Carbon Fund Crowdfunding Project

Climate change is one of the greatest concerns to our worldwide community. As a university, UC Santa Cruz students, staff, and faculty have advocated for a greener campus. One of the ways we support sustainability is with the Carbon Fund, a granting body that provides funding for a variety of projects that decrease our carbon footprint and conserve resources. Though the fund is primarily funded through student fee measure 44, in recent years this fund has received far more qualified funding requests than we can actually fund, with a gap of $430,000. To begin to close this gap, we are hosting a crowdfunding campaign through UCSC's crowdfund platform to try and raise $10,000!

The Carbon Fund continually works as a granting body to provide funds for projects that will reduce UC Santa Cruz’s carbon footprint. The Carbon Fund Committee is comprised of staff, students, faculty, and community members knowledgeable about sustainable practices and the implementation of carbon reduction strategies.

The Carbon Fund has supported 62 projects since its inaugural funding year in 2010. Each one of the projects has either directly reduced energy consumption or provided invaluable education and outreach to our on- and off-campus communities regarding sustainability efforts. The breadth of project topics is vast. They include funding efforts from campus lighting retrofits, to bike commuter programs, composting, and solar energy.

Each year, both lower- and higher-cost projects are supported. Last year, the micro projects were allocated an average of $2,365.57, while the macro projects were granted an average of $15,076.68.

Five thousand dollars was awarded to the Santa Cruz High Garden Renaissance project this year, supporting the construction of a shed, garden, and compost system at the high school. This project provided an impactful learning experience for UC Santa Cruz students, creating an opportunity to collaborate with youth in the local community, as well as spread invaluable knowledge about environmentally-friendly practices.

As support for a carbon neutral UC Santa Cruz rises, so does the demand for the limited resources of the Carbon Fund. This year, there was a $430,000 discrepancy between requested and awarded funds. That is why we are asking for your help; we would like to raise $10,000 to start to close this gap. Every dollar supports a cleaner environment, student engagement, and brings UC Santa Cruz one step closer to a greener and more sustainable future. Make a donation to the Carbon Fund today by visiting crowdfund.ucsc.edu/carbonfund.

June 2015: Contests & Funding

UCSC Residential Housing Survey on Energy: Deadline June 11
PowerSave is supporting the overall campus Climate and Energy Strategy project by collecting data related to energy use in residential housing units. Please take the short 3 minute survey here and be sure to provide your UCSC email address to be entered into a raffle for one $100 and four $50 bookstore gift certificates! The information collected in this survey will be used to help prioritize investment in energy conservation projects and programs. Deadline to participate is July 11th at midnight.

Carbon Fund Crowdfunding: Deadline June 18th
The Carbon Fund is currently featured as one of UCSC’s Crowdfund projects and you can make a donation that will have a tremendous impact on the UCSC campus! Every contribution made will be used to support student projects that reduce our campus’ carbon footprint. Help the Carbon Fund reach their goal of raising $20,000 by donating here.

Sustainability Film & Art Contest: Deadline July 13
Calling all filmmakers and artists! Are you interested in having your short film or artwork displayed at a film festival series this fall? The Sustainability Office invites you to create a sustainability-related short film or poster. The winner(s) of the competition will have their films and posters shown at the Sustainability Film Festival to celebrate the campus’s 50th Anniversary! Learn more here.

Energy Dept. $2.5M for Collegiate Clean Energy Tech: Deadline June 7
The newly announced $2.5 million in funding for the Cleantech University Prize (Cleantech UP) aims to support the commercialization of promising technologies for sectors such as solar and wind that reduce carbon pollution and grow the clean energy economy. The Cleantech UP Collegiate Competitions will provide prizes for eight individual university-focused competitions that will equip students with business skills to move clean energy technologies from the discovery phase to the marketplace.

AASHE Sustainability Awards: Deadline June 11
Applications for the Tenth Annual AASHE Sustainability Awards are now being accepted for outstanding ideas and initiatives that are furthering the higher education sustainability transformation. Award winners will receive one complimentary AASHE 2015 Conference & Expo pass, one invitation to a special reception during the 2015 conference, an opportunity to present submissions at the 2015 conference, and featured in Sustainability: The Journal of Record. Deadline to apply is June 11, 2015.

Tools of Change Landmark Designation: Deadline June 12
Tools of Change is now soliciting nominations for its 2015 Landmark behavior change case studies in two topic areas - (1) home / building energy conservation and (2) sustainable transportation. If you know of anyone working on a particularly effective, innovative or impactful approach for changing energy or transportation behaviors, please consider nominating them - or yourself. All nominations must include measured impact results. The Nominations Form must be submitted by June 12, 2015. Designations will be announced by October 2015, and case study webinars will be presented between February and May 2016.

Biomimicry Global Design Challenge: Deadline August 3
The Biomimicry Institute and the Ray C. Anderson Foundation announced the opening of the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge. Students are invited to submit commercially viable, nature-inspired solutions to global food system challenges. All participants get access to the Design Challenge Toolbox and supporting resources, including sessions with mentors and biomimicry professionals. The grand prize, to be awarded in 2016, is $100,000. The deadline for submissions is August 3rd.

Crowdfunding for the Provost's Sustainability Internship (PSI)

The Provost's Sustainability Internship (PSI) is fundraising to help develop and expand the opportunities students and staff have to get involved in sustainability.

Sustainability and the Grateful Dead Library were identified as pilot projects to test a new UCSC crowdfunding program. PSI was specifically identified as an opportunity for fundraising because the program serves the broader sustainability efforts on campus, it supports the campus sustainability plan, and contributes to a transformative student experience by partnering students with staff to complete projects related to sustainability.

Our goal is to raise $3,000 in one month. (Grateful Dead Library exceeded its goal of $10,000 in one month earlier this Fall) $3,000 will fund 2 PSI positions for a year. These funds will directly support students and staff, it will allow the program to diversify its funding stream creating space for new opportunities to grow and encourage participation by departments that have not participated in PSI in the past.

There are two ways you can support this effort.

• First, please considering donating, at whatever level you are comfortable. One of the amazing things about crowdfunding is watching small donation of $10 or $25 add up! 
• Second, we encourage you to share this opportunity with your networks, whether is is through sending an email, posting on Facebook, or talking to friend and/or colleagues. The broader the spread of outreach the greater the opportunity for success. These funds will directly support students and staff making tangible and positive contributions to sustainability on campus, as well as encourage participation by departments that have not participated in PSI in the past but who would benefit from the organizational and financial support the program provides. If this effort is successful, we anticipate future fundraising efforts for other sustainability opportunities and we look forward to working with many of you to develop what those opportunities might be!

Thank you for supporting campus sustainability!