Carolyn Chase gets down to EarthFair

 EarthFair organizer Carolyn Chase with her new rain barrel, which originally was a 50 gallon olive barrel from Italy destined for the dump, at her Pacific Beach home in San Diego on Wednesday.

Carolyn Chase’s search for a way to help the environment in 1990 launched what has become a regional legacy.

That year, she planned San Diego County’s first EarthFair, which drew an estimated 80,000 people to Balboa Park to celebrate conservation, recycling and environmental activism. More than two decades and 1 million visitors later, she still heads up the park-packing event.

Chase and her crew of 300 volunteers plan to welcome up to 60,000 visitors for this year’s fair, which will take place Sunday in the same location.

She said the goal is to connect people with a broad range of local organizations, businesses, agencies and religious groups working to improve the environment. About 250 exhibitors plan to participate at this year’s EarthFair, from the American Cetacean Society to Zero Waste San Diego.

“I was always interested in the environment, and I was doing computer science to make a living. So I began to use computer science to save the environment,” Chase said.

She and her husband, Chris, the web designer for EarthFair, started automating registration for the event internally before the Internet came into wide use, then went paperless by the mid-1990s. They work from their Pacific Beach home, which features decking made from sustainably grown bamboo. This year, Chase splurged on a hand-painted rain barrel made from a recycled olive keg.

Daniel Marion, who is founder, delivers EarthFair organizer Carolyn Chase the rain barrel she ordered, which originally was a 50 gallon olive barrel from Italy destined for the dump, at her Pacific Beach home in San Diego on Wednesday. Hayne Palmour IV
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Chase recently talked about EarthFair’s evolution and her top suggestions for how San Diegans can be more eco-conscious. Here is an edited version of that conversation:

Q: How did you become involved with EarthFair?

A: I found a group organizing a 1990 fair to mark the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. I saw the media plan and saw there was sufficient media to do a big project. Because I was a new volunteer, I had a lot of time to dedicate to it.

Q: What was your background before then?

A: I graduated from (the University of California San Diego) in computer science and music. Working in the computer industry, I had my own company for awhile. I have that entrepreneurial bent. My husband had sold his business, and that’s when I had time to volunteer in the environment. He semi-retired to do EarthFair.

Q: What inspires you to focus on the environment?

A: My parents took me camping as a kid, and I did a weeklong high school program in Yosemite. I always loved to see waterfalls and nature and animals. My parents always recycled. ... I’ve always been about waste reduction and efficiency. When you run a small business, you have to reduce waste.

Q: What are your current worries about the environment?

A: We introduce waste into our product designs and into our lives. After World War II, the convenience industry came in and introduced plastics. They were not required to be recycling and now we have floating seas of plastic in the Pacific Ocean.

Personally, I think it’s going to be a terrible shame for kids to grow up on this planet without wildlife. It’s pretty obvious that tigers, rhinos, these large mammals aren’t going to survive this century. ... We should work to protect nature. I don’t want to protect it for its use. I want to protect it for its existence.





Q: What’s the main idea behind EarthFair?





Q: What activities does this Sunday’s event have for children?


Q: Do you have any safety concerns for EarthFair in light of Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon?

A: We know how Earth Day goes, we know every inch of the event. The crowds are peaceful and mellow, and they’re there to make a difference. ... We have to count on everyone to keep their eyes open. If you go to an event where you’re in a crowd of people and something weird happens, people notice it right away. If someone sets something down that doesn’t belong there, you’re going to report it. You have to depend on people’s intelligence. There’s no magic bullet to security.

Carolyn Chase

•Age: 55

•Residence: Pacific Beach

•Education: bachelor’s degree in computer science, University of California San Diego

•Career: NCR, 1978-79; Softtech Microsystems, 1980-82; founder and head of the computer company Volition Systems, 1982-86; founder and head of San Diego EarthWorks, a company that promotes environmental awareness and sustainability through events such as the annual EarthFair. Also founded Move San Diego to promote eco-friendly transportation systems and smart growth.

EarthFair organizer Carolyn Chase at her Pacific Beach home in San Diego on Wednesday. Hayne Palmour IV
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