Composting at the Colleges

Wondering how you can participate in reducing zero waste on campus in your living space?

Students in apartments can request a compost bucket, which they fill with cold composting food scraps and empty into bins near the recycling and landfill containers. Waste reduction teams empty the compost bins once a week and bring the food scraps to the garden. Go to fixit.ucsc.edu to request your compost bin right now!

Megan Taylor is a Waste Reduction Coordinator for Porter, Kresge, College 9, and College 10. Her job is to inform students about what to do with uncommon items that can be recycled like old electronics or batteries. "One main way that we’re helping to reduce waste on campus is through composting. I’ve been really excited with the amount of participation from residences so far."

Roughly 15% of all garbage at UCSC is food waste that could have been diverted from the landfill by composting (or by taking less food in the dining halls, at campus food vendors, and at campus events). Learn more here about our campus' commitment to reduce food waste by 5% this year by participating in the EPA's Food Recovery Challenge.

December 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 form. 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!

University of Toledo Debuts Friday Night Lights Program
Two student organizations, Engineers Without Borders and the Society for Environmental Education, have teamed up to create the Friday Night Lights Program. In an effort to reduce energy consumption, student participants will turn off lights in campus buildings that would otherwise be left on over the weekend. Energy savings will be monitored and recorded at the end of the semester.

University of California System to Assess Campus Experience

The 10 campuses of the University of California system will survey all faculty, staff, students and trainees about their experiences with campus climate relating to respect, diversity and inclusion. Survey results will provide a view of each location as well as an overview of the system, and will help focus campuses on what is going well and where improvement is needed. The project is funded by the UC President’s Initiative Fund.

UC Berkeley researchers team up with the community to eliminate toxic chemicals
UC Berkeley researchers are teaming up with local organizations to plant thousands of ferns in a South Berkeley lot in an effort to extricate toxic chemicals and eventually create a new haven of green gardens. The project, spearheaded by the campus department of environmental science and the citywide nonprofit organization Berkeley Partners for Parks, will experiment with pteris vittata, also known as the Chinese brake--a specialized fern known to extract a thousand times more arsenic from the soil than a typical plant. If successful, the city will then transform the area into a greenway lined with bicycle paths and trees

December 2012: Classes, Training, & Community

Waste Prevention & Water Blueprint Breakout: January 23

The Student Environmental Center (SEC) is hosting its fourth Blueprint Breakout of the year on January 23rd, from 5:30 to 8:30 PM in the College Eight Red Room. The topics of this breakout will be Waste Prevention and Water. Come contribute your ideas for how to make the UCSC community more sustainable so they can be included in this year's Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus. There will be a free catered dinner provided for all participants. Please contact Katie Lippus with questions.

Sustainability Community Hikes On-Campus - All Are Welcome!

Join fellow UCSC Sustainability Community members for hikes into upper campus, led by Melissa Ott and Brenden Fant, two student sustainability leaders at UCSC. These hikes present opportunities to relax and get to know one another in an informal, inter-organizational setting. The goal is to have fun, build relationships and friendships, and explore our campus's natural reserves in an unstructured way. Skills sharing and participant-led activities during the hike are encouraged! Please email Melissa Ott to join the email list, or join the Facebook group here.

ART 124 Material Metaphors: Creating Meaning in Form (The Earth as Metaphor)

This winter quarter course will explore the roles that metaphor and story-telling play in the process of creating environmental art.  Students will study examples of art works by ecologically engaged artists as well as scientists and activists, informing students' practice around our own the environmentally focused works.  Learn more about the program here.

Environmental Leadership Program Fellowship Application Deadline February 1

The Environmental Leadership Program is accepting applications for its 2013 Fellowship Program. The program brings together environmental and social change leaders from academia, business, government and the non-profit sector. It offers intensive leadership training and regional networking opportunities. The application deadline is February 1, 2013.

Permaculture Design Certificate Course and Leadership Training - February 16-24

Go beyond sustainability towards a truly regenerative culture! The Regenerative Leadership Institute's experiential permaculture design certification course is your path towards a career in regenerative permaculture design and a truly thriving life, deeply rooted in the patterns of nature and a larger vision of regenerative community and regenerative culture. This intensive retreat lasts from February 16-24. Apply on the website today!

Ithaca College Online Sustainability Leadership Certificate

The program offers the chance to credential sustainability work through single seminars or a six-seminar sustainability leadership certificate. All work is completed online. Participants will learn to assess the sustainability of their organization's policies and practices, communicate sustainability initiatives and evaluate best practices. New online seminars begin 11 times each year, and the next session start date is January 24. Upcoming seminars include "Tools and Techniques for Planning and Managing Sustainability Projects" and "A Systems Approach to Sustainability."

Heard about other sustainability related classes, trainings, or community opportunities around Santa Cruz or the campus? Post in the comments!

December 2012: News & Achievements

Classrooms Without Walls at UCSC through Natural Reserves and Forest Ecology Research
Learn how the UCSC Campus Natural Reserves is connecting students to research in the natural areas of our campus, like the UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot (FERP), and how this is helping them apply what they're learning in the classroom to the world around them. Read the article here in UCSC's Review magazine. Contact Alex Jones to inquire about how to get involved--up to 20 interns a quarter are needed to work on this globally-renowned, Smithsonian Institute affiliated research project!

Fall Waste Report
The Sustainability Office's Zero Waste Team has been working with campus partners and student organizations to help UCSC reach its commitment of being a zero-waste campus by 2020. Zero Waste is defined as having 95%-100% of all waste from campus diverted from the landfill through reducing the use of disposable materials and repairing, reusing, recycling or composting everything else. Learn how the Zero Waste team has helped to make our zero-waste goal a reality by reading the full article here.

Dining by Daylight Saves Energy in Dining

Through working with PowerSave Green Campus (PSGC), the College 9/10 dining hall has seen massive energy savings as a result of recent student projects, such as "Dining by Daylight." Ideas for new projects show promise for yet more improvements in the 9/10 Dining Hall. Read an interview here with Clint Jeffries, Unit Manager of the 9/10 Dining Hall, written by PSGC's Calvin Ye. Learn more about PSGC on their website.


Residential Composting
Wondering how you can participate in reducing zero waste on campus in your living space? Composting and waste reduction programs are taking place all over campus. Learn more here!

Family Student Housing (FSH) and Chadwick Garden Composting Project

Over the past year, Family Student Housing community members have rallied together to renovate their community garden. In an effort to improve the garden yet further, FSH has opted to collaborate with Chadwick Garden to pilot a garden composting project. Although FSH will be transporting the compost to Chadwick Garden, FSH gardeners and residents alike, are excited to be working towards a more sustainable garden. Interested in learning more about this project? Email Alan VanderPaas.

Need a Bike for Winter Quarter? Bike Lending Library Applications due by January 18, 2013
The UCSC Bike Library is a TAPS resource coordinated by Student Environmental Center interns. It's a quarter-long bike lending program targeting students that want to get around Santa Cruz without contributing to greenhouse gases. Applications to receive a free bike are due by the end of the 2nd week of each quarter, which is January 18, 2013 if you're applying for a bike for winter quarter. Send them an email for more information and visit the website to apply.

IDEASS Students Inspired by Tour of NASA Ames Sustainability Base
This month, students in IDEASS (Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability Through Student Service), a service-learning class, took a field trip to NASA Ames Sustainability Base, where they learned about two research projects concerning microgrid research and and algae to biodiesel conversion. These cutting-edge projects implemented by NASA will provide IDEASS students with inspiration for their own projects they are working on this year. Read the article by Hanna Haas about the tour here.

"Dining by Daylight": An Interview with Clint Jeffries about Dining Energy Projects

The following is a selection from the PowerSave Green Campus (PGSC) November newsletter, authored by PSGC intern, Calvin Ye. 

This quarter, Calvin had time to catch up with Clinton Jeffries, unit manager for UC Santa Cruz’s College 9/10 Dining Hall, to talk about past and future projects that involved energy savings.   

Calvin: What were some past projects that you completed with PowerSave Green Campus?

Clint: A successful past project that PowerSave Green Campus has been done was “Dining by  Daylight,” which was lead by a past project coordinator Gabriel Martin.  The concept behind this project was to encourage turning off the lights during the daytime and allow natural sunlight to illuminate the dining hall while saving a lot of energy in the process. The success of this project has allowed College 9/10 dining hall to continue to dine in the daylight without turning on the lights and in hopes of implementing the same plan to all dining halls through the UC Santa Cruz campus.

Calvin: How much energy was saved with the completion of this project?

Clint: The dining hall have saved up to 15,000kWh of energy and hopefully we can implement a similar project to dining halls across campus.

Calvin: What other events has PowerSave Green Campus done to collaborate with College 9/10 dining hall?

Clint: PowerSave Green Campus have hosted a tabling event in our dining hall to outreach to the students about becoming more energy efficient with their sponsor, Clif Bars, which attracted many students to learn about energy saving. 

Calvin: What are some potential future projects you would like to see happen with PowerSave Green Campus and College 9/10 dining hall?

Clint: I would like to look into changing our  old refrigeration, dish washer and ice maker system with more energy efficient ones because those machines run constantly and burn a lot of  unused energy. Hopefully we can organize another project with PSGC and continue to make a difference in our community.

To learn more about PSGC, please send them an email or visit their Facebook page.

ART 124 - Material Metaphors: Creating Meaning in Form (The Earth as Metaphor)

"The Hidden Life Within" - Giuseppe Penone

(Photo from My Modern Met)

Winter Quarter

MWF 3:30-6:00PM

Room H101 - Baskin Visual Arts

Instructed by E. Stephens

This course will explore the roles that metaphor and story-telling play in the process of creating environmental art.  Students will study examples of art works by ecologically engaged artists as well as scientists and activists, informing students' practice around their own the environmentally focused works.  

Works can be created collaboratively or they can be produced individually.  The work produced in this course will engage metaphors and/or issues of ecology/environmentalism and/or the Earth in some way.  

The course aims to give students an understanding of the who, what, where, how and why of environmental art.

Visiting artists and presenters will help to lend multiple perspectives to the concept of environmental art:

• Zeph Fish: Member of the Beehive Design Collective Work
• Helen & Newton Harrison: DANM Environmental Artists
• Jeffrey Bury: UCSC Environmental Studies Professor
• Nita Little: Dancer and Scholar
• Duskin Drum: Visual Artist and Activist
• John Zibel: Performance Artist and Actor

Interested in learning more? Email the instructor or check out the enrollment page.  

UCSC Participates in EPA's National Food Recovery Challenge

In celebration of America Recycles Day on November 15th, the U.S. Environmental Agency announced the participation of 17 California, Nevada, and Arizona universities in EPA’s national Food Recovery Challenge. The Challenge is a voluntary program that aims to limit the 34 million tons of food wasted nationwide annually by reducing unnecessary consumption and increasing donations to charity and composting. By participating, these schools, with a combined 460,000 student enrollment, pledge to reduce food waste by 5% in one year.

UCSC is participating in the Challenge, along with each of the other UC campuses. "We felt it was another important component, to measure our reduction and help integrate the entire campus in a zero waste culture. Along with food scrap collection at all dining facilities, dining has an aggressive recycling program for all food packaging and supplies currently diverting over 500 tons of potential land fill waste to composting facilities," says Clint Jefferies, Green Business Manager, UC Santa Cruz Dining Services.

UCSC's commitment is to reduce food waste by 5% campus-wide this year and to become a zero waste campus by 2020. Food waste at UCSC comprises roughly 15% of our waste. This means that 15% of our campus' waste is food that could have been diverted from the landfill if people were to take less or compost their food.

As a member of the campus community, you can participate in the challenge by taking only the food you will eat in the dining halls, apartments, at campus vendors, and campus events. If you're planning a campus event, see How to Host a Zero Waste Event.