A Friendly Transportation Reminder

Over the weekend I took advantage of free parking in Core West parking structure. On Monday I received a note under my windshield wiper requesting a $35 donation within the next 21 days to support the Bike Shuttle and Vanpool programs. These alternative transportation methods have enabled members of the UCSC community to travel without depending upon personal vehicles. I am happy to comply and contribute my spare cash. But I do not plan on forgetting to move my vehicle out of Core West parking lot once the free weekend parking has expired.

So next time you get a parking ticket on campus remember that your contribution is going to help our community become less reliant upon personal vehicles.

Brenden Fant
Student Environmental Center: Transportation Campaign
IDEASS: Bicycle Transit Planning Team
Transportation Advisory Committee

UCSC Getting Greener: One Office at a Time

UCSC’s Green Office Certification Program is currently working with the offices of Student Union Assembly, Enterprise Financial Systems, and Controllers. Along with Extramural Funds—which received a Sprout certification last month—these offices will join the ranks of staff and students that have committed to practicing sustainability in their everyday lives.

By going through Green Office’s complete certification process—including assessments of energy use, office waste, and individual behaviors—the members of these offices have been able to improve upon existing positive behaviors and locate areas of office life where unwanted wasted can be eliminated.

Common examples of improvements are installing power strips that make it much easier to turn off appliances and avoid “phantom energy”, prompt reminders to turn off lights and computers, and making sure that everyone is educated on what belongs in recycling and what goes in the trash.

The offices of Business & Administrative Services have signed on to join in this process next quarter, and we welcome any and all other offices on campus to sign up as well by signing our interest form. Additional information on our process, and helpful resources for recycling and purchasing, can be found on our website.

Fostering sustainability in our community is best done on a personal, individual, level—and UCSC office members across campus are making that happen by committing to sustainability in their everyday lives. Join them today!

City on a Hill Press Seeks Sustainably Minded Reporters

City on a Hill Press, the student-run newspaper at UCSC, is currently looking for new members for the coming quarter who are interested in covering the environment and sustainability. Interested applicants can apply online for next quarter at www.cityonahillpress.com/joinchp

PowerSave Green Campus Wins Energy Project Award

UC Santa Cruz's PowerSave Green Campus Team showcased their College 9 and 10 Bi-Level Stairwell Retrofit Project at the Alliance to Save Energy Summit in Los Angeles in February and tied with Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo for the best poster. Congratulations! The competition for best poster and presentation was judged by a panel of representatives from the California utilities companies, California Public Utilities Commission, campus stakeholders, and Alliance staff.

About the Project
The stairwell lights in the six College 9 and College 10 dorm buildings are constantly lit, consuming almost 83% more energy than needed. Erin Linney, a PowerSave Project Coordinator, wrote a grant to propose that the current fixtures be replaced with bi-level occupancy sensor fixtures. Bi-level lighting has two different levels of light output from a fixture and an occupancy sensor, which determines when an area is occupied and when it is empty. Tthe new sensors will reduce the lighting to 3% of the normal light output.

Educating users

This quarter, interns for UC Santa Cruz PowerSave Green Campus are planning an educational outreach campaign in the College 9 and 10 dorms to promote the College 9 and 10 Bi-Level Stairwell Retrofit Project. They plan to display signs and posters in the dorms to educate the students about the energy savings from the project. Furthermore, they hope to collaborate with the R.A.’s in the colleges to host personal energy audit training events with the dorm residents.

To find out more about the program and this project, please email Erin Linney.

BYO Mug Program and Zero Waste Events

Reducing single-use paper cups, and Greening Cafes 
Did you know that you can divert 0.25 lbs of CO2 emissions (from manufacture and transport) each time you avoid a paper cup? Even though paper is recyclable, paper coffee cups are not because they have a plastic coating inside that forces their diversion to the landfill. 

Some Dining cafes do currently provide compostable cups, but they don’t always end up in compost bins, so avoid those paper cups and pledge to Bring Your Own Mug! Most cafes on campus provide at least a 10 cent discount, and you can use those green Stamp Cards at all Dining-operated cafes that provide a FREE drink if you BYOM 7 times. If you have a smartphone, you can also download the app Gving to use at all the Perks locations. 

The best way to always keep your mug handy is making it a routine to rinse it right after each use and then place it in your backpack or where you can easily find it. You can even personalize it, and there are a variety of styles of mugs available on campus and in the market to choose from. Find more cool tips and facts here: Carbon Rally  and Sustainable Choices.


Zero Waste Event Commitment
Are you involved in a SOAR or any organization that holds events? Apart from saving money, you can make a big impact in reducing our campus waste stream by making a formal commitment to zero waste. Studies have revealed that 56% of people remember what they visually observed at large events (such as recycling and compost bins being used!), while only 18% remember the cold hard facts they've been taught.  So imagine the difference it would make if the majority of campus events were zero waste! UCSC is already on the right track since one of its biggest events, the OPERS Festival, is a zero waste event. 

Through our pilot project, we plan to recognize as well as increase zero waste practices at events, especially within the SOAR community and hope to have 2-3 committed organizations by the end of the year. If you're interested in participate, or already hold zero waste events, let us know at zerowasteucsc@gmail.com.

To learn more about zero waste events, check out this guide!

College 9 & 10 Recycling Campaign

The Waste Reduction Team at Colleges 9 and 10 is launching their "Don’t be Trashy, Recycle it Right!” campaign at Kresge College, Porter College, and Colleges 9 & 10. The campaign aims to raise awareness of recycling opportunities on campus and includes a map for each of these colleges that shows where to recycle or compost almost everything, including items such as electronics, food scraps, batteries, ink cartridges, and more.

The maps come with a handy key that describes the function of each type of recycle bin we have as well as having a picture of the bin so that people on campus can identify them. The maps will be up soon, so look for them if you’re in any of those four colleges.

Drop Your Own Drip Competition Has Begun!

Student Environmental Center Campaign Drop Your Own Drip is proud to announce that they sent out their first monthly mock water statement to the apartment residents in February, and the competition has begun! These statements will be a compilation of the water usage within each apartment building. The water bills officially kicked off the campus-wide Drop Your Own Drip competition with prizes going to the college that reduces the greatest percentage of water per person. Students in the apartments, keep a lookout for these and remember to keep conserving!