Innovative Approaches to Sustainability at Other Campuses

Here are a few selections of the innovative approaches to sustainability taking place on other college campuses. Each of these examples was chosen because they represent ideas that UCSC could potentially implement in some form, or in some cases, already has begun to. If you see something here that you want to make a reality at UCSC, contact the Sustainability Office susted [at] ucsc [dot] edu and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition!

U Saskatchewan Student Helps Deal With Costly Research Byproduct 
A Sustainability Living Lab project, a biological engineering student is investigating a system to process manure from the campus' Dairy Research and Teaching Farm into a product that can be kept on campus or one that is cheaper to have discarded. Currently the university spends $65,000 annually for the manure to be hauled away. Here at UCSC, we have many places on campus that serve to create a living laboratory where students can become involved in hands-on work like this.

Colorado Mountain College Holds Art Exhibit
In an effort to raise awareness for sustainability, an inaugural college-wide art exhibit at Colorado Mountain College showcased work that was either created with sustainable materials or with content reflecting the theme of sustainability. How can the UCSC Art and Environmental Studies Departments collaborate on projects like this here?

Southern Oregon U Partners to Reduce Student Mileage
Part of a statewide "Drive Less. Save More." campaign, the university is working with the Oregon Department of Transportation and a district authority to reduce the number of miles driven by university students by providing information to students about the benefits of traveling by foot, bike, skateboard, bus and shared car. The program's goals are to to reduce traffic, increase parking availability on campus, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Wesleyan U Students to Build Living Wall 
The university’s Wild Walls student group recently announced its plans to build a vertical plant wall on campus this semester focusing on redesigning conventional campus landscaping while promoting self-sustaining ecosystems.

Stanford Recycle-Mania Tournament
Students at Stanford University created a parody video of All About the Bass called All About No Waste as part of a nationwide Recycle Mania Tournament. It's catchy and educational about zero waste efforts!