February Festival Went Green

This year's annual February Festival celebration was on February 27th, celebrating not only campus organization collaboration, but also sustainability!

The February Festival is a campuswide event hosted by the Dean of Students Office where campus organizations come together, table, and celebrate their accomplishments and year goals. Students who attend are able to walk around the event and learn about campus resources and how to get involved in organizations. Historically, the event has been a lot of fun with interactive games, passionate performances, raffles, and really good free food! This was the first year that the Dean of Students Office made one of their major events Zero Waste, supporting our UC sustainability goal of zero waste by 2020. This included compost collection, "trash talkers” at the waste stations from the Zero Waste Team, and taking proactive initiatives like providing only napkins to serve the free pizza. Thank you to the planners of this event and those who made the zero waste efforts possible!

Congratulations to the February Fest planning team for yet another successful and inspiring event!

UCSC Farm Hosts Fall Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 12

Fall has arrived and it’s time to celebrate the changing seasons at the 20th annual Fall Harvest Festival, coming up on Sunday, October 12, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UC Santa Cruz’s 30-acre organic farm.

The festival features live music from marimba to reggae to bluegrass, including a headliner performance by Dylan McDonald and the Avians. Also on tap: hay rides, kids’ crafts, workshops, pumpkin and produce sales, and campus and community group information tables.Visitors of all ages are invited to sample apples and roasted pepper varieties, enter the pie baking contest, try their hand at pressing cider, scale the climbing wall, pick sunflowers and make a "bike smoothie" as part of the "Food, What?!" youth group's fundraiser, and enjoy locally sourced, tasty treats.

Workshops on making guacamole, growing and using peppers, saving seeds, baking apple crisp using acorn flower and a solar oven, and preparing your garden for fall and winter are also on the schedule, along with farm tours and an herb walk through the garden.

Want so see how your favorite apple pie recipe measures up? Be sure to enter the Apple Pie Contest by 12:30 pm (see rules, below).

Admission is free for UCSC students, kids 12 and under, and members of the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden; general admission is $5. See below for a full schedule of the day's events.

The Harvest Festival is cosponsored by the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), UCSC’s Measure 43, and the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden, with major support from Driscoll’s. People Power will provide free valet parking for bicycles.

For directions to the UCSC Farm, visit the CASFS web site at http://casfs.ucsc.edu/about/directions. Free parking will be available at the Campus Facilities and Barn Theater parking lots, and a free shuttle will be available. For more information call (831) 459-3240 or email casfs@ucsc.edu.

2014 Harvest Festival Schedule

MUSIC

• Ben Davis, acoustic guitar, 11:15 – 12:30
• Sadza Marimba, 12:45 – 2:00
• Ancestree Reggae,  2:15 – 3:30
• Dylan McDonald & The Avians, 3:50 – 5:00

WORKSHOPS & ACTIVITIES

• Roasted Pepper and Apple Variety Tasting, 11:30 – 4:00
• Holy Moly Guacamole, 12:00 – 1:00, Alyssa Billys, Food System Working Group
• Apple Pie Contest Bake-Off (entry deadline), 12:30
• Tours of the UCSC Farm, 12:30 & 4 pm
• Planting the Fall/Winter Garden, 1:15 – 2:15 
• Herb Talk & Walk through the Garden, 1:30 – 2:30: Darren Huckle, Western/Chinese herbalist & licensed acupuncturist
• Seed Saving Workshop, 2:30 – 3:15: Conner Spears, Demeter Seed Library
• Pepper Varieties of the Farm & Garden, 3:15 – 3:45: Orin Martin, Alan Chadwick Garden
• Taste of the Oaks: Sun-Baked Acorn Flour Crisp, 3:45 – 4:30: Leah Walsh, UCSC grad and chef

Official Rules for the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden Apple Pie Contest
Pie entries accepted October 12, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Official judging begins at 12:45 p.m. Winners will be announced at between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

1. The Friends of Farm and Garden Apple Pie Bake-Off is a nonprofessional baking competition open to Harvest Festival attendees (entry to the Harvest Festival is $5; free admission for UCSC students, Friends of the Farm & Garden members and for children 12 and under).

2. Contestants are responsible for submitting a written (preferably typed) recipe with their pie.

3. Contestants are responsible for supplying all ingredients and baking the pie prior to bringing it to the contest.

4. All entries in this contest must be homemade.

5. A representative of the Friends of the Farm & Garden will assign each contestant a number. Contestants should verify that the number on the bottom of their container is the same number assigned by the representative.

6. Contestants’ entries are judged on taste, presentation, and creativity.

7. The decision of the judges shall be final. Pie not consumed during judging will be returned to the contestant.

All pies must be entered by 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 12, at the Fall Harvest Festival, UCSC Farm. For questions or additional copies of the rules, call (831) 459-3240 or e-mail casfs@ucsc.edu.

May 2012: Contests & Funding

CSC Grants: Deadline May 11th
The Campus Sustainability Council is now accepting grant proposals for 2012-2013 sustainability projects. If you work within on of the student organization on campus and want to implement your own project relating to the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus, this is the place to get funding! Make sure to attend one of the required trainings, dates provided on the website, and to turn in your application by May 11th! For more information please email CSC.

Call for Submissions: Student Sustainability Film Festival
The Media Institute for Social Change invites submissions for its third annual Student Sustainability Film Festival. Students can submit short films about what their campus or community is doing to make it more sustainable for a chance to receive cash prizes and be shown at various campus and conference screenings. Entries are due by May 17, 2012. For more information please visit the website.

Call for Entries: Green Living Project Student Film Competition - Deadline May 25
Green Living Project invites submissions for its Student Film Project. The competition encourages students to submit films of five minutes or less that share a unique, creative and compelling story about a local or global sustainability-related project. Sample sustainability topics include wildlife conservation, sustainable food, resource conservation, community development, renewable energy, sustainability-related education and sustainable travel and tourism. The submission deadline is May 25, 2012. Winners will be screened at Green Living Project's Washington D.C. Film Premiere in June. For more information please visit the website!

Drop Your Own Drip
Drop Your Own Drip is a campus campaign working to create educational monthly water-use statements for on-campus apartment residents that encourage conservation. Water conservation is further incentivized for residents through a campus-wide water-use reduction competition and challenge for each resident to use no more than the target-level of daily water-use of 60 gallons per person. The competition will reward the college residents from one of the ten main apartment complexes on campus who successfully reduce water-use per capita the most between the months of February to April 2012. Water statements were successfully sent out for February and March, and the final weeks of the conservation competition are upon us! The final round of statements will be sent out May 14-18 and that's when we will know the winner! If you live in the on-campus apartments, do your part and reduce your water consumption at home! With any questions, please email Drop Your Own Drip . GET A GRIP & DROP YOUR OWN DRIP!

Accepting Applications: AASHE 2012 Awards Program
AASHE invites applications for its 2012 sustainability awards. AASHE will present four Campus Sustainability Case Study Awards, one Student Sustainability Leadership Award, two Student Research on Campus Sustainability Awards and one Faculty Leadership Award. All winners will be announced at the AASHE 2012 conference and will be featured in Sustainability: The Journal of Record. Applications will be accepted through July 2. Please visit the website for more information.

Carbon Fund's Winter Projects

Do you have a creative greenhouse gas reduction idea? Let the Carbon Fund help it grow! The Carbon fund will be accepting applications next year, but now is the time to prepare your project idea. This past winter quarter the UCSC Carbon Fund granted over $26,000 to three staff and student run greenhouse gas reduction projects, including the installation of solar tubes at Natural Bridges Green School, a lighting retrofit at Watsonville High School (WHS), and a “greenovation” of the study lounge at Porter College. For a complete list of projects and information on how to get involved, visit the website or email the Carbon Fund.

Food Justice Communities on the Move Video Challenge

San Jose State University has been working on a food justice campaign in east San Jose, which encourages families teaching their children how to eat, increases access to CalFresh SNAP benefits, and teaches families how to use these benefits at farmers' markets, emphasizes eating culturally relevant and familiar foods in healthy ways. They have partnered with local farms like Veggielution, Second Harvest Food Bank, various faith and cultural groups, and more. They have leaders from the university, but and from the local community who reach out to their peers on these issues. If their video wins, the group gets $1000 and two representatives get to go to the White House. This is part of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign against childhood obesity. These are our neighbors both geographically and allies in food justice. You can vote daily with Facebook. Voting closes on May 11. Vote now!

May 2012: Upcoming Events

U.S. Green Building Council Monthly Speaker Event: May 2
Interested in sustainable development, green building, or LEED certification? Check out U.S. Green Building Council's May guest speakers, Brett McFadden and Rick Mullikin, who will be talking about "School Modernization: Utilizing General Obligation Bonds to Incorporate Green School Features." It will take place at Bolsa Knolls Middle School in Salinas from 5:30 - 8 PM. First four students admitted are free! For more information, click here.

UCSC Farm & Garden Spring Plant Sale: May 5-6
It’s time to stock up your garden and brighten your landscape with plants from the UCSC Farm & Garden’s Spring Plant Sale, featuring organically grown herb and flower starts, vegetables, and beautiful perennials. It will take place in the Barn Theater parking lot at the base of the UCSC campus on Saturday (5/5) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Sunday (5/6) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, please contact Martha or visit the website.

Bike to Work Week: May 4th-12th
Santa Cruz will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bike to Work Week this year with an amazing schedule of events! Visit the Bike to Work website for the list of daily events  and more information. If you are interested in volunteering, send an email. Check out the Bike to Work commercial below!

Culinary Herb Workshop at the UCSC Farm: May 12
Join Emily Jane Freed, Regional Production Manager of Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, to enter into the world of perennial and annual herbs and culinary flowers. Come learn which herbs grow best in the Central Coast climate and the best times of year to plant both perennial and annual herbs. You’ll be surprised to learn that most of the flowers growing in your backyard are edible! Herb and flower samples provided, along with herb starts to take home and plant in your own garden. Meet at the Louise Cain Gatehouse, UCSC Farm at 10 AM. No pre-registration necessary. For pricing and details, please visit the website. $5 for UCSC students, payable the day of the workshop. For more information, contact Martha.

Strawberry Justice Festival: May 17
The Strawberry Justice Festival, a free event celebrating delectable strawberries, will take place Thursday, May 17 at the UCSC Farm, from 4 - 7 PM. The event will include live music from Wooster, panel discussions on strawberry production in the Central Coast, an art zone, World Cafe, and interactions with tabling student/community organizations... and of course, strawberries! For more information, contact the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.

Garden Cruz 3-Day Organic Gardening Course: May 18-20

This spring, immerse yourself in the nuts and bolts of what you need to know to create and maintain a healthy, productive organic garden in a new 3-day “Garden Cruz” community course at UC Santa Cruz's Alan Chadwick Garden (click the image above for more information). Classes will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. UCSC students will receive a discount. For details, including cost and how to register, please visit the website. For questions, please email Martha.

End of the Year Celebration: May 31
We are honored to invite you to our 4th Annual End of the Year Sustainability Celebration and Planning Session! Join students, staff, faculty and administrators from throughout the campus community to celebrate successes in campus sustainability and to share input on planning for our future. The event will take place Thursday, May 31 from 1 PM - 5 PM in the Stevenson Event Center. The planning session for the Campus Sustainability Plan will be from 1-3 PM, and the project poster symposium and award session will be from 3-5 PM. The event will also include delicious organic food and live music. Read more about the event here. We hope to see you there!

California Higher Education Sustainability Conference: June 18-21 - Registration Now Open!
Taking place June 18-21, 2012 at UC Davis, this conference highlights cutting-edge research, as well as case studies with proven successes in curriculum development, operational programs, and community partnerships. This unique event is jointly organized by independent/private colleges, California Community Colleges, California State Universities, and the University of California creating the opportunity for dialogue across institutions. For more information, click here.