Bike Week is May 3-11

A wheely cool week of bike activities is coming to Santa Cruz May 3rd to 11th. Ecology Action's Bike Week and Bike to Work/School Day (May 9) need volunteer support and bicycling participants! Get out your helmet, hop on a bike, and ride your way through the fun activities planned for Bike Week.

Bike Week
A schedule of events, including a First Friday Bike Party, free workshops and maintenance, a Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery fundraiser, and much more can be found on the website here.

UCSC Free Bike Helmet Giveaway: May 7
In celebration of Bike Week, Transportation and Parking Services and the Student Environmental Center Transportation Campaign are co-hosting the Bicycle Safety Campaign, which will be surveying cyclists and handing out 250 free helmets to members of the UCSC community on first come first serve basis. Proof of UCSC affiliation required. The event will take place May 7 from 1:00 - 4:30 PM at the base of campus. For more information or to volunteer at this event, please contact Brenden.

Bike to Work/School Day
Thursday, May 9, is Bike to Work/School Day! There will be free breakfast for bicyclists from 6:30 - 9:30 AM at various locations throughout Santa Cruz County. Click here to see the list of locations, which includes  three locations at UCSC:

• the UCSC Main Entrance (Free breakfast and coffee)
• top of the UCSC Bike Path (Free breakfast and coffee, staffed by UCSC Bicycle Racing Team)
• the UCSC Bike Coop in Quarry Plaza (Free breakfast and coffee and free bicycle maintenance from UCSC Bike Coop).

Volunteering
If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above events, email Kira at kticus@ecoact.org.

Photo Credit: SustainableSantaCruz.org 

Laurel Goes Plastic Free, a Student Perspective

by Laurel Marks, Student Coordinator for the Zero Waste Team 

Photo Credit: Plastics Today

Through my job as the Student Coordinator for the Zero Waste Team at the UC Santa Cruz Sustainability Office, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Zero Waste Youth Convergence on March 17, 2013, in San Francisco.  One of the most inspirational speakers that I saw there was Beth Terry.

In 2007 Beth was inspired by the growing horrors of plastic-filled oceans and global warming and  decided to radically change her life by going plastic free. It wasn’t easy, especially since more and more things are packaged in plastic these days, but Beth was passionate about changing the world with her personal actions.  She documented her challenges and successes on her blog myplasticfreelife.com and created a plastic-free guide to help others on the path toward a more sustainable life.

After seeing Beth speak and many other incredible visionaries at the conference, I decided to take my own plastic-free challenge. I began by reading Beth Terry’s plastic-free guide. On April 1st I went to the local natural food store (next time I’ll go to the farmer’s market!), prepared to avoid all plastic.

The foods that I miss most include:

• fresh strawberries (because of the plastic container--maybe I can get some in my own bag at the farmers' market)
• tofu (I’m vegetarian so I cook tofu a lot)
• orange juice (I caved in once and bought some for smoothies... they’re my weakness)
• cereal
• yogurt
• Luna bars that I eat on the run at school for an energy boost. 

I’m lucky because my house already has a wonderful composting system that feeds our beautiful backyard, and we are growing lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, and other delicious foods!

I've had to think ahead and get creative when it comes to food on-the-go. On my last shopping run I bought some dried fruit and yogurt covered pretzels in bulk (with my own reusable paper bags) to eat as a snack during the day. At cafes I now ask for reusable utensils, and at the burrito shop I get the burrito to-go without a plastic bag. I ask for no straw with my drinks and bring my own utensils in my purse. 

Some of the challenges that a plastic-free lifestyle brings I knew I wouldn’t be able to face just yet.  One example is giving up shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and other bathroom products that come in plastic containers.  Beth has some wonderful recipes for making your own shampoo, soap, deodorant, and lotion on her website, but I knew with my busy life I wouldn’t have time to try all those. Fortunately I already had all these items and haven’t run out yet.  

The goal is not to throw away every item you own that contains plastic, but to use everything to its full potential without acquiring any new plastic. And don’t forget to try to fix what’s broken before buying something new, buy used, go to thrift stores, clothing swaps, and check out item swap websites like yerdle.com! 

Just because we live in a single-use, wasteful world doesn’t mean we have to comply!  Be the change you wish to see in the world.  It’s been a difficult experience, but a fun one too, and I am so proud of myself for truly living a lifestyle I believe in!

For more on Beth Terry and her plastic free lifestyle check out our previous article.

UCSC's SUA Passes Divestment from Fossil Fuels Resolution

On April 9, UC Santa Cruz's Student Union Assembly (SUA) joined four other UC campuses in passing a resolution for divestment from fossil fuel assets in the $6.5 billion UC General Endowment Pool. These declarations in the UC system are part of a movement happening on college campuses that seeks to eliminate investment in fossil fuels, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, and in the words of 350.org founder Bill McKibben, "a catastrophe."

In July McKibben, published an article in Rolling Stone magazine titled "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math." The article laid out, in laymen terms, the cost of business as usual. 350.org summarizes, "It’s simple math: we can burn less than 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide and stay below 2°C of warming — anything more than that risks catastrophe for life on earth. The only problem? Fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves, five times the safe amount. And they’re planning to burn it all — unless we rise up to stop them."

Fossil Free, a partner of the international organization 350.org, has college campus campaigns at locations pictured on this map.

The McKibben article kicked off a global movement of students across the country who have organized to urge their University to eliminate assets from fossil fuel companies. Other California schools who have passed student government resolutions to divest include UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley.

UC Santa Cruz’s resolution “instructs asset managers to stop any new investment in fossil fuel companies; to take appropriate steps to ensure that, within 5 years, none of its directly held or commingled assets include holdings in fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds as found on the Carbon Tracker list; and to release quarterly updates, both detailing progress made towards full divestment and providing information on the holdings of the endowment pool and of index funds within the GEP [General Endowment Portfolio]."

"Therefore, let if be resolved that the Student Union Assembly of UC Santa Cruz call upon the Regents of the University of California, in its commitment to leadership in sustainability, to take the following actions regarding the General Endowment Pool:

The next step comes this spring when, “during the UC Regents Meeting, campuses around California will [organize] to [advocate] for a statewide change of the UC investment portfolio to divest from fossil fuels,” explains David Shugar, Chancellor's Undergraduate Intern for the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) and co-representative of UCSC for the California Student Sustainability Coalition who has helped with the UCSC campaign.

Students at UCSC kicked off their divestment campaign with a teach-in on April 15th. Hosted by ESLP and featuring the Sierra Club the event was powered by clean, renewable energy from a bike generator. Quentin James of the Sierra Club spoke about money power and people power, asking the group why they thought people power was stronger. Fourth year student Anneliese Harlander responded "Money's just paper, people got soul!"

First year student Jeremiah Tsyporin remarked at the teach-in, "If the UCs are successful with divestment, how empowering is that to go to a school where we've allocated resources away from fossil fuels! We've got to show students the progress that other students are making, and this will lead them to realize 'oh, yeah, I can actually get things done, too.'"

May 2013: Contests & Funding

Final Chance to Drop Your Own Drip
Apartment residents: the FINAL month of the Drop Your Own Drip water conservation competition is underway! Tell your apartment-mates, neighbors, and friends to reduce their use and your college could win prizes! Visit sec.enviroslug.org for more information.

AASHE Awards: Deadline May 10
The deadline to have your sustainability wins and lessons learned recognized on a national scale is approaching fast. Held during their conference in October, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) 2013 Awards ceremony will celebrate campus and student sustainability achievements. Email awards@aashe.org with any questions. Visit the website to learn more about the conference and awards.

Bike to The Future: Teen Art, Video, and Writing Contest: Deadline May 17
For the next month, teens (ages 11-19) from around Santa Cruz county will be creating visual art, videos, and writing.  $100 to the winners!  This year's theme is Bike to the Future, encouraging local teens to explore, through various art forms, how bikes (walking, skates, and scooters too) are the vehicles of the future. More information can be found at our website.

The Human Face of Sustainability: Deadline May 31
Creative Nonfiction and Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability are looking for remarkable true stories that illuminate and present the human side of environmental, economic, ethical, and/or social challenges related to the state of the planet and our future for the $10,000 Walton Sustainability Solutions Best Creative Nonfiction Essay Award. They welcome personal essays or stories about extraordinary individuals or communities and stories about innovative solutions to sustainability. Whatever the subject, they want to hear about it in an essay that blends facts and research with narrative—employing scenes, descriptions, etc. For more information click here.

Zipcar seeks "Students With Drive" in their driving credit contest

The "Students with Drive" program is giving student groups an extra hand to help get things done with the help of Zipcars. The program, which gives away over $35,000 in driving credit a month, allows all student groups to nominate themselves to win free driving credit for their group to use for their groups' needs. Learn more about how your group can get involved on the contest website.

May 2013 Green Tips: Eating Consciously

Everyone needs to eat. What we choose to eat, what it's made of, and how it gets to our plates greatly influences how sustainable our lifestyles are. Fortunately, we live in California, where we can make healthy and ecologically responsible choices about our food quite easily because of our proximity to local agriculture.

Here are just three tips to get you started in having a more sustainable diet:

1. Eat non-processed food. If it comes in a wrapper with an ingredients list a mile long, try to avoid it. Opt for foods that you can identify without a label, and shop the perimeter of the store, where the fruits, veggies, meats, and seafood are found. Not only is there typically less packaging waste and factory production behind these more wholesome items, they're also typically better for you and allow you to have more control over what you eat.

2. Buy local food. When you're in the produce section, choose items that are from California. The shortest distance between farm and your fork, the less carbon dioxide emissions from travel. Check out the Santa Cruz Farmer's Market for locally grown foods. Not only does this reduce the carbon footprint of your diet, it also creates a better sense of community and it supports our local economy.

3. Eat less meat. While you don't have to become vegan to eat sustainably, it is a good idea to reduce the amount of red meat and other "meat" sources in your diet. As Americans, we tend to eat way more meat than is suggested for a healthy diet, but in addition to the health aspect, the meat industry is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions through factory farming and methane production by livestock, in addition to a wealth of other issues, including antibiotic use and environmental contaminants. To learn more about these issues, visit the Meatless Monday website. If you find yourself in the dining hall on a Meatless Monday on campus, talk to the students tabling to gain more perspective about why our campus participates in this movement toward eating less meat.

Our campus has a vibrant sustainable food culture with many ways to get involved, from the Farm to the gardens on campus to much more! Read about this movement here.

For more about the history of food in America and how we've become so dependent on non-sustainable practices, check out this Ted Talks video with Mark Bittman:

What kinds of things do you think about when making choices for what to purchase and eat? Do you have other tips for eating sustainably? Share in the comments!

New Bike FixIt Stations Installed

Want to get your bike ready for Bike To Work/School Day on May 9th? Transportation and Parking Services is happy to announce that five new Dero FixIt Bike Repair Stations have been installed around campus. The five locations are:

• OPERS
• the Music Center bike parking area
• Baskin Engineering
• McHenry Library
• base of campus directly behind the transit shelter

The stations are self-service bike repair pedestals that include a tire pump and eight tools necessary to perform basic repairs and maintenance, from changing a flat to adjusting brakes and derailleurs. Use the Quick Read (QR) code on the front of the Fixit Station to view detailed instructions on how to make repairs on your smart phone.

The stations are free to all and are available 24/7. For more information, contact Teresa Buika, TAPS, at 502-7941 or tabuika@ucsc.edu. Safe Riding!

Take the Storm Water Survey and help shape campus storm water education

The Campus Storm Water Management Program invites the campus community to participate in UCSC's annual Storm Water Survey. This survey will help the Program determine the level of storm water  understanding on campus, and how the campus's Storm Water Management Plan education and outreach program can better serve our environment and the Campus Community. All responses are anonymous.

Click here to complete the five minute survey by May 10. Check back to the Clean Water website as the results of the survey will be posted there by May 24.