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 and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition! 

"UC Green" Flipboard Highlights Environmental News UC-Wide
Wondering what kind of sustainability research and projects are taking place at other UCs? "UC Green" is an online magazine full of links to stories about the sustainability findings and successes UC-wide. Click here to read it!

Sustainability: A Solution To Student Retention?
Recent statistics from The Princeton Review (1) indicate that 69 percent of college applicants now cite an institution's level of commitment to environmental sustainability as a factor in their college choice, with 24 percent saying that is a very significant factor. This raises an intriguing question: if institutional commitment to sustainability impacts students' decisions regarding where to attend school, how does it impact what happens once they arrive on campus? Is there a correlation between sustainability and student retention and graduation rates?

Survival Of The Fittest For Green Gym Pedalers
Blending the concepts of sustainability, fitness and social media, Fit for Green is the brainchild of Executive MBA and Ph.D. graduates from UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, including founder and CEO John Spirko. “Our goal is to make working out on ordinary gym equipment more interactive and rewarding by returning energy to the grid and competing with peers through modern social networking,” he said in a statement. “This new return on investment model will be a catalyst for renewable energy machines in all gymnasiums replacing calories burned with watt-hours created as a measure of fitness accomplishment.

New Mexico State University Geographers Map Outdoor Campus Recycling Resources
Researchers in the Spatial Applications and Research Center (SpARC) at New Mexico State University recently mapped the outdoor recycling bins on campus and determined they are not evenly distributed across campus and need to be closer to buildings. Those who conducted the study predict that relocating the bins may lead to increased recycling.

Works Cited 
1. The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review Releases Free "Guide to 311 Green Colleges" in Partnership With the U.S. Green Building Council. April 20, 2011.

June 2012: 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 it's something that UCSC could potentially implement in some way, or it's similar to something already being implemented on our campus. If you see something here that you want to make a reality at UCSC, contact the Sustainability Office and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition!

Central Michigan U Launches 'Bring Your Own Bottle' Campaign
In effort to raise environmental awareness and sustainability through small steps, Central Michigan University’s Student Environmental Alliance has partnered with the Great Lakes Institute for Sustainable Systems to distribute 700 Bring Your Own Bottle (B.Y.O.B.) stickers around campus. Stickers have been placed near water fountains and trash cans to encourage the elimination of plastic water bottle waste. Find out about UCSC's own campaign for eliminating the use of single-use water bottles by checking out Take Back the Tap UCSC!

Unity College Steps Up Access to Clean Drinking Water
In answer to a campus student survey, Unity College has installed new water coolers in residence halls that use water from existing plumbing, and new fixtures on water fountains in public spaces that make filling water bottles easier, similar to the water spigots Take Back the Tap has installed around campus. To see more photos of the ones TBTT has installed at UCSC, click here.

Outside the Student Union Building, on the floor of the lounge.
Photo by Take Back the Tap UCSC.

UCSD student's Geared Up program helps find new homes for old atheletic gear
As a tennis player for the University of California at San Diego, Jacqueline Davis said that any college athlete knows that a ton of athletic gear they get often never gets used. Davis, who interned for the university's sustainability center, decided to tie athletics to the environment. She started the program she calls "Geared Up" which works to donate the athletic gear that might have otherwise been thrown away to public schools. The "Geared Up" program has already donated thousands of dollars' worth of equipment.

U Kansas, Utah Research Reveals that Nature Boosts Creativity

New research conducted by faculty from the University of Kansas and the University of Utah concludes that people from all walks of life show "startling" cognitive improvement — for instance, a 50 percent boost in creativity — after living for a few days steeped in nature. Without distractions of 21st century life including social media, electronics and cell phones, people have resources left over to be creative, imaginative and to problem solve. No wonder UCSC has such creative students, staff, and faculty--we are surrounded by forest everyday! Now, just turn off that cell phone, sign off of your computer, and get out there and enjoy the creative benefits of nature.

Near the Stevenson Knoll, overlooking OPERS and Monterey Bay.
Photo by Melissa Ott.

Santa Clara U Athletics Center Introduces User-Powered Treadmills
The university has added two new treadmills that are "powered by sweat" for a total of 33 fitness machines that are self-generating and require no electricity. In total, the university reports that the 33 machines save enough electricity to power a personal computer for 10 years.

U Louisville Students Install Recycled Solar Panels
Members of the university’s Renewable Energy and Efficiency Club are installing a small-scale solar energy project using recycled materials. Students purchased the solar cells from eBay and re-engineered the cell architecture to use a low-cost method. The panels will be used to power two fans that will ventilate a greenhouse.

St. Lawrence U to Launch Sustainability Semester
In spring 2013, student participants will be able to live and take courses together that address themes of human sustainability from a variety of disciplines. Located on a farm, the students will work on-site to grow food and build energy-efficient structures. The semester will also include an urban component where students spend two weeks in either Boston or New York to explore issues such as transportation, housing, food access, pollution and environmental justice.

Syracuse U Students Initiate Food Waste Audits
Two Sustainability Division interns recently gave their fellow students a firsthand look at the food being wasted in the campus dining center each day. Two dinnertime tray waste audits yielded a total of 278 pounds of tray waste, which was displayed for student viewing on a tarp-covered table in three separate piles: untouched food, food scraps and non-edible waste. The visual impact was designed to encourage students to waste less food.

U California Berkeley Debuts New Building Energy Dashboard
The university's new myPower site is connected to 57 campus buildings, allowing the campus community to view how much electricity a building is using in real time on their own computers. In addition to targeting individual behavior and behavioral change by showing how energy saving habits can make a difference, the new dashboard allows the university to spot and fix any energy-related issues. The university plans to get another 45 buildings online this year.

Cal State Monterey Bay Graduates to Wear Recycled Bottle Gowns
Every pound of yarn in the gowns that will be worn by this year's graduates at CSU Monterey Bay saves one-half gallon of gasoline and produces half of the carbon dioxide emissions of the typical polyester manufacturing process. These students really wear their environmental conscience on their sleeves--UCSC graduates should be able to, as well!

February 2012 Sustainability Profile: East Field House Gym Lighting Retrofit​

Next time you’re exercising on the east side of campus, check out the new lighting in the East Field House Gym—it was retrofitted over winter break with lights that will reduce energy consumption in the gym by 43% and cut down on maintenance and electricity bill costs. The project was funded last spring by the UCSC Carbon Fund, a funding body that was founded in 2010 and which uses Measure 44 money to fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conduct relevant research, or carry out education and behavioral change programs.UCSC Green Campus interns conducted the research and oversaw the project with the help of the UCSC Physical Plant. The idea for the retrofit came from the Sustainability Inter-Org Retreat last winter. Green Campus performed a similar retrofit at the West Field House, so the Green Campus team identified the East Field House Gym as a site in need of an upgrade to energy efficiency. Green Campus interns Abbas Mohamed, a fourth year, and Erin Linney, a third year, were assigned the project. 

The brand new, energy-efficient lighting in the East Field House Gym

“It was my first day on the job. When I started, I didn’t know anything about sustainability or lighting,” Abbas, who was the Project Coordinator and has since been promoted to Team Manager, said during an interview at the East Field House in January. “Now, I’m passionate about lighting."

East Field House Gym Retrofitting Project Coordinator, Abbas Mohamed

Abbas and Erin conducted research during winter quarter last year and drew models of the gym using software to download details and predict lighting levels and energy usage with different types of lamps. After coming up with all the figures regarding cost, carbon emission reductions and more, they submitted their proposal and were awarded funds to install new induction lamps in the gym.

Their Carbon Fund proposal states that “An important part of the project is to provide a more welcoming atmosphere and better light quality for sports events…By tackling lighting efficiency in a sports gym, we will reach out to a diverse group of students.” In addition to the social benefits, their estimated annual green house gas savings for the project are 3.41 tons CO²e, which over the course of the induction lamps’ life (25 years) will come out to 85.35 tons CO²e. In terms of money, they estimate $95,782 savings over the course of the lamps’ life, taking into account the fact that these new lamps require little to no maintenance, especially compared with the lamps that were in place before the retrofit.

The project is near completion. “We are still waiting for the company to send the wire guards which will be placed on the lamps to protect them from an airborne ball,” Erin, who now holds the position of Facilities Project Coordinator for Green Campus, wrote in a recent email. “Also, we will be receiving a large PG&E incentive check for the estimated saving of 14,860 kWh per year. The PG&E incentive money will be returned to the UCSC Carbon Fund to finance more projects which reduce our campus greenhouse gas emissions.”

If you have an environmental project that you need funding for, consider applying for the Carbon Fund. More information about the Carbon Fund’s mission and application process can be found on their website.

The Green Campus team. (Erin Linney, who worked on the East Field House Gym Lighting Retrofit project, is pictured on the far left in the front row. Project Coordinator is on the far left in the second row.)

To learn more about Green Campus and other projects they are working on, please visit their Facebook page.