Workshop Proposal Deadline Dec. 22 for CA Higher Education Food Summit

You are invited to submit a workshop to the California Higher Education Food Summit 2015 from January 16th to January 18th!
This gathering will invite student government and organization leadership, staff program coordinators and directors, faculty and administrators as well as community food agency leadership to UC Santa Barbara to strengthen partnerships and share best practices to inform action steps toward fostering access, equity, and justice for all. The three day summit will include workshops, speakers, and activities of all levels for individuals to engage with critical issues while building skills and relationships to implement change on college campuses and in the surrounding communities. To register for the summit, visit this link.

Interested in submitting a workshop about food justice, equity, and access?
If you would like lead a workshop or discussion session, submit a proposal here. During the Summit, they are looking for ways in which participants can learn and engage in making a difference in their communities and would like to encourage interactive workshop sessions. Last day to submit is today, December 22nd at 11:59pm!

One of the goals of the Summit is to ensure participants are able to apply the knowledge and insights they gained throughout the weekend in the Sunday Action session. They will be choosing 3-4 actions at all levels to allow participants to create change. Some examples of actions would be a participant sharing their personal food journey on paper or video, signing a petition, participating in a town hall, or something that would move individual towards change. If you would like to submit an action, please contact Natalie Tran at nattran[at]ucsc[dot]edu.

For more information about the Summit, visit cafoodsummit.as.ucsb.edu. The organizers of the summit look forward to learning and creating change with you in January!

TAPS Now Hiring Walk to Class Challenge Coordinator

Transportation and Parking Services is hiring a paid student intern as the Walk to Class Challenge Event Coordinator from January through late May, 2015. The Walk to Class Challenge is a peer-to-peer promotion to encourage walking as a viable, healthy, and sustainable form of transportation on our campus. The intern will be paid $10 per hour and will work approximately 10 hours per week. Main duties include developing and implementing a marketing and outreach plan to encourage more students to participate in the Walk to Class Challenge event in late April, 2015. Upper-class or student with two years experience at UCSC preferred.

For more information, please contact Teresa Buika, TAPS Planner, at tabuika[at]ucsc[dot]edu or 831-502-7941.

It's getting hot in here

We’re in a pickle.

(Image source)

Our world is warming at an alarming rate. This means higher seas, more intense tropical storms, and an increased occurrence of droughts along with rising temperatures. And with positive feedback loops from methane gas release, receding sea ice, and decreased ability of primary producers to sequester carbon considered highly likely, it makes sense to peg the maximum allowable “global warming” at the low end of the safe spectrum so as to avoid triggering a cataclysmic tipping point.

The “2℃ limit” agreed upon by global governance has come under fire from scientists recently for being unattainable, misleading and of dubious utility to catalyze action. "Because it sounds firm and concerns future warming, the 2 °C target has allowed politicians to pretend that they are organizing for action when, in fact, most have done little," the authors of the critique write. "Pretending that they are chasing this unattainable goal has also allowed governments to ignore the need for massive adaptation to climate change."

I want to return to a previously posted quotation:

"The greater danger for us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

(Image source)

As prescient as Renaissance-man Michelangelo may have been, it is doubtful that he could have foreseen the existential threat facing humankind in our day and age. At the turn of the 16th century, theories such as a round world or a heliocentric solar system were still being vigorously debated, if not by scientists then still by the public. Beliefs change slowly, if at all. However, reason and empirical observation eventually won out, and few today would claim that the legion of scientists studying geography and astronomy are hoisting a hoax on the American public.

(Image source)

As for our changing climate, scientists have known about the "greenhouse effect", and the results that widespread combustion of fossil fuels would have on earth's climate, since before 1900. Global Warming made headlines in 1988 when NASA's Dr. James Hansen testified before the U.S. Congress as to the state of the science. "Global warming has reached a level such that we can ascribe with a high degree of confidence a cause and effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and observed warming." In more common parlance, we know what is going on. He added, "It is already happening now."

That same year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization to evaluate the physical science basis of climate change, with an eye to strategies for mitigation and adaptation. According to the IPCC, it is scientifically unequivocal that emissions from the extraction and use of fossil fuels are the number one cause of climate change.

According to numerous evaluations of the economics regarding the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change show that the benefits of strong and early action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change far outweigh the economic cost of not acting. However, the costs and benefits of action versus inaction are not evenly distributed around the world, with most of the costs of mitigation borne by developed nations and large GHG emitters, while the people most vulnerable to climate change's effects are often those who have contributed the least to the problem. In this context, it is essential to come to an equitable distribution of cost so that international action to arrest climate change can occur before it makes the earth uninhabitable.

IPCC projection of 2090-2099 temperature change from 1980-1999 baseline (Image source)

For over 25 years, however, no significant binding treaty has been ratified by the major emitters of the world. The Kyoto Protocol, conceived in 1997, mandated emissions reductions, but has fallen apart from a multitude of factors. The United States' (then the #1 GHG emitter) refused to ratify unless developing nations did, while developing nations (including now #1 emitter China) were exempted from binding targets. Without coordinated leadership on the part of major players, there is little hope of effective action.

Which is why the recent joint announcement from China and America presents much hope.

The announcement is unambitious. The targets are close to business as usual. And the efforts don’t go nearly far enough to actually arrest global warming, says World Bank President Jim Yong-Kim. It is a non-binding commitment that could be erased with the stroke of a pen by a future U.S. or Chinese President.

For it’s flaws, it is a meaningful milestone in climate negotiations. When two of the economic powerhouses of the world come together to affirm that this is an issue that needs addressing from an international perspective, it sets the stage for coordinated joint sacrifice on a global scale. With this announcement, the top six largest economies by GDP (E.U., U.S., China, Japan, Germany, France, U.K.) have all pledged their commitment to tackling climate change. Pledges to the United Nation’s Green Climate Fund (to provide transition and adaptation assistance to industrializing nations) near $10 billion. And a Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Lima happening right now should set the stage for a binding deal at COP-21 in Paris, December 2015. It’s going to be a long, warm year.

Integral Group Plug-Load Study for New UCSC Coastal Biology Building

By: Samira Yitiz 

UCSC PowerSave Campus recently started collaborating with Integral Group from Oakland, CA on an equipment plug-load study. In this study we are measuring the energy usage of lab equipment in labs around Santa Cruz. The labs that are being studied are found in the Center of Oceanic Health, Earth and Marine Sciences, Thimann, Sinsheimer, and the Seymour Center. The equipment and labs at these locations are representative of what will be used in the new UC Santa Cruz Coastal Biology Building. The information attained from this study will be used to estimate the energy usage of the new building and to find ways to reduce plug load energy use and overall energy consumption of the new Coastal Biology Building. Lab equipment plug load is one of our campus’s biggest energy consumers so this project will identify areas in which we can make a change to better energy efficiency.

The whole team has been involved in installing and un-installing meters alongside Annie Mroz and Lindsey Gaunt from Integral Group. Kristiahn and I were involved in the installation of meters in a lab in Earth and Marine Sciences. We installed hobo meters on frequently used equipment such as power supplies, hot plates, refrigerators, and computers. Hobo loggers measure kilowatt hour usage by single phase equipment rated at greater than 15 amps. We will leave these meters on the equipment for at least one week to attain data that is representative of peak usage, weekends, and any other variation in usage. The hobo logger will be monitored the equipment during the thanksgiving holiday so it will be interesting to see the energy usage during unoccupied periods. We will also be installing meters in a controlled room, in this case a room used to store animal specimens that is representative of rooms that will be in the Coast Biology Building. All the data we collect will be given to Integral group so that they can properly assess the projected energy usage of the Coast Biology Building and be able to suggest energy efficient equipment and behaviors that could reduce the energy usage.

For more news related to energy efficiency on campus, visit the UCSC PowerSave website or like them on Facebook.  Contact powersave [at] googlegroups [dot] com for any questions, comments or concerns.

WADR: Here, There, & Everywhere

Hi There,

My name is Nataly and I am the team coordinator for the fairly new Water Action & Drought Response (WADR) team. We've had a busy time this summer and fall working to conserve water use on our campus, and with the holiday that just passed and more on the way, I've been thinking about water use for not just myself but for my family and friends as well.

I'm a softball player. I started T ball at the age of 5 and was forced into softball as a third grader (I never liked all the cheers the girls did). After playing sports all my life until my graduation of high school, I had to take a break. After a few years of resting, changing hobbies, and losing strength, I started to feel the pull to get back into the sport I knew so well: softball. There were a few changes for our UCSC intramural league: slow pitch, new rules. But the more exciting thing for me was that it was co-ed, so I could play with friends no matter their gender. After playing a few seasons with the same team (Sluggers), I had to be the person to announce a big let down to my friends. This Fall of 2014, one of the teammates emailed everyone, getting the spirit up and directing everyone to the new set up of registration with OPERS. Unfortunately they hadn't heard about the closure of the field and suspension of softball, so I had to reply letting everyone know and suggested that maybe a different sport could be played. It's a sad thing when fields are closed and when play is restricted, but I know from my position on the WADR team that it was a tough decision that had to be made for the safety of us players and for the future of the game.

Here's what I know:

- Starting Spring 2014, UC Santa Cruz was asked to make a 25% reduction of water usage by the City of Santa Cruz.

- The campus cutback watering of the East Field by 55%!

- During the summer, the Upper Field lost a good portion of its turf due to reduced irrigation.

-To repair the field properly, the field was closed to reduce the wear and tear on it.

- While the field looks green and safe, most of the newer growth are weeds, or varieties of grasses that are not well suited for sports.

- Water rationing will be lifted after Santa Cruz reaches 12 inches of rain.

- Once the rationing is lifted, the Office of Physical Education, Recreation, and Sports (OPERS) will work with campus grounds to repair the field.

So... Plans changed, well... plans change.

Just like life changes, which it did in one major way when I came to school here at UCSC. I learned, I grew, I learned some more, and I practiced. I still practice integrating what I learn into my everyday life, and I can say affirmatively that things have change since I've moved to Santa Cruz. The biggest shock is when I go back home or travel. It's interesting how things are different. Sometimes it's frustrating. For my hometown of Long Beach, I wish they and other cities like it would pick up the slack when it comes to being mindful about our natural resources. I come from a background where 45 minutes showers are "natural". Sure, I learned how to take the quickie when in special circumstances, but life was an indulgence of water (without consciousness) back then.

What city are you from? 
This short article puts some things in perspective here in California, especially between the north and the south. Even more relevant to us individually, to you and to me, though, is our personal use. To calculate your water footprint, go here, and please take the pledge. We are already witnessing the effects of the drought. I feel like Mother Earth is calling us to action, but more than just a few need to respond. With a community consciousness of conservation we can significantly improve our environment and situation. This is an official call to action that I hope you accept and share.

Via: TakePart.com

 If you have questions that I didn't answer about the field, you can contact:
Todd Hammonds (Associate Director of Facilities and Operations at OPERS) 
(831) 459-4378 or tmhammon [at] ucsc [dot] edu

For more information on the WADR Team, click here.

UC Divesting from Fossil Fuel

By Alden Phinney

Fossil Free UC (FFUC) is a student and stakeholder campaign to divest the UC from fossil fuels. In accordance with international efforts to arrest climate change, FFUC advocates that the UC freeze and drop investments in the top 200 fossil fuel companies ranked by largest carbon reserves, and reinvest that money towards sustainable and just climate solutions.

If we intend to secure a habitable world for future generations, the "burn it all" business plans of energy corporations must not come to fruition. However, these companies' lobbying and influence are some of the leading obstacles to the enactment of restrictive legislation and a just transition to a low-carbon society. Fossil Free UC seeks to advance the clean energy economy by stigmatizing association with fossil fuel companies and reinvesting capital towards a just transition away from dirty energy.

FFUC is now concentrating on building campus and coalition power across the state, as well as advocating within the UC system to ensure the Environmental Social Governance investing framework is more bite than hype. They are working with Academic Senates to craft resolutions endorsing divestment from fossil fuels and start the conversation among pensioners regarding what their investments are supporting. Get involved by signing a petition at http://www.fossilfreeuc.org/petition (or faculty open letter if applicable), liking them on Facebook, or coming to Fossil Free UC's meetings on Fridays at 3:30 in the International Living Center apartment 5204! If you have any questions, comments, or want to get involved, don't hesitate to email aphinney [at] ucsc [dot] edu.

Alden Phinney is the Sustainability Office Climate Action Analyst through the Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program; a member of the Campus Sustainability Council; and a coordinator for Fossil Free UC Santa Cruz.

Sustainability Office Hiring for Winter

The Sustainability Office is currently hiring for winter quarter. Please help us spread the word by sharing these images and information via social media channels or email. If you have questions, please contact the staff supervisors listed on the applications, linked below.

Water Positions Available in the Sustainability Office: Deadline December 4
The Water Action and Drought Response (WADR) Team is dedicated to water conservation and aids UCSC in meeting water rationing goals during this time of drought. They work directly with water fixtures to assess and report for changes, and with student and University staff to promote wise water practices and educate about the seriousness of the drought. The WADR Team is looking for two new students to join a four-person team starting winter quarter. The deadline to apply is December 4, and interviews will happen the following week. View the requirements and application on the Employee Request system here (ER 7324).

Seeking Green Office Certification Program Coordinator

The Sustainability Office is looking for an exceptional leader to oversee the Green Office Certification Program. Lead a team of students to work with staff across campus to improve their business practices and to adopt sustainable behaviors. Full job description and application are available on the UCSC Employment Request system here (ER 6682).

Advocate for Sustainable Development in West Campus Housing Study

Want to advocate for sustainable development at UCSC? The campus is embarking on a UCSC Future Campus Housing Study to define a plan that will guide the development and redevelopment of student housing facilities over the next ten years. The November workshop presentation is available here, and there will also be future opportunities to share your input.

Sign up for email updates here to get details about the study, including ways to get involved and share your opinions. The next workshops will be held February 3rd and 4th, 2015 at the University Center.

December 2014 Sustainability Profile: Peggy Delaney

Each month, our newsletter features a person or group on campus that is working toward a more sustainable world. This month features Peggy Delaney, Vice Chancellor of Planning and Budget for UCSC. She serves on the University of California's wholesale power board, which recently successfully coordinated and advocated for the largest purchase of solar energy by any university in the United States. Though this doesn't mean you're going to see more solar panels on campus, this agreement "will allow the university’s campuses served by the Wholesale Power Program to receive energy that is 60 percent sourced from renewable supply" (UC Press Room). UC Santa Cruz is one of those campuses.

We interviewed Peggy Delaney to learn more about her role in this and how her work on campus supports sustainability efforts.

Education: Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography. B.S. in chemistry from Yale University.

How are you involved with campus energy management and sustainability? 
I'm the Vice Chancellor of Planning and Budget, which includes working with the budget office, capital management, and UC system-wide efforts. I serve in several roles that help UCSC advance its sustainability initiatives. I am the campus representative to the wholesale power board, which advises the newly-formed Energy Services Unit at UC Office of the President. This board works to help campuses become “direct access” customers, allowing campuses to purchase energy through the quasi-power company created by the UC system. In addition to working with the board, I also serve on the Global Climate Leadership Council that President Napolitano initiated to support the UC goal for all campuses to become Carbon Neutral by 2025.

I've been a fan of the Sustainability Office for a long time. I helped with the Office's funding request on its way to the Executive Vice Chancellor's desk. Many of the building projects that I'm involved with through capital management are designed by LEED-certified colleagues. I also helped with the co-generation plant replacement project, which generates power for our campus on-site.

We are excited to learn about the recent purchase of enough solar electricity to allow the UC to supply 206,000 megawatt-hours per year of solar energy to California's electrical grid. What was your role in helping the system increase its renewable energy portfolio?
The wholesale power board that I serve on was instrumental in this process. There is a lot of complex and technical energy background needed to participate on this board, so I have been learning a lot from Patrick Testoni, UCSC's Energy Manager, and Henry Salameh, Director of Physical Plant. Right now is an outstanding time to move forward with this purchase because we were able to take advantage of a tax credit that will soon expire. The board agreed with the Energy Service Unit to take advantage of this, and the board even agreed to purchase a higher percentage of renewables than is required by law. In 2016 the renewable energy access will go live and will supply 20% of campus electricity with solar power!

What is your long-term vision for sustainability at UCSC?
I'm an oceanographer focused on paleoceanography, the study of the history of our oceans, so long-term climate changes are something I have been thinking about for a long time. When thinking about sustainability at UCSC, I think with both parts of my brain--my academic self knowing that we need to tackle climate change and the financial, budget-management self saying we seemingly can't afford to do that. We must integrate sustainability on our campus in a financially sustainable way.

Fortunately, we're doing that already with things like the Integrated Climate and Energy Study. In the mid-2000s, people in my field of research began discussing managing oceans as a whole ecosystem, and the campus is like this, too, an ecosystem. Sustainability work is in the process of going from the individual level to system-wide, and our campus has been doing this for a long time, understanding the University organization as a whole and incorporating sustainability throughout.

What are some ways students can support President Napolitano's "Carbon Neutral by 2025" directive?
There's not any medium sized entity in the world that has actually achieved carbon neutrality. Those places that are close or call themselves carbon neutral require manufacturers to take away their packaging and shipping waste. This kind of work requires a systemic approach; we're dealing with the largest geophysical experiment in history and there are enormous social justice inequities. Those who are causing emissions are not around to feel those effects, and many places in the world cannot afford for us all to reach that level of emissions. It's an intergenerational and diverse challenge.

Often, students are enthusiastic in approaching these challenges, and they can bring creativity and an ability to think differently. This challenge we're facing is huge, but it's not intractable. Students and young people can keep this issue in the forefront of the political world and insure we continue to work to solve it.

When did you first become interested in environmental sustainability issues? 
I first became interested in these issues in the early '80s because my field of research looks at the past climate of the oceans, so those of us studying this topic were thinking of this topic already. Back then, we didn't even recycle paper on campus, so I sent around a polite but somewhat cranky memo asking why we couldn't do that. I also taught a global change course that explored the potency of humans as actors on the geophysical scale. It can be hard to connect small actions to changes in our climate, but we have to have traction in understanding those relationships in order to solve these issues.

If you had one piece of "green" advice to give people, what would it be?
Our experiment with carbon dioxide on the atmosphere is enormous and the most pressing environmental issue of our time because it is also a social inequity issue. We can't allow politics to get in the way, and we need the will to implement the solutions we already have.

Is there anything else you would like the students to learn about you or our campus sustainability initiatives?
There are so many ways for students to engage with these issues at UC Santa Cruz. There are funding opportunities and programs in place to allow students to participate in the operations of our campus. Students can benefit academically while also influencing UCSC long after they have graduated and moved on.

McHenry Library Goes Zero Waste

Just this month, the largest library on campus took a huge step toward furthering their sustainability. As part of a collaborative pilot program between Grounds, the Sustainability Office, Custodial Services, and the Library, more than 40 four-stream waste stations will be set up throughout McHenry Library for trash, paper, contained recyclables, and compostable waste. McHenry is demonstrating the first comprehensive zero waste collection system on campus, which can set the example for the rest of our campus buildings.

McHenry Library has made reducing waste more accessible throughout the building. An announcement in the University Library News reads, “Collection containers will be provided throughout the library to accept all recyclables, trash as well as compostable materials. Desk side collection bins have been modified to accept compostable materials and recyclable paper. This change is a crucial step toward meeting the UC Office of the President’s goal of reaching 'Zero Waste' by the year 2020.”

Christian Monzon (above), a junior double majoring in Environmental Studies and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has worked in the Sustainability Office since last year. He is the McHenry Zero Waste Pilot Project Coordinator and hopes UCSC will become the first zero waste campus in California, setting an example for other UCs.

"I am excited about this project because it is an essential step in moving towards our Zero Waste Goal by 2020. I think that students and campus users have the desire to properly sort and dispose of their waste but it can often be confusing, especially since our waste collection is fairly inconsistent across campus,” shares Monzon.

In addition to improperly sorted waste and recycling on campus, one of the largest pieces of the waste pie at UCSC is compostable material, such as food scraps, used paper towels, and Bioware cups, plates, and utensils. These items shouldn’t be going to the landfill in the first place, but there currently isn’t a campuswide solution for composting. This is why the McHenry Library pilot is integrating compost into the waste stream, and the goal is to eventually phase composting into more and more locations on campus.

“Ideally, this project will begin setting the standard for waste collection on campus and will facilitate waste disposal for all students and campus users. This project has a lot of potential to create positive change on this campus and I am excited to be involved in refining our waste management system,” says Monzon.

He assures us that a more detailed update on the project will be released through the Zero Waste Team in the near future.

April 2014 Waste Data

This waste data demonstrates only the materials found in trash dumpsters on campus; it does not include recycling or compost containers. Notice that only 30% of what was actually in the dumpster on its way to the landfill was actually trash--everything else could have been diverted as compost or recycling! 

This is an exciting step toward reaching our sustainability goals because if the pilot project goes well, it is possible that we’ll see zero waste collection streams throughout campus. Besides McHenry Library, you can also find compost bins in the Humanities 1 building, all dining halls, and the Owl’s Nest. Slowly but surely, we’re making composting more accessible on campus!

Email zerowasteucsc [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions, suggestions, or comments about the new collection program, and stay tuned for updates.

Read this week's Tuesday Newsday article about this project here: "Composting bins promote a handy diversion toward 2020 zero-waste goal."