 400 volunteers, 75% of which are new volunteers; this year, volunteer registration is running weeks ahead of past registrations. I have not yet run our list of new exhibitors, but last year, we literally saw an explosion of new green businesses. This year, it appears to be going the same, headed towards another breakthrough in the number of exhibitors and small green businesses.

 2) Has the recession made it difficult to get sponsors for the event?

Not so much. More than half of our sponsors are back from last year and we are getting a few new ones. I have noticed that in addition to "saving" the environment, I have now added saving the economy to my "to do" list (of course we always knew that the economy was a subset of the environment, but it's extremely great to see most everyone else finally getting it!).

For many many reasons, mainstream businesses are finally seeing the green economy as where they need to be. For instance, for the first time ever, the Regional Chamber of Commerce took out a booth for a green business program. If anything, I'm fielding more requests looking for green jobs.

3) The first EarthFair in San Diego took place in 1990 and attracted 50,000 people. How much has it grown over the years?

Actually the crowd estimates were higher for 1990 and have remained high throughout the years. Since it's a free event, we track performance via the number of exhibitors and volunteers - along with our own sense of how the crowds are each year. Last year we noticed a huge increase in both exhibitors and the crowds peaked really, really early and stayed strong later. We felt last year that we really maxed out the number of attendees who could practically get into the park.

4) With a degree in computer science from UCSD, you could have made a career in the corporate world. Why choose to dedicate your life to environmental causes?

When I was working for NCR in Rancho Bernardo right out of college, the division manager called me into his office one day and gave me "The Speech." This "Speech" is the one where he explained that I reminded him of himself when he was young and unruly and that if I just buckled down and did what he ordered me to do that I would "be sitting right in his office in a few years." He then ordered me, in essence, to do nothing on a project for weeks.  I didn't want to work at any company where they would pay someone to do nothing in order to make a point about dominance. I think I started right then to look for another job, and landed in a small computer software start-up, with lots of work that made a difference.

This was at the very beginning of the microcomputer era, when the "PC" was just being created. While it was exciting and I enjoyed it, small companies grow up and I realized I didn't want to work for any company with more than say, 50 employees. When I met and married another computer entrepreneur, we had the resources to start our own business. About that time, I was looking around for what I really wanted to do with my life and helping the environment was first on my list. Then one day, I saw a flyer about a meeting for organizing the 20th anniversary of Earth Day and that seemed a good place to look for opportunities with environmental groups - groups that always can benefit from applying computer skills. (i.e. you don't have to be in the computer industry to make a difference with computer skills!). The rest is history. I didn't go to that meeting looking for job in Earth Day - the job came much later, but I was able to contribute my volunteer management skills for quite a while and it turned into a going concern a few years later.

5) You were born in Los Angeles and moved to San Diego for school. What made you decide to stay here?

Doesn't everyone try to stay here, once they get here? I didn't have strong ties at home and I could always get a job here, so I never contemplated going anywhere else.

6) You ran for the San Diego City Council District 2 seat in 2005 and came in third in the primary. Do you intend to run for political office again?

I have no plans to run again, but then I didn't have plans to run to begin with! I'd be better as someone else's Chief of Staff though I doubt I'll ever do that either. I'm way into middle age now.

7) Are there clean tech innovators in this region that you admire?

Yes, but I'm not sure I could name them... I spend most of my time in the "grass roots" and activism area - along with trying to "green" existing power structures. One, however, is Alan Hoffman of The Mission Group - I'm sure he wouldn't think of himself as a "clean tech innovator", but as a brilliant transit consultant, he makes a huge difference. I also really admire all the folks starting small green businesses and really enjoy seeing all the applications as they come into the EarthFair. They represent both the hope and the practical promise of people making change on a daily basis.

8) One of the biographies I found about you online said you live in Pacific Beach with your husband and six cats and that you've been a member of the La Jolla Symphony chorus since 1975. Are all those things still true?

Only four cats now, :( and we've added a dog of all things! And I'm not currently in the chorus this season, but am still a donating member of the Symphony Association.  Still in the same house PB.

9) You are known for wearing sun hats. It's kind of your signature look. Is there a story behind the hats?

My mother was very sensitive when it came to the impacts of spending too much time in the sun and used to tell me stories about how the most beautiful Hollywood stars would wear hats even in the pool to limit their exposure to the sun and keep their skin young. Later on, I think I just looked good in hats! And they also are an easy antidote to 'bad hair days' ;-)

10) With Barack Obama in office, there is a lot of talk about creating a cap and trade system in this country to curb carbon emissions. Do you support such a system or would you prefer a carbon tax?

If you'd ask me what kind of environmentalist I am, I would say I try to be a "practical" one, so while ideally, I think a carbon tax would be better, we do not live in any ideal world in politics, so I see cap and trade as a legitimate approach in our "market-based" system - as long as the basis for the trading is set and the trade measured properly and reduced over time.