bright green newsletter, may 2009 ~ uc berkeley office of sustainability

8/9/2019 Bright Green Newsletter, May 2009 ~ UC Berkeley Office of Sustainability

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Learn how to make your event

Green Event

http://sustainability.berkeley.ed

OS/greenevents.html

The Green Events Certification

is a new program offered at UC

Berkeley to identify and recognize

departmental events on campus

whose organizers have taken extra

steps to lower their environmental

footprint. The program, an initiative

of the Office of Sustainability and

the Berkeley Events Network iden-

tifies a set of conditions and actions

that event organizers can choose to

meet.

To apply for a Green Event Certifi-

cation, you must complete and sign

a checklist available online, provide

documentation for each point

claimed, and submit the application

to theOffice of Sustainability.

The Office will conduct a short

audit and review meeting will be

scheduled for additional informa-tion or to request minor modifica-

tions. Upon completion of the audit

and review, event organizers

will be issued a certificate to

be displayed at their Green

Event.

Events can range anywhere

from a departmental brown

bag to black-tie galas so

greening options vary de-

pending on the scope andlocation of the event. Thus,

the number of criteria re-

quired for Green Event

certification varies both by

category and by size of event

(small, medium, or large). An

"Effort Designation" can be

achieved by any size event,

simply by adding one new

sustainable feature. A "Green Certi-

fication" requires more effort, and

the larger the event, the moreinitiatives (or points) that are re-

quired.

New Green Events Cert i f icat ion Program

Bear- ly Used DriveRecyc le Unwanted Furniture

The Bear-ly Used Furniture Drive May 13- June 3rd

Got Stuff? Don't know what to do with it when the semester ends?

The Bear-ly Used Furniture Drive, sponsored by the ASUC Auxiliary, will take it! If you

have furniture and other household items (small appliances) that are still in good condi-

tion, they can be used by other students or community members when Fall Semesterbegins.

By giving your stuff to the Bear-ly Used Drive you won't just be helping to save the planet

from too much junk in our landfills, you will also be doing something for the community.

The stuff we collect will be sold in the Bear-ly Used Bazaar on Fall Move-In Weekend,

August 27-28 with proceeds going to support to the Berkeley Food and Housing Project.

There Are Two Ways to Give Your Stuff to the Drive: DROP IT OFF from

May 13-24 from 1:00-6:00 PM Daily at the Dwight Way Parking Lot, 2427 Dwight Way.

May 13-June 3rd make an appointment for us to PICK IT UP at https://instant-scheduling.com/

sch.php?kn=339960 or call (510) 642 1141.

VOLUME 6

May 2009

Thanks to Joanna Youngthe

Office Communications Associ-

ate-for putting together this last

newsletter of the year!

Please encourage your friends

and colleagues to join ourlist

serve. Become a fan of our

Facebook Page!

Contact us: Lisa McNeilly:

[email protected]

Kira Stoll: [email protected]

Check out ourOffice website

and the CalCAP website

The

Off ice

Update

IN THIS ISSUE

New Green Event Certification

Bear-ly Used Drive

Bike to Work Day-May 14

Cal Staff Summerfest-May 13

Eco-Improved Printing

Much more Bike Parking!

Sustainability Summit Highlights

Sustainability Award Winners

Green Fund Grant Recipients

Spam Email = Energy Waste

TGIF Awards $287K to 10 Pro-

jectsthe Office receives a grant

PP-CS Sustainability Activities

Page 1

Bright Green News

The Campus Susta inabi l i ty Newsletter

Find out more:

http://bearlyuseddriv
http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/OS/greenevents.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/OS/greenevents.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/oshttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/oshttp://bearlyuseddrive.com/http://www.bfhpo.org/https://instant-scheduling.com/sch.php?kn=339960https://instant-scheduling.com/sch.php?kn=339960https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#ages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/calcaphttp://bearlyuseddrive.com/http://bearlyuseddrive.com/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/calcaphttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#ages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://instant-scheduling.com/sch.php?kn=339960https://instant-scheduling.com/sch.php?kn=339960https://instant-scheduling.com/sch.php?kn=339960https://instant-scheduling.com/sch.php?kn=339960http://www.bfhpo.org/http://bearlyuseddrive.com/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/oshttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/OS/greenevents.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/OS/greenevents.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/OS/greenevents.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/OS/greenevents.html


2/5

The San

Francisco

Bay Area's

15th An-

nual Bike to Work Day is on Thursday,May 14, 2009. Bike to Work Day is the pre-

mier bicycling event taking place in all of North-

ern California with nine Bay Area counties

participating. On Bike to Work Day, one of

many events taking place in May as part of

National Bike Month, Energizer Stations will

be set up during morning commute hours and

re-open during the evening commute so bicy-

clists can stop for refreshments, giveaways, and

bicycling information.

UC Berkeleys Energizer Station will be lo-

cated at the Telegraph entrance to Sproul

Plaza. From 7 to 10 am, free goodies, licens-

ing, tips, and maintenance will be provided by

Mikes Bikes and from 4 to 6 pm, free Chi-potle burritos will be handed out to those

biking home.

More than one million Bay Area residents live

within five miles of their workplace, an ideal

distance for bicycling. The work commute

only represents 23% of all trips, so consider

biking to stores, school and social events. In a

world concerned with climate change, conges-

tion and wasted time, why not bike?

Bi ke To Work Day - Thu rsd ay, May 14

Eco-Improved Pr int ingSimple Changes Save Lots of Paper

single use silverware, plates or cups will

be used; vegetarian options will be

provided; composting and recycling will

be available; and, special transit services

are offered to reduce the need to drive

to the event.

Summerfest, an annual celebration that

offers live entertainment, refreshments,

carnival games, and prizes for staff and

faculty, will be held onWednesday,

May 13th, 2009 from 1:30 to 3:30

p.m. on Memorial Glade. There will be

a Cal Staff Life After Five Showcase

where staff will exhibit their artistic

talents, crafts, and hobbies and a Green

Zone showcasing sustainability organi-

zation and efforts on campus and in the

community If you want to participate

in the Green Zone, contact Carol Al-

fano at [email protected].

Summerfest 2009 will be the first

(extra) large event certified as a Green

Event by the Office of Sustainability and

the Berkeley Events Network. A few

things that make this event GREEN: no

Page 2

VOLUME 6 May 2009

Cal Staf f Summerfes t 2009 Goes GREEN on May 13

Be a good citizen of Mother Earth with

these simple green printing practices.

Change your machine default

settings to duplex (2 sided) printing.

Expand the printable surface of

pages by decreasing margins, increasing

the print area by up to 32%!

UC system-wide Strategic Sourcing is

working with campus suppliers (Canon,

Xerox and Ricoh) to support these

efforts.

Your local Account Managers, Reps,

and Service Technicians for these com-

panies will be providing instructions on

how to change the default settings to

Bright Green News

Image courtesy of btwd.bayareabikes.org

Photo Courtesy ofhttp://summerfest.berkeley.edu/

Sign up for the Team Bike Challenge and

bicycle safety classes, and look for other

month-long activities throughout the East

Bay athttp://www.ebbc.org/btwd .

Email William Riggs at

[email protected] for local volun-

teer opportunities.

auto duplex printing and how to override

the duplex setting for single sided docu-

ments.

For more information contact your

local representative or

Sandy Macasieb at

[email protected]

To learn more about Summerfest and

volunteer opportunities, visithttp://

summerfest.berkeley.edu/.
mailto:[email protected]://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://www.ebbc.org/btwdhttp://www.ebbc.org/btwdmailto:[email protected]://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://summerfest.berkeley.edu/http://summerfest.berkeley.edu/mailto:[email protected]://www.ebbc.org/btwdhttp://summerfest.berkeley.edu/mailto:[email protected]


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Grant program. See the posters slideshow

online. Additionally, groups supported by

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) were dis-

played. Attendees learned about the goals of

each project and how they were making the

campus increasingly sustainable.

Next, Chancellor Birgeneau warmly wel-

comed attendees to the Sustainability Summit

and restated his commitment to "greening"

Cals campus. In recognition of those who

have led campus sustainability initiatives,

Chancellor Birgeneau presented the annual

Sustainability Awards, recognized the first

two Green Department Awards and an-

nounced the 2009 CACS green fund grant

recipients.

Chancellor Birgeneaus speech was followed

by encouraging words from Ian Kim of the

Ella Baker Center. Under the theme of "The

Future of Green Policy", he spoke of how

social change begins with the individual and

how sustainable policies are becoming recog-

nized across the nation.

Six break out sessions followed covering the

topics of regional and campus collaborations,

water and current campus policy and pro-

gram efforts.

After the event, the Department of Envi-

ronment, Health & Safety held a Strawberry

Creek Clean-Up. Participants had the op-

portunity to experience first-hand how

sustainability in the community begins with

individual action.(

The 6th Annual

Chancellors Advi-

sory Committee

on Sustainability

(CACS) Sustain-

ability Summit was

held on Earth Dayin the International

House. The

theme, Green: The

Color of Change,

focused on inform-

ing, inspiring, and

engaging members of the Cal Community. This

years Sustainability Summit was also the first certi-

fied Green Event on Campus.

The event began with a poster session displaying

various projects funded by the CACS Green Fund

Page 3

VOLUME 6 May 2009

UCB Sustainabi l i ty Summit 2009 - Green: The Color of Change

Bright Green News

Images courtesy of Kira Stoll

Posters on display at the Sustainability Summit

See the summit posters

Article by: Annelisa Luong

Administrative Intern, CACS

To see more summit photos, visit the slideshow.

More Bicycle Parking is on th e Way

On May 11, contractors began installing nearly 500 new

bicycle parking spaces at 18 locations throughout the UC

Berkeley central campus and at nearby UC build-

ings . Work is expected to be competed during the next

few weeks.

Over the past year the campus has seen a significant in-

crease in ridership (student bicycle commuting is up by 3%

from previous years), and bike racks are typically near or

over capacity on most days, prompting calls for new racks

from students, faculty, and staff across campus.

The Campus Bicycle Committee, the Parking & Transpor-

tation department and students have been instrumental in

bringing this new bike parking on line. Adding these new

racks should ease demand and encourage more commuting

to the campus by bicycle.

Find out about not-to-miss

campus sustainability

events year round

The Berkeley Institute for the Environ-

ment offers an extensive calendar listing

of campus events, lectures, exhibits and

more offered at UC Berkeley that have

sustainability related themes - this is a site

to bookmark! Sign up for the weekly

updates to find out about not-to-miss

events.

http://events.berkeley.edu/

index.php/calendar/sn/

enviro.html
http://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummitPosters#slideshowhttp://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummitPosters#330628594048042770http://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummithttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/enviro.htmlhttp://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummithttp://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummitPosters#330628594048042770http://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummitPosters#slideshow


4/5

Annually, the Chancellors Advisory Commit-

tee on Sustainability (CASC), recognizes cam-

pus members for their extraordinary contri-

butions to sustainability. This years

awardees:

Kameron Kitajima (Student Award) hasbeen a role model of the student sustainability

effort and has played a pivotal role in the

success of the Green Campus Program and

was a participant in Building Sustainability at

Cal.

Professor Dan Kammen (Faculty Award)

is a tireless advocate of sustainability, renew-

able energy, and progressive solutions at local

to international levels. He is a coordinating

lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change and teaches multiple

classes with a sustainability focus.

Theron Klos (Staff Award) is the Grounds

Operation Manager and has implemented a

successful sheet mulching program as a sus-

tainable method for weed suppression on the

UC Berkeley campus and has been instru-

mental in making the Strawberry Creek Res-

toration Project a success.

The Building Sustainability at Cal Pro-

gram (Group Award) is a student initiated

and run program that trains students to help

reduce the environmental footprint of cam-

pus buildings by creating awareness and iden-

2009 Susta inabi l i ty Award Winners

Tri l l ions of Spam E-mai ls = Ener gy Waste

"Is it Just Hot Air or Time to Throw in the

Towel?," a evaluation of hot air versus paper towel

hand drying in high-volume public restrooms

"You Gotta Carry that Weight, a project that

will replace an unreliable, inefficient pneumatic trash

compactor used for laboratory debris with a better

drum compactor currently located in an inconvenient

place

"Taking Out the Recycling, a project that will

improve the amount of recycling by residents of Uni-

versity Village and Smyth-Fernwald and provide totes

to allow easier separation of recyclables from non-

recyclables.

Each year the Chancellors Advisory Committee on Sustain-

ability (CACS), offers grants to promising sustainability pro-

jects.

This years grant projects are:

"Strawberry Fields Forever," a

project that will convert a lawn into acolorful, educational native plant land-

scape

"Its a Green Campus After All,"

an expansion ofGreen Campus

projects to educate the UC Berkeley

community about energy conservation.

Page 4

2009 CACS Green Fund Grant Reci pients

The junk e-mails that clutter up your inbox are

a colossal waste of energy. According to a

report released this week by computer security

company McAfee, spammers last year gener-

ated a whopping 62 trillion junk e-mails. Instead

of sending messages, the electricity could have

powered 2.4 million homes for a year or driven

a car around the planet 1.6 times, according to

the report.

That waste of energy is also polluting the envi-

ronment because anything powered by electric-

ity also emits greenhouse gases. McAfee

researchers say each junk e-mail emits 0.3

grams of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide

(CO2), which adds up to a lot.

Spam-related emissions for all e-mail users

world-wide in 2008 totaled 17 million metric

tons of CO2 (.2% of the total global emis-

sions).

Reduce the spamanytime you use a Web

site to participate in online discussions or

post comments, make sure your name is nothing

like your e-mail address. Also, think twice before

using the auto-complete feature on your browser

because it may allow spammers to harvest personal

information. Some experts also advise changing

your e-mail address yearly.

VOLUME 6 May 2009Bright Green News

tifying structural

and operational

changes to

improve opera-

tions.

Judy Chess(Special Recog-

nition Award) is

a campus staff

member, who

served as CACS

co-chair for over a year and helped to institution-

alize CACS activities into on-going practices of

campus operations.

To learn more about the awards, visit http://

sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/.

To read the complete article, visit ABC News.

Original article by Ki Mae Heussner

To see more awardee photos, visit the

slideshow.
http://bigideas.berkeley.edu/node/215http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/Story?id=7343518&page=1http://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummithttp://picasaweb.google.com/UCBerkeleySustainability/2009SustainabilitySummithttp://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/Story?id=7343518&page=1http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/awards/http://bigideas.berkeley.edu/node/215


5/5

Water Metering and Sub-

metering of UC Berkeley

Campus Buildings ($56,000)

Increase water efficiency by

connecting water meters in

several buildings to the online

server and install new toilet

fixtures in Wurster

Wurster Hall Compost Project

($3,000) Start a composting

program in Wurster Hall by

installing a sink to properly

clean out the compost bins

More information about this years appli-

cants as well as the 2008 grantees will be

available later this summer in the TGIF

annual report. For more information

about this and other news, visit http://tgif.berkeley.edu.

Better Bin ($3,500) Develop and test

market a comprehensive recycling and

trash bin for residence hall room use

BicyCal ($12,000) Increase usage and

awareness of bike-based transportation

for students, faculty, and staff; TGIF will

fund the Student Bike Cooperative

which will provide a central space for

bike maintenance and education

Center for Latin American Studies Car-

bon Smart and LEED-EB Certifica-

tion ($5,200) Will fund professional

and student assessments as part of the

CLAS initiative to achieve LEED-EB

status

Lawns to Meadows ($40,000) Prepare a

master plan to convert selected grass

lawns to regionally appropriate plants

and implement this program on two testsites

No More Down the Drain ($2,700)

Install a sand and sediment trap in the

ASUC Art Studio to reduce and recycle

clay and glazes that currently go down

the drain

Recycling at Cal ($55,000) - Increase

beverage container recycling by installing

more multi-material recycling containers

on campus and improving signage

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) has awarded a

total of $286,650 to ten projects to improve cam-

pus sustainability. Each grant, funded through a

$5 per semester student fee, is a new or innova-

tive project which will tackle a variety of environ-

mental issues at Cal from energy efficiency to

food sustainability.

The Office of Sustainability is one the

funded projectsreceiving $18,250! Talk-

ing Louder about Campus Sustainability (a

boisterous communications campaign) will

develop and implement a one-year comprehensive

marketing and outreach campaign to increase

awareness and involve more of the campus com-

munity in reducing environmental impacts. A

team of students will lead the campaign which will

focus on behavior changes while expanding the

culture of sustainability at UC Berkeley.

The other 2009 grantees:

Berkeley Student Food Cooperative

($91,000) Provide fresh, healthy,

environmentally sustainable, and ethni-

cally produced food at affordable prices

through a student-run food caf and

market

The NEW Green Fund Grant (TGIF) Projects

Page 5

VOLUME 6 May 2009Bright Green News

Building Sustainability at Cal students to in-

stall water saving aerators on 316 sinks in 13

campus buildings. It is projected that this will

annually save 3M gallons of water and

$13,700.

Custodial Green Program: Since the beginning

of 2007, Custodial Services has been implementing

the PPCS - Custodial Services Green Cleaning

Program by using ALPFA-HP all purpose Green

Clean product. This complies with the US GreenBuilding Council's LEED program requirements,

and this will help move UCB closer to being able

to meet LEED EB.

The green cleaning equipment and supplies are

resulting in higher productivity rates from

staff. Not only is this a cost savings, but the build-

ings are a healthier, cleaner and safer environment

for the students, faculty and staff. Currently, a

quarter of the campus buildings, including Doe

The Cal Green Environment Team

(CalGET)is PP-CS Sustainability

Team. CalGETs mission is to create, educate,

advocate and acknowledge the greening activities

of PP-CS. Some recent and upcoming activities of

CalGET include:

Establishing a sustainability hotline

Development of a new web site that will go

live by June 2009

Participation in campus outreach events

including Earth Week activities and Summerfest

Collaborating with Capital Projects to launch

a hands-on Retro-Commissioning training pro-

gram for PPCS trades shops, building managers

and project managers

CalGET and trade shops collaborated with

Physical Plant Campus Services (PP-CS) Sustainabi l ity Activ it ies

Library, Moffitt Library, Stanley Hall, and Uni-

versity Hall are being cleaned with green

cleaning supplies.

PPCS is also continuing to expand the use of

the ProTeam Hepa vacuums, the Microfiber

Mop/Dust Mop, and the Green Foam Hand

Soap.

Beginning this month, PPCS will be imple-

menting an additional

portion of the Custodial

Green program; all of the

Campus restrooms will

be supplied with 100%

recycled, chlorine free

and no bleach hand towel/

bathroom tissue.

For More Information

Contact CalGET members :

Ali Mansourand Sara Shirazi
http://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/

bright green newsletter, may 2009 ~ uc berkeley office of sustainability

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