June 2016: Adriana Renteria

Each month, our newsletter features a person or group on campus that is working toward a more sustainable world. This month we are featuring Adriana Renteria, the programs coordinator for the People of Color Sustainability Collective. 

Position Title(s): Program Coordinator for the People of Color Sustainability Collective

What is PoCSC?
The People of Color Sustainability Collective is an initiative that aims to make UCSC a leader in environmental justice by raising awareness about the contributions that people of color have made towards the environmental movement. We create opportunities for critical dialogue about environmental justice through student discussion spaces, student of color caucuses, social media awareness campaigns, workshops, and speaker presentations. PoCSC is an Ethnic Resource Centers’ initiative that works in collaboration with College Nine, College Ten, and the Campus Sustainability Office.

What does “sustainability” mean to you?
To me, it means living in a way that always stays true to my roots and honors my ancestors who paved the way for me. It also means living in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the ability of my future generations to live a healthy, safe, and happy life.

Why did you get involved with sustainability?
My dad was a farmworker and growing up I remember not being able to hug my dad when he got home from work until he changed out of his work clothes and into clothes that were not covered in chemicals. Growing up I always wondered why my dad would work in a place that could cause harm to himself or his family’s health. Once I got to college, I started taking courses and doing research that helped me better understand the causes of environmental injustices. I got involved with student organizing so I could learn more and help support communities like my own.

How has sustainability related to your role(s) at UCSC?
As an undergrad at UCSC, I was involved in several sustainability spaces: Take Back the Tap, Student Environmental Center, Education for a Sustainable Living Program, and IDEASS. I am currently the coordinator for the People of Color Sustainability Collective and as a part of this initiative, we host events, workshops, and speaker series where students can have dialogues about the intersections between race, ethnicity, class, gender, age, culture and the environment. Through these events we also work to challenge the mainstream definition of sustainability to be inclusive of underrepresented communities.

How do you practice sustainability in your daily life?
I try to practice sustainability in everything that I do. When I wash dishes, I’m conscious of the water I use. I try to keep track of my leftovers so I don’t waste food and I try to share rides when I can. In the winter time, I take out my Mexican blankets before I even think about turning on the heater.

Have you had a favorite sustainability moment at UCSC?
For me, I loved the 2016 Inter-Org retreat. It was great to meet new people and participate in such awesome workshops.

She asked the PoCSC interns about their favorite moments and this is what they shared:
Geena Talley: “My favorite sustainability moment was the PoCSC “Art Tools for Environmental Justice” chalk event-- I felt a huge sense of community as well as pride in our artwork and our goals."

Catherine Alfaro: “My favorite sustainability moment was going to camp Campbell and sharing a space of learning & growth with many different people all working towards different aspects of sustainability.”

Cristal Gonzalez: “My favorite sustainability moment was going on the InterOrg retreat that encompassed different perspectives and aspects of sustainability. It was great being surrounded with other folks with similar life experiences in a space that is not always reflective of that in my opinion. I also enjoyed our “Art Tools for EJ” event, in particular the aspect where we were able to create our own art. It was a very empowering experience.”

Raymond Lebeau: “I enjoyed co-facilitating Art Tools for Environmental Justice and learning about the history of the environmental justice movement.”

Are there sustainability practices you’ve picked up specific to your background or culture?
Yes, so many! When I think of sustainability, I think of “rasquachismo,” a term used in Chicanx art to describe a style that’s rooted in creativity, survival, and resourcefulness. Dr. Tomás Ybarra–Frausto who coined the term says it’s rooted in the saying “Hacer de tripas corazón” ––make do with what you have.

My mom practices rasquachismo all the time. She loves going to quinces/baptisms/weddings because it means she usually gets to take home the centerpieces that she then repurposes into a wide variety of things. She even re-gifts them sometimes! Whether it’s reusing plastic cups and utensils for parties or using old rags to stuff pillow cases, my family’s always instilled the importance of finding as many different purposes for something as possible.

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 at susted[at]ucsc[dot]edu.

National Annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

Elida Erickson, the Sustainability Programs Manager and Interim Director of the Sustainability Office, shares her experience at the national annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

I had the honor of representing our campus at the national annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Sustainability professionals from all around the world converged on Minneapolis, MN for the occasion. The session that struck me the most was an all-day workshop focused on incorporating sustainability and diversity issues. 

The workshop facilitators represented several different institutions across Minnesota, and focused their work on expanding the traditional environmental movement's definitions of sustainability to be more inclusive of diverse viewpoints and cultural experiences. Several small group activities helped workshop participants think outside of the box regarding sustainability, and a student panel shared stories that helped put some faces to the issues. What I was most impressed with overall was the level of trust both the facilitators and students have built with each other, and are willing to share with others to spread their work. I am excited that we are starting a similar movement on our own campus with the AIRC’s #POC Sustainability Collective, and look forward to working closely with them in the coming years on this very important work.

December Sustainability Profile: Catherine Alfaro and Amran Khan

Each month, our newsletter features a person or group on campus that is working toward a more sustainable world. 

This month features American Indian Resource Center and People of Color Sustainability Collective interns Catherine Alfaro and Amran Khan. Catherine and Amran work together to showcase the historical, current, and future impact of people of color in the sustainability movement.

What is your title, affiliation, and year?

Amran: American Indian Resource Center and People of Color Sustainability Collective intern; College 10 affiliated junior.

Catherine: Intern for the American Indian Resource Center and Student Coordinator for People of Color Sustainability Collective; College 10 affiliated senior.

What does “sustainability” mean to you? 

Amran: Sustainability to me is more than just trying to preserve our environment, but also our culture, language, history, people, and future. There is no way of talking about sustainability without talking about issues like social justice and inequality. Sustainability involves everyone and everything from class, color, religion, et cetera. Being sustainable is important because it helps us to remember our roots and how we got to where we are.  

Catherine: Sustainability to me means sustaining the balance of many parts of life. A great reference for me is the web of life which shows the interconnectedness of everyone and everything. Culture, community, health, education, animals, individuals, food, the living and non-living things, et cetera are all connected. We all affect each other in positive and negative ways, but learning how to sustain every aspect of life is important. By sustaining I mean learning about culture, community, education, animals, health, food, the living and non-living things and preserving these entities. One important thing that I have learned is that there are many ways to define and practice sustainability. There is not a one size fits all or guidelines to being sustainable. I would only think about ecology when people would mention sustainability. It took a long time for me to define sustainability in a holistic way.

How would you describe the goals of the People of Color Sustainability Collective?

Amran: The goal of People of Color Sustainability Collective is to educate and show UCSC students the contributions people of color have made and will make for environmental justice. We also want to create spaces for people to be able to share their knowledge and experiences in the environmental justice movement.

Catherine: I would say that our main goals are to bring awareness and highlight the work that People of Color are doing in regards to sustainability. Also, to create spaces where people of color feel comfortable to share their views, experiences, and outlooks on sustainability as well as to redefine sustainability to include a variety of interpretations.

Any projects you're looking forward to this year?

Amran: People of Color Sustainability Collective has a lot of exciting projects in the future ahead. I am excited for more discussion, events, and activities in the future and next quarter to come. Also in the winter quarter, People of Color Sustainability Collective will be conducting research at UCSC, based on environmental and social justice.

Catherine: I am excited for the research Amran, Adriana (the People of Color Sustainability Collective Coordinator), and I will be working on in regards to student opinions, experiences, and perceptions about inclusivity in the campus sustainability movements. Also, I am excited for the different collaborations and events that we will be working on throughout the year.

What made you interested in sustainability?

Amran: Growing up as a person of color, I became interested in sustainability when I realized how much people of color are impacted by environmental issues and how little people recognized this. 

Catherine: Before joining the People of Color Sustainability Collective, I thought I did not know much about sustainability. I did not think I was sustainable myself. What changed my outlook on sustainability was re-defining what it meant to me. Both mentor Adriana Renteria and Dr. Rosser’s recommendation that I read the book by Enrique Salmon, Eating the Landscape: American Indian Stories of Food, Identity, and Resilience, helped me re-define sustainability. Learning that there are many components to sustainability and realizing that my family, my culture, and the work that I do are sustainable practices made me feel comfortable with the concept of sustainability. Realizing that all my life my family has been sustainable through actions that are seen as minuscule things like wearing hand-me-downs, re-using containers, trying our best to not waste food, and finding ingenious ways to work with what we have made me interested in sustainability. Validating the work that I have done within College 10 and the Ethnic Resource Centers that foster community, culture, and retention of students as something sustainable also made me interested. Being able to highlight the work that I do and redefine sustainability has been a big motivation.

If you could send one message about sustainability to everyone at UCSC, what would you say?
Amran: You can be sustainable about anything that impacts you or your greater interests.

Catherine: What I would say to people is that it would be good to reflect a little about their own definition of sustainability, why they think that, and how they could link it to the work they do. Also, that we might want to rethink our strategies on how to sustain our earth, and that people from a multitude of backgrounds and disciplines need to get together and talk about what is going on. All the different perspectives are needed to create a more inclusive and sustainable campus.

You can find the information and contact page for the People of Color Sustainability Collective here and check out the Facebook page here!