UC named 4th in Sierra’s list of coolest schools
December 2007
UCSC is one of ten campuses of the University of California, which collectively ranked 4th in Sierra's list of America's Top 10 “Coolest” Schools.
Some of the local programs which contribute to the greening of the UC system include
Local, organic food
Under a unique farm-to-college program developed by seven local farmers and UCSC, about 30% of the produce purchased by UCSC’s dining services this year was grown within 250 miles of Santa Cruz and is certified organic.
Green dining halls
Three UCSC dining halls, Banana Joe’s Cafe, and University Catering earned the City of Santa Cruz Green Business designation.
Green power
In the spring of 2006 UCSC students voted to assess themselves $3/quarter to support “green power.” With the student-generated fund, the campus purchased 50 million kilowatt hours of clean energy in the form of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Sterling Planet. These RECs represent 100% of the campus’s annual electricity use. The EPA defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.
Transportation
UCSC’s Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) operates vanpools, a new car-sharing program, and other programs aimed at reducing single-occupant cars.
Zero waste event
At a campus event in October, members of the Student Environmental Center collected and recycled 200 lbs of pre-consumer food scraps, 82 lbs of aluminum cans, 38 lbs of plastic water bottles, and over 40 bags of compostable food scraps and biodegradable plates, utensils, and napkins. A pulper machine turned the 40 bags into more than 1000 lbs of usable compost.
Other local schools
Other local college campuses are also focusing on becoming more green. At the sixth annual UC-CSU-CCC Sustainability Conference, CSUMB students got top honors in the category of student sustainability programs for their Energy Innovations Fund (EIF). Under this program students raise funds to provide loans for university projects that reduce energy. A loan from this fund helped to replace the basketball court’s 36 sodium light fixtures with linear fluorescent ones, resulting in an estimated savings of $86/year per fixture.
Cabrillo College Board of Trustees recently announced plans to put the largest single solar installation in Santa Cruz County on the Aptos campus. The array would save over 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
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