Those who lived in the Santa Barbara community in 1969 will forever remember January 28 of that year: the day an off-shore oil platform sprung a leak and covered the beach and wildlife in oil. It was the worst oil spill the nation had known at that time, and an event that rippled through the psyche of America.

A number of community activists were so invigorated by the success of the event that they decided to create a non-profit organization to further the ideas being discussed at the time. This group — which included Jim Billig, Elaine Burnell, Phil Marking, Marc McGinnes, John Meengs, Maryanne Mott, Judy Patrick, Paul Relis and Selma Rubin — rented a storefront on Anapamu Street that became part environmental bookstore and part CEC office space. Four days after receiving CEC's incorporation papers on April 18, 1970, the group held its first major activity — closing off the street in front of the new office for the nation's first Earth Day celebration.

At that time, few organizations were dedicated to addressing the practical challenges of putting appropriate conservation measures into practice; CEC's founders made it their goal to fill that void. While other organizations forming in the early 1970s focused on direct and sometimes legal action, CEC focused more on education, bridge building, and pioneering new ideas — often creating pilot projects and practicing on ourself.

One such experiment was to create the first of what would become several garden projects — this one a small community garden at the corner of Figueroa and Chapala Streets. In 1971, we expanded to a four-acre project downtown, experimenting with intensive organic horticulture, solar energy, municipal-scale composting, and bio-gas use. This site was later sold by its owner, the Museum of Art, and became the Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden.

Also during our early years, CEC led the community in addressing concerns about land use ­ galvanizing an effort to prevent massive commercialization of the Santa Barbara waterfront. The resulting "Plan for East Beach" influenced the scale of the then-proposed Red Lion Inn, and led the City to secure the area now designated as Chase Palm Park.

But perhaps the effort CEC is most recognized for is recycling. After introducing the idea to Santa Barbara and establishing small drop-off locations, in 1975 we opened our first recycling center in Santa Barbara — in fact, the first non-profit recycling center in the state.

In the ensuing years, we developed other recycling centers and drop-off locations throughout the South Coast, as well as a facility for collecting household hazardous waste. In 1984 — after acquiring land on the Mesa and experimenting with other gardens and green building techniques — we completed work on the building that continues to serve as our headquarters, the .

In the summer of 2001, we answered the community's call for a place that would educate the public about our creeks and ocean. In a way, our sixth center, the Watershed Resource Center has returned us to our 1969 roots; our mission is to ensure that the South Coast's waters are safe for people and wildlife.