A recent initiative to protect public and environmental health has swept through California. In November 2019, Governor Newsom issued a...
Solar Blog
Green Tip: Earth Overshoot Day
Earth Overshoot Day refers to the day when our global resource consumption exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources in that year. This year our Earth Overshoot Day was...
Brighten is Santa Barbara’s Best Solar Company of 2019!
Each year our community comes together to nominate their favorite businesses for "Best of Santa Barbara" in the SB Independent's Reader's...
Title 24: New Residential Solar Requirements
At the start of 2020, California building and architecture industries will be in for a big change. The California Energy Commission updates...
Green Tip: Styrofoam Recycling
Styrofoam, or polystyrene, is an especially harmful material because of its inability to be recycled in traditional recycling facilities. This means that almost all styrofoam ends up in...
The Amazon Fires: An Environmental Justice Issue
You might’ve seen recent news stories about the Amazon rain forest fires, and you may have wondered what the implications for...
Green Tip: Community Involvement
One of the best ways to be an environmentalist is through local activism! Community involvement is a driving factor in political and...
Solarizing Santa Barbara!
For the third consecutive year, Brighten has been chosen as a solar installer for the Community Environmental Council’s (CEC) Solarize program! Installers are selected through an extensive vetting...
Green Tip: Sustainable Summer
When we think about summer, we usually imagine things like beach trips, warm days, vacation, and family BBQs. Some of these classic summer activities aren't exactly environmentally friendly, but...
Green Tip: Wish-Cycling
Have you ever wondered if something is recyclable, only to throw it in the blue bin wishing for the best? This is called “wish-cycling” and it does more harm than good. Wish-cycling is one of the...
Green Tip: Food Waste
Food waste occurs on every level of the supply chain - from harvest fields to restaurants to our refrigerators at home. This waste ends up in landfills where it takes up a large portion of our very limited space...
Green Tip: Hidden Costs of 2-Day Shipping
In today's fast-paced consumer society, we never have to wait for anything. In fact, we don't even have to leave the comfort of our homes...