March 2017 Sustainability Profile: Angela Duong

Name:
Angela Duong

Title:
Zero Waste Team Coordinator

College Affiliation:
Crown

Major:
Environmental Studies with a double minor in Legal and Sustainability Studies

What does "sustainability" mean to you?
Sustainability means the world to me! Although there are official definitions for sustainability, I believe sustainability has many definitions. It can mean using a reusable water bottle or saving plastic containers for knick knack storage and snacks. Sustainability is a diverse term that can span across different spectrums of of culture, perspective and daily actions. By committing myself to sustainability, I have learned so much about reducing, reusing, refusing and conserving my actions and choices to more limited and sustainable choices. I believe sustainability can be more than economic choices; it can be simple behavioral changes or understanding the impact of our choices on the environment!

What projects are you working on?
Currently, I am working on creating more awareness for zero waste on our campus. As the Zero Waste Team Coordinator, I manage a team of five dedicated individuals towards the “Zero Waste by 2020” goal. I work with campus stakeholders to effectively communicate our commitment towards zero waste by supporting Zero Waste Events on and off campus, coordinating with student organizations or staff/faculty about making their organizations and departments more zero waste and creating material for the campus on becoming more zero waste. I would consider myself to be a great student resource for zero waste and am always willing to chat or answer any questions related to waste.

How does sustainability relate to your role at UCSC?
Sustainability relates to my role at UC Santa Cruz in my day to day life. I made the decision to major in Environmental Studies with a double minor in Legal and Sustainability Studies due to my passion for environmental policy and its importance in setting the stage for environmental regulations and legislations in our political world. My greater passion is within waste management and resource reclaim. I believe more focus needs to be on the where and how derived materials are extracted for the products we use rather than the eventual recyclability. 

How do you practice sustainability in your daily life?
I always carry around my love for reusables! My backpack holds my reusable water bottle, reusable coffee cup and sleeve, reusable cloth napkin, a glass straw, my spoon fork knife, reusable sandwich bags and tupperware for snacks. I am conscious of my economic choices and what I consume.  

Have you had a favorite sustainability moment at UCSC?
Inter-org is the best time ever. Inter-org is a place where sustainabilities are made! I love Inter-org because I met my best friends there and I have never been to a retreat where I had opened my perspectives so much than Inter-org!

Favorite Green Tip?
BYOE- Bring your own everything!

Each month, our newsletter features a person or group on campus that is working toward a more sustainable world. If you know of a person or group on campus that you think we should profile, or if you would like to be profiled, please send us an email.

Nine Campus Labs Receive Green Labs Certification

The UCSC Sustainability Office's Green Labs Program is pleased to announce new certifications for nine on-campus research laboratories. A Green Labs certification verifies a lab's commitment to energy efficiency, waste reduction, and green procurement of lab materials. With the addition of these labs, there are now 18 UCSC labs that have gone through the certification program.

The newly certified labs and their ranking within the certification program are Kellog Lab, receiving a copper certification; Gifford and Lockey Labs, receiving a silver certification; Boeger, Braslau, Habicht, Zihlman, and Galloway Labs receiving gold certifications; and the Strome Lab--a sustainability superstar--receiving the highest honors with a platinum certification.  Congratulations to all of our Green Labs certified labs on campus!

To learn more about the Green Labs Program, including how to get your research lab certified or become a member of the team, please visit the Green Labs website here.

October 2017: Green Tips: Back to School/Halloween

Sometimes, the most sustainable option is also the most enjoyable, and this is certainly the case for the new school year approaching and Halloween. With the new season and one of the most festive holidays approaching, keep these tips in mind to make the most of your weekend and can save you money, and help the environment!

Safe and Sustainable Routes to School 
Instead of driving alone, start a carpool, bike train, or group walk! You'll each save time, energy, and fuel.

Healthy Meals 
Sometimes with our busy work or school schedule, we don't give ourselves enough time to prepare meals. This may lead to purchasing food to-go, which involves packaging waste. Before you spend your money and contribute to adding more garbage to our landfills, take some time to get up earlier than usual to prepare your meals for the day. Use reusable containers to pack and store your meals. Having breakfast, lunch and dinner are essential meals you need in order to maintain your body with enough energy for the day.

Buy Smart or Reuse Your Supplies!
School supplies can be expensive. Check out a local thrift store or dollar store to buy some neat school supplies. Thrift stores often have awesome and unused school supplies for really, really cheap. If you happen to have supplies from previous years, try to reuse those supplies. This can save you tons of money and reduce your waste.

Celebrate Halloween, go green! 
Did you know that many costumes sold in stores contain toxic chemicals like PVC and phthalates? Gross! Instead, be creative by making your own costumes out of repurpose clothes, or fashion costumes from recycled materials. Another tip is thrift shopping for costumes, or asking a friend to let you borrow an unused costume they might have.

Give Out Healthy Treats
Instead of giving out sugary candy, consider giving out healthier treats on October 31, such as oranges, trail mix, granola bars, and stickers.

Decorations
Use recycled paper to create your crafty cut-outs of bats, pumpkins, and other spooky characters to decorate your windows. Decorating your home with locally grown pumpkins will help reduce your carbon footprint and waste. Be sure to harvest the pumpkin seeds for roasting and compost any parts of the pumpkin you don't eat!

Have a low waste party
Instead of purchasing decorative disposable plates, cups, and utensils, use silverware and compostable utensils. Check out your local thrift store to purchase your items. Have your guests toss their used utensils in a bin to be rewashed and reused. Don't forget to recycle cans and compost leftovers!

Inspired by: http://www.earthshare.org/2011/10/celebrate-halloween-with-earthshare-members.html

May 2016 Green Tip: Refreshing Your Summer Wardrobe

The approach of summer means the arrival of warmer weather and the latest, hottest clothing trends to match. Fashion companies have begun producing new lines of clothing at higher frequencies, and modern mass-production has kept prices lower than ever. But what is the true cost of these practices?

This month, Zhai Yun Tan wrote a piece featured on NPR.org that looked into the textile waste created by the $250 billion dollar industry of fashion. She posits that we are more likely to dispose of cheaper, mass-produced fashion garments than pricier ones. In her piece What Happens When Fashion Becomes Fast, Disposable And Cheap?, she identifies a few ways to combat these recent trends.

Ultimately, some of the best ways to dress sustainability is to reduce the amount of new material that you are purchasing. Buying second-hand clothes from the many thrift and consignment stores in Santa Cruz, clothes swapping, and crafting your own fashionable designs are all easy and cost-effective ways to reduce your impact on the disposable economy.

Are these practices already familiar to you? Share your sustainable fashion experiences and ideas in the comments below!

Styrofoam Collection

Four years ago, the Sustainability Office, Grounds, and Environmental Health & Safety collaborated to set up a quarterly Styrofoam Collection Program for labs and all other departments who may have high influxes of Styrofoam. Collectively, we have diverted 75-100 yards of Styrofoam since this collection program began. That's almost one football field of Styrofoam! 

If you or your lab have a Styrofoam waste stream, store it until Thursday, May 19th, 2016 (no longer May 5th), when the next Styrofoam collection day will take place.

A roll-off bin will be located at the Physical Science Building loading dock from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM on 5/19/16 with volunteers ready to assist with drop-offs.

The Sustainability Office hopes that all labs will participate in the collection and recycling of our large Styrofoam waste stream.

Accepted Recycling:

• Styrofoam Peanuts and Styrofoam pieces smaller than one square foot must be bagged
• Tape and labels must be removed from Styrofoam
• Styrofoam used in shipping materials is accepted

 For any questions, please contact a Green Labs Associate at greenlabs-group[at]ucsc[dot]edu

New Director of Sustainability: Elida Erickson

Elida Erickson has been working in the Sustainability Office since 2011 as a Sustainability Programs Manager. She was recently hired as our new Sustainability Director, so we've interviewed her to learn more about what she envisions for the future of campus sustainability. Congratulations Elida!

1. How do you envision the future of sustainability on campus?
I envision sustainability on campus as the ability to develop a collaborative vision amongst students, faculty and staff that celebrates the innovative progress and research that is already happening, while pushing the envelope on the challenges ahead. There will always be new challenges presented as we work towards ambitious operational goals such as Zero Waste by 2020 and Carbon Neutrality by 2025. UCSC can successfully overcome challenges and become more sustainable by keeping our institution’s core mission of teaching and research at the center of what we do. By involving students in campus sustainability initiatives, we are training the leaders of tomorrow with the skills to make positive change in the world and help other global institutions and organizations become more sustainable. Sustainability is a global challenge and Banana Slugs are very lucky to have the opportunity, resources and brainpower to work together to create innovative, collaborative, and inclusive solutions for the campus, and for the world.

2. What got you interested in sustainability?
When I first arrived at UCSC in 2005, I worked at Stevenson College in residential life. Student engagement and empowerment has always been a passion of mine, and after several students came to me concerned about a lack of support for recycling by some of their peers, I helped the students start a peer-to-peer educational group called PTAGS (Path to a Greener Stevenson). One of the first things we did was organize a field trip to the Santa Cruz Resource Recovery Facility (sometimes called "the landfill"). It was after that trip that I was “hooked”! Watching plastic bags flying around in the wind with the beautiful ocean in the background, watching trucks dump an immense amount of one-time use items into the landfill that will almost never biodegrade, watching thousands of seagulls poking around on the trash mountain for wasted food scraps…I knew there was a lot of work to be done for our students and for the world to overcome the mentality that landed us here, and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

3. What were some of the things you did before becoming the sustainability director?
I have had the privilege of working with many campus staff, faculty and students to improve our campus waste collection infrastructure to reach our Zero Waste by 2020 goal, as well as conserve water usage. I’m excited that most campus eateries on campus have both recycling and composting available. That was not the case a mere 5 years ago! I have also supervised the student Zero Waste Team through the Sustainability Office, as well as the student Drought Response Team. I’m proud to say that our campus’ response to the drought emergency with strict water conservation measures in 2014-5 earned the campus several local and national awards!

4. Are there any sustainability practices you have picked up while being involved with sustainability on campus?
One of my favorite practices has become somewhat of a daily “ritual” for me, and I recommend it to anyone who is open to taking just a few seconds of their day to make a BIG difference: every day, whether working on campus, or walking my dog in my neighborhood in Live Oak, I make it a point to pick up one piece of recycling or trash and toss it into the proper receptacle (…and I definitely wash my hands afterwards!). Located right on the coast, Santa Cruz residents are in a unique position to directly impact the amount of trash that pollutes the ocean by preventing litter from going into storm drains in the streets. I firmly believe that if every person on campus picked up one piece of litter every day, we could virtually eliminate the litter problem in our community.


Congratulations again to Elida Erickson!

November 2015 Green Tip: Have a Green Thanksgiving

Shop local and organic when it comes to groceries for Thanksgiving. This includes selecting a certified organic, pasture-raised turkey! Localharvest.org is an amazing resource to find places near you where food is grown and raised using sustainable practices! Also, avoid unnecessary food packaging by placing bulk-bin items such as rice or beans in your own reusable bags!

Avoid the use of beef in your Thanksgiving dishes. Not only does it require 1847 gallons of water per lb to produce, but also beef production releases five times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions as the average of other animal products and meats.

On Thanksgiving Day, carpool with friends or through zimride.com,  use public transportation, or ride your bike! Not only will this cut your overall gas consumption and carbon emissions, but you'll feel better about eating that last slice of pumpkin pie! During Thanksgiving dinner, remember to use cloth napkins, and if you don’t have enough dishes, go for the most eco-friendly option, like biodegradable plastic dishes!

Avoid wasting food by starting with small portions and taking as you need. If you’re hosting, ask your guests to bring their own Tupperware containers for leftovers to avoid using single plastics such as Ziploc bags or saran wrap. Start a composting bin and compost your food scraps!

October 2015 Green Tip: Reducing Halloween Waste

Pumpkin spice is quickly taking over the menus and shelves of the nation, the Halloween puns are beginning, and it’s time to start planning for the season. But instead of using plastic in your costumes and dumping rotting Jack-o’-lanterns in the garbage, here are some tips to keep waste out of the landfill!

Pumpkins are the perfect seasonal, edible, and compostable decoration! Instead of tossing pumpkin guts in the landfill this year, try some recipes such as pumpkin butter or classic roasted pumpkin seeds. Not interested in eating gourd guts or being stuck with a decaying Jack-o’-Lantern? Pumpkin is also easily compostable. Uncarved pumpkins can last for around 10 weeks depending on the variety, leaving plenty of time to enjoy your squash. Check out 50 pumpkin recipes to try this fall here!

Instead of buying a new costume and decorations, try making your own or buy one secondhand. If you’re up to the challenge, make a recycled costume out of cardboard, fabrics, or other materials you and your fellow costumers already have. Remind trick-or-treaters in your life to use reusable candy containers like canvas bags. Alternatively, have a decoration and costume swap with friends!

Reduce candy waste by choosing candies with relatively smaller amounts of wrapping. Opt for those in recyclable boxes instead of individually wrapped plastic when possible, and remember that you will always find someone else more than willing to eat any candy you may not want.

Remember to turn off and unplug electronic decorations when not in use, and have a safe and happy Halloween season!

The Successes of Campus Clean-Up Day!

Amidst Alumni weekend and 50th Anniversary events, students were working hard to maintain the aesthetic beauty and ecosystem health of our unique campus. Almost 100 volunteers from Greek life, the Sustainability Office, the Student Union Assembly, and other student organizations turned up early Sunday morning for the first Annual Campus Cleanup Day. Volunteers broke up into teams all throughout campus to collect over 200 pounds of litter - this was all material that hadn't made it into a nearby trash can or dumpster!

Many of these items weren't even destined for the landfill, but were able to be recycled or composted. Even more shocking - and a credit to the diligence of our participants - were the 3 pounds worth of cigarette butts, amounting to roughly 1.5% of the total litter collected. We hope to make Campus Cleanup Days a recurring event, so if you have a passion for getting wasted and staying trashy, look out for future newsletters to get involved!

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 at sustain.education [at] ucsc [dot] edu and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition!

Food

Six Vermont Schools Participate in Food System Tour
As part of an effort to study local and global food systems, students from around the U.S. will visit Green Mountain College, Middlebury College, Sterling College, University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, and Vermont Technical College. The 21-day tour explores urban food systems, the local dairy industry and carbon economy, food system advocacy in the context of genetically-modified food, conservation, and climate change and its impacts on global food system.

Transportation

GMR Institute of Tech Imposes Vehicle Restrictions on Campus (India)
In an effort to curb noise and air pollution at the institution, the university recently banned vehicles on campus every Thursday whereby all faculty, staff and students park their motorized vehicles in assigned locations and reach campus by foot.

USA Today: Campus Bike Reuse Programs
The recently released article points out some universities and colleges that are collecting unwanted bikes, repairing them to working order, and lending them to students who might not otherwise be able to afford a bicycle.

Nashville, TN Walk Bike University Free Public Bike Classes
Walk/Bike Nashville's Walk Bike University (WBU) seeks to grow the number of Nashvillians biking and walking through education, raising awareness, and cultivating bicycle and pedestrian leaders. They host workshops on bicycle skills, bicycle maintenance, pedestrian advocacy, and various other bicycle and pedestrian issues. Classes are fun, informative, and open to the public.Some classes include: Adult Learn to Ride a Bike; Bicycling 123 refresher course; Basic Bike Skills on off-street (parking-lot) skills course; and City Cycling.

Ohio State U Enters Negotiations with Bike Sharing Company 
The recent negotiations, if agreed upon, will bring Zagster, a bicycle-sharing system, to campus with 115 bicycles including tandem, hand cycle, electric assist, heavy duty, and three-wheeled cargo bikes.

Big Idea: $1 To Save Bicycling on Campus
A graduate student studying urban planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign successfully lead a campaign on campus to institute a $1 semesterly fee for bicycle programs and infrastructure. The fee not only passed, but it sailed through a vote with 73% of students in support.

Awareness, Education, and Engagement

California State U Monterey Bay Opens New Sustainable Degree
The new bachelor of science in sustainable hospitality management provides students with local, regional and global perspectives on current and pressing sustainability issues and problems within the hospitality industry. Concentrations exist in sustainable hotel, resort and event management, and sustainable ecotourism management.

Portland State U Launches Graduate Certificate in Public Design
The university's School of Architecture's new certificate in Public Interest Design aims to prepare students in sustainability, community development and architecture to aid underserved populations through sustainable, human-centered design methods via in-classroom studies and hands-on field experience, working directly with communities in need.

U Virginia Begins Employee Sustainability Program
Seeking to reduce its environmental impact by building more efficient spaces, the university's sustainability committee has started its new, self-reporting Green Workplace Program, which uses a checklist of 60 actions that workplaces can implement to improve operations and reduce cost, and includes eight categories: energy, transportation, purchasing, zero waste, community, health, food and bonus credits. If UCSC held sustainability trainings for employees, would you attend? Comment below!

Maharishi U Offers Masters Program in Sustainable Living
During the first year of the program, beginning fall 2015, students will spend half their time in class and half in the community addressing challenges. The second year will be entirely devoted to a major community project, with one option being a 25-month hitch in the Peace Corps.

U North Carolina Chapel Hill Announces Campus Climate Dialogues 
Inspired by the rising level of national and local discourse surrounding events and issues of equity and inclusion related to race, intellectual diversity, religion, identity and culture, the university recently began Carolina Conversations, a coordinated effort that gives the campus community an avenue to share thoughts and opinions with the administration. The campaign includes an interactive website, a calendar of all campus events related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and a series of ongoing events to encourage dialogue.

Waste

Fitchburg State U Removes Drinking Straw Option
In an attempt to improve waste reduction, recycling and composting, the university removed the straws, which are hard to spot when conducting post-consumer, dish room garbage separation.

University of Washington Students Hold Trashion Show
The first annual UW "Trashion" Show was hosted by EcoReps to celebrate Earth Day and beckon audience members to reimagine and critically think about "waste."All clothing made through upcycling scavenged materials. Something like this would be a great opportunity for the Theater and Art and Environmental Studies departments to collaborate on something environmentally creative.

Energy

Cambridge U Studies Plant-Powered Bus Shelter (U.K.)
The prototype hub at the university's botanical garden has walls of plants in pockets made of carbon fiber that receive electrons, produced as a byproduct of photosynthesis, that power a light in the shelter.

Climate Change

Stanford U Students Hold Panel on Climate Change Education
Students for a Sustainable Stanford and the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences recently held a panel to raise public awareness of the interdisciplinary importance of global climate change.

March 2015 Green Tip: Go Green For Your Spring Clean

It's just about time to open your windows and let in the fresh spring air. These green spring cleaning tips will help you shoo off cobwebs and sweep up dust bunnies without the guilt of using harsh chemicals contributing to the landfill.

Green Cleaning Products: According to the EPA, the air inside of a home is two to five times more polluted than the air outside, mainly because of household cleaners and pesticides. Many common cleaning products can be made from nontoxic ingredients that you already have in your home and work just as well. Making your own cleaning solutions will also help reduce the amount of plastic packaging you buy. Check out this nontoxic solutions site for ideas and recipes.

Trash to treasure: When going through your old notes, don't just toss them in the closest trash bin, save the unused paper and use them for scratch paper and recycle the others.

If you have unwanted and slightly worn clothes, you can donate or sell them. Santa Cruz GOODWILL and the Homeless Service Center are always accepting donations. Also, UCSC has several Facebook groups where you can sell your unwanted items. Check out and join the Free & For Sell and Clothing and Accessories Exchange Facebook groups.

End the Cycle: You can save water and energy by washing full loads of laundry with cold water.

February 2015 Green Tip: Recycling E-waste

We went to the experts to find out the best way to recycle e-waste materials. All of the following information is from the Environmental Health & Safety UCSC webpage here. Much of e-waste is disposed of incorrectly, which is very devastating for the communities living around landfills, so it is very important that everyone on campus contributes in disposing of e-waste properly.

Electronic waste (E-waste): what is it and how do we get rid of it?

This term applies to consumer and business electronic equipment that is near or at the end of its useful life. There is no clear definition for electronic waste (e-waste) at this time, but if you can plug it in to an electrical outlet or it contains circuit boards or chips, it is most likely e-waste. These products can contain heavy metals like cadmium, lead, copper, and chromium that can contaminate the environment. DO NOT dispose of these items in the trash or your recycling bins.

Examples of electronic waste include, but are not limited to:

• TVs, computer monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, circuit boards, lamps, clocks, flashlight, calculators, phones, answering machines, digital/video cameras, radios, VCRs, DVD players, MP3 and CD players 
•  Kitchen equipment (toasters, coffee makers, microwave ovens)
•  Laboratory equipment** (hot plates, microscopes, calorimeters) 
•  Broken computer monitors, television tubes (CRTs) 

 **Any laboratory equipment that has the possibility of being contaminated with chemical, biological, or radioactive substances must be cleared through EH&S and Departmental Facilities Office before disposal.
 **For PBSci laboratory equipment disposal procedure click here.

Student E-waste Recycling Options 

If you live on-campus you can dispose of your electronic waste easily and conveniently by creating a Fix It Ticket or contacting your college maintenance office.

If you live off-campus, learn more about the Santa Cruz County electronic waste disposal program:

• EcoAct.org 
• SantaCruzCountyRecycles.org (be sure to click Household Hazardous Waste in the right column and check under Universal Waste) 

Additional information on disposal / recycling of e-waste and other regulated items can be found in all college mailrooms, Graduate Student Housing Mailroom and the Village Laundry Community room. Multibins are blue cabinets built to collect batteries, small electronics, printer cartridges, and CDs. They are located in every college mailroom.

December 2014: 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 sustain.education [at] ucsc [dot] edu and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition!

UCLA Creates Nation’s Largest Self-Replenishing Fund For Green Projects 

UCLA is the 46th institution in the nation to join the Billion Dollar Green Challenge, which encourages colleges and universities to create their own sustainability-focused revolving funds — pools of money that are continually replenished when loan recipients return some or all of their cost savings each year. Now, the savings from energy efficiency and other projects will fund future projects. UC Santa Cruz has a Green Revolving Loan Fund that’s similar to this, which you can learn more about on our website or by emailing Chrissy at cthomure [at] ucsc [dot] edu.

Students’ ‘Feeding Forward’ Fights Hunger, Food Waste
A student at UC Berkeley has created a "Feeding Forward" website, a food-recovery platform that connects organizations that have surplus perishable food with social agencies that feed the hungry. More than 400 donor groups — including Cal Dining, Cal Catering and scores of Bay Area restaurants — are currently registered on the site, along with some 100 recipient nonprofits. More than a half-million pounds of food have been recovered since the platform’s launch spring 2013.

Pomona College Diverts 23 Tons From Landfill and Saves Students Money
Pomona College has a "Clean Swap" that goes through the residence halls collecting items left behind by students after move-out. Last May, the student team collected 23 tons of used appliances, dorm furnishings, books and other items. In the fall, those items were offered for sale at discounted prices to students, raising more than $9,500 for sustainability programs. Operation Clean Sweep began as a pilot project in 2007 and recovered 17 tons of items. Over its eight-year span, the program is estimated to have diverted more than 150 tons of material from landfills, saved students thousands of dollars and helped a number of local charities. UC Santa Cruz has zero-waste move out stations at all of the colleges each spring that include donation bins for unwanted items. We also have a surplus store, which you can learn more about here.

Indiana State University to Host Community Sustainability Contest 
The event kicks off with a poster competition for students in kindergarten through college. Students will be divided into groups based on their ages and will be given a sustainability-related question that they will have to answer using a poster. What a great way to connect college students with the local community through art and sustainability!

Flintstones Meets the Jetsons: Solar Powered Pedal Car at Bridgewater College
At the cost of $6,000 and load capacity of 150 pounds, the ELF (Electric, Light, Fun) vehicle, gifted by alumni, is now used by students as part of the campus' student-operated recycling program. The vehicle requires solar, a corresponding range of 15 miles, and/or human power to operate.

U Illinois Proposes Bike Fee 
A recent referendum proposed a $1 student-initiated bike fee that would be slated for creating better bike infrastructure, safety courses and education. What do you think about this idea? At UC Santa Cruz, all sustainable transportation services provided by TAPS are subsidized by parking fees--which ultimately means that to continue to have free bike shuttles, loop buses, and other programs, people have to keep buying parking permits. Would this be a possible partial funding solution here?

Paper Towel Free for a Week!

From April 10th- 17th of this year, I didn’t use a single paper towel. Surprisingly, it was the easiest routine change I’ve ever tried. Through helping promote the Chancellor’s Challenge with the Sustainability Office this year, I'd already started to use less paper towels, but going paper towel free for a week really solidified my opinion— that paper towels (specifically in restrooms) are unnecessary. I

now choose to shake my hands after washing them and then dry them on my clothes or sometimes run them through my hair when paper towels are the only option. I used to think it was rather gross to leave the restroom without completely dry hands but I realized one day that it shouldn’t matter to me. Reason being, I live with a fairly common condition known as hyperhidrosis where the sweat glands in my hands are overactive— I have to shake peoples’ hands and open doors with extremely not-dry hands all the time anyway. It’s difficult, but I’ve just come to accept it and usually (but unfortunately not always) people understand! I know not everyone can relate to this specific condition, but I know many people have had to use a sketchy public restroom before with no paper towels or air dryers, and you know what? I think we survived leaving with not-dry hands! There are of course several factors to removing paper towel dispensers campus-wide, but for now I at least encourage trying to go paper towel free for even just a couple days, because it’s a surprisingly easy habit to change and simultaneously makes a huge impact on waste at UCSC!
By Lauren Korth

May 2014 Green Tip: Sustainable Studying

It's hard to believe the school year is coming to an end. Seniors are graduating and moving on to bigger and better things. Freshman are excited about... well, not being Freshman. Summer plans are in the making and it's all just so day dream inducing. Whether your headed to Costa Rica, a cross country roadtrip, your parents air conditioned house, or your bed for an indefinite amount of time I think it's safe to say we are all ready for a break from school.

But we all are not quite in the clear just yet. Unfortunately, we still have to finish these finals and pesky research papers.  Here are a few tips to help make sure that you are get your last quarter of studying done with sustainability in mind.

1. Reuse your study materials
Before going down to the bookstore to buy a new pack of flash cards try checking out your cards from last quarter. You might be able to just cross of the word on the front and scribble off a sentence of text on the back!

(Source)

2. Resist the caffeine
Energy drinks are so bad for you and picking up a red bull or a cup of coffee every time you need an energy boost can build up to a lot of waste. A lot of the time when you feel like you need a pick-me-up your body is just dehydrated or overworked. When you begin to feel the craving for energy, take a break, walk outside, drink some water and then head back to work again. If you still feel like you're in a slump, make sure to use a reusable mug for your coffee or tea.

(Source)

3. Electronics over paper
Pull up your class study guide on your tablet or computer rather than printing out a copy. This goes for all your study materials. This way you can easily sort through your work and organize everything neatly in the right order and you will reduce your paper waste.

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@ucsc.edu and we will help you direct your ideas toward fruition!

EPA Honors UCI for Zero Waste and Food Recovery Achievements

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently acknowledged the university for its zero waste and food recovery efforts. The zero waste program diverts 83 percent of the campus’ total waste materials from landfills by recycling, reusing and composting. The university has increased its food waste diversion from 90 tons in 2010 to 500 tons in 2012, when it joined the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. The advances in university recycling programs include: Commingled bins in 170 classrooms have increased recycling from 0 percent to 75 percent in the first year of use; Hydration stations around campus that promote refillable water bottle use have reduced the use of disposable plastic bottles by 14 tons; More than 509,000 reusable bottles have been filled.Nearly 90 percent of campus events with more than 2,000 attendees are classified as zero-waste, thanks to the purchase of specialized bins. This year UC Santa Cruz has the Chancellors Sustainability Challenge but we have a lot of work to do to catch up to UC Irvine. We can do it! Take the pledge today.


U Maryland Uses Moss to Clean Pool

In an effort to reduce the amount of chemicals used to clean the university's pool, sphagnum moss aids in the cleaning process by stabilizing the pH, which makes the chlorine more effective. They had the swim team, which spent five to six hours a day in the pool — they really liked it, they also had water polo. … They said they could breathe easier. Each pool has its own surge tank, which holds water that is displaced when more swimmers climb in. A pump keeps water flowing through the tank, allowing the moss to filter the water. We should do this for our pool at OPERS.