Summer Orientation Waste Diversion Success

Congratulations to the Orientation Office, UCSC Dining, and the Student Environmental Center on the 6th year of Zero Waste Summer Orientation!  This collaborative effort strives to not only divert as much waste as possible, but also to cultivate a zero waste culture within the campus community.  Thanks to the collaboration and the cooperation of this year's guests, 2,887.4 lbs of waste were diverted from the landfill over the course of six days during the 2013 Summer Orientation program.  Thanks to the commitment by Dining Services to provide sustainable food sourcing along with compostable cups, plates, napkins, and utensils; trash was only 2.5% of the overall waste recorded.  Dining fed over 1100 students and families each day of orientation with local foods sourced from Monterey Bay area farmers.  Who can resist a handful of those delicious Watsonville-grown organic strawberries?  Parents exclaimed "I wish I was coming here to go to UCSC and eat this kind of food every day!"

To find out how you can reduce waste on campus this year, click here to take on the Chancellor's Sustainability Challenge.