bright green newsletter, april 2010 ~ uc berkeley office of sustainability

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range of questions from the audi-ence.

Studentsand staff alsosharedinforma-tion on their sustainability projectsthrough a well-received postersession. The final event gave about500 people the chance to see anadvanced screening of Dis-neynatures Oceans.

The 7th Annual Sustainability

Summit , sponsored by the Chan-cellors Advisory Committeeon Sustainability , covered it all bottled water, native plants, com-posting, local and organic food, andwas fun and informative at the sametime. The Chancellor spoke about

the importance of clean and acces-

sible water and about recent re-search on how the campus useswater, while a panel of students andadministrators answered a wide

Summit : Sus ta inab i l i t y a t UC Berke ley

Bright Green NewsThe Campus Sus ta inab i l i ty Newsle t t e r

VOLUME 15

April 2010

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Meet Our Sustainability Team !

Check out our website:http://sustainability.berkeley.edu

TheOff ice

Upda te

IN THIS ISSUE

Sustainability Summit

CACS Recognizes Innovationand Achievement

Center of Latin American Stud-ies becomes a Green Dept

April 2010 Student SustainabilityForum Recap

2010 The Green Initiative Fund(TGIF) Grantees

Naked Bear MagazineFoodSustainability Journalism DeCal

How Much Water Do We Use?

UCB Embraces Bike to Work DayThurs, May 13th

UC Walks: Cal Walks at Work DayWed, May 19th

UCB Finalist in Staples GlobalEcoEasy Challenge

Cal Days Sustainability WalkingTour

Exchange itUC BerkeleysOnline Materials Swap

Missed the Summit? Watch thevideotape .

At the Summit,the 2010 Sus-

tainabilityAward win-ners wererecognized fortheir contribu-tions to help the campus to meetits sustainability goals. Congratula-tions to all the winners!

Irene Seliverstov , for her work with Building Sustainability at Caland custodial staff and campusplumbers.

Prof. Cris Benton , for his combi-nation of technical knowledge andefforts to teach and produce actualresults.

Rebecca Anderson for her work to help Cal achieve sustainability inits operations and to be an examplefor other institutions to follow.

The I Heart Tap Water Cam-

paign, for reducingcampus usage of plas-

tic water bottles by atleast 25%.

CACS also announcedthe recipients of the

2010 Chancellors Green FundGrants , a program that enablesmembers of the UC Berkeley cam-pus community to undertake pro-

jects that will create a greener,more environmentally sustainablecampus.

Green-Lighting McCone Hall Morwenna Rowe, Green Campus.Lighting retrofit to improve tech-nology and motivate occupants.

Harnessing People Power Maha Haji and the Human PowerGeneration Team. Development of a prototype exercise machine togenerate usable electricity.

Counting Bikes on Campus

William Riggs, Transportation Plan-ner. Purchase two pedestrian and

bike counters to improve data onbicycle and pedestrian routing andsafety.

Rags to Riches KimberlyLam, ReUSE. Purchase of canvasbins to expand program that col-lects and resells used clothing fromresidence halls.

Lights, Camera, Action Kathleen Kelly, Capital Projects.Partial funding of a portable video-conference system to reduce busi-ness travel emissions.

Strawberry Fields Forever and Ever Theron Klos,Grounds Department. Expandingan existing water-saving/native plantproject to include educational sign-age and a larger garden.

CACS Recognizes Innova t ion and Achievement

Check the CACS websit e in Mayfor more summit details.

Photo credits: Kira Stoll
http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/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]://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/62295986103http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/62295986103mailto:[email protected]://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/about/index.shtml#contacthttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/about/index.shtml#contacthttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/video.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacshttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacshttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/video.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/about/index.shtml#contacthttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/about/index.shtml#contacthttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/about/index.shtml#contacthttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/about/index.shtml#contactmailto:[email protected]://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/62295986103http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/62295986103http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/62295986103http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkeley-CA/UC-Berkeley-Office-of-Sustainability/62295986103https://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]://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/summit/


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VOLUME 14 Apr 2010Bright Green News

C en te r o f La t i n A m eri ca n S tud i e s becomes a Gre en Depa r t m en tWith the help of Building Sus-tainability @ Cal (BS@Cal)and the I Love Tap Water campaign , the Center of Latin American Studies (CLAS) was awarded the Gold

level (with 17 points) of thegreen department certificationprogram. CLAS started their goalof becoming a green depart-ment in September 2009 havinghired a BS@Cal intern, McCallWood, a month earlier to helpthe department and 1920s campus buildingachieve LEED Existing Building: Operations andMaintenance certification.

The CLAS staff first gathered together to discusswhat green department certification is, what

new responsibilities there would be, and what toexpect. An initial Building Wide Survey/ Walk-Through was done to help determine whichpoints would be possible and appropriate to ob-tain, and the survey itself became the source of one innovation point. The results showed thatstaff members were often turning off lights andprinting double sided but could improve by turn-ing off their computers and using more day-lighting.

The next step in certification was the creation of a departmental Green Team, which boostedenthusiasm and the idea-building process. Staff members were emailed the green department pledge and, together with the intern, began im-plementing projects to obtain points. Initiativesincluded setting up One Side Clean (OSC) bins,ordering more recycle bins, contacting studentgroup ReUse for a satellite station, hosting agreen event , increasing signage, and getting ridof bottled water. Staff enthusiasm and educationwere indispensable in eliminating bottled wateras everyone learned the dangers of BPA and theenvironmental impacts of bottled water. Afterorganizing a $30 test to evaluate the water qual-ity of the buildings supply, the intern partnered

with the I Heart Tap Water campaign fromTang Center for posters and stickers that re-minds people to drink tap water. Also, by gettingrid of the two dispenser towers, CLAS reducedits electricity consumptionsaving around $70 a year.

Some points were difficultto obtain, such as default-ing all printers to doublesided and getting rid of unnecessary appliances,because these changesrequired multiple discus-sions and brain stormingsessions with the staff about behavior. But, ulti-mately, CLAS and the intern determined thatplugging seldom used appliances into powerstrips and leaving the power strips in the off

position was the best solution for appliances thatcould not be eliminated. In the future CLAS mayimplement a composting program.

Thanks to McCall Wood who provided theabove-mentioned information and statistics.

Article by Joanna Young

Apr i l 2010 S tuden t Sus ta inab i l i t y Forum RecapAttendees at the April 2010 SustainabilityForum were able to have a very informativeQ&A session and discussion with the multitudeof speakers there. With 12 presenters whosefoci ranged from a renewable energy think tank (Terrene Synergetic s) to a new online ex-change program ( http://exchange.berkeley.edu ), the forum gavestudents a chance to learn what was accom-plished this semester by environmental campusgroups and what to look forward to.

The Strawberry Creek Restoration Project (SCRP) announced that its volunteer-based ef-forts will be continuing over into summer, whilethe Berkeley Student Food Collective (BSFC) reminded the audience of the tasty sand-wiches they sell on Mondays next to The Local,a student-run farmers market on Upper Sproul.Some news that was brought up included the 1stpublication of Naked Bear magazine by theDeCal Class Food Sustainability Journalism, the

increase in money received by The GreenInitiative Fund (TGIF), and the call for stu-dents to be a part of the Chancellors Advi-sory Committee on Sustainability (CACS),a group of faculty, staff, and students dedicatedto environmental management and sustainabledevelopment on campus.

As each of the pre-senters took thestage with their

PowerPoint slides,attendees listenedcarefully in order tocross off words on their meeting bingo sheetsand after all the presentations were given andprizes, like reusable, compact utensils and aChico bag, were handed out, everyone was ableto chat, snack, and mingle on organic fruits,vegetables, and crackers.

Thank you so much for attending or presenting

Learn more about greening CLAS, click her e.To learn more about green department

certification, click here .

Photo credit: Farah Ereiqat

at the April 2010Sustainability Forum!We hope to see yousoon again in Septem-ber 2010! The Power-Point presentationand forum notes willbe posted onlinesoon.

The Student Sus-

tainability Forum is hosted by the Office of Sustainability, held twice a semester, and is dedi-cated towards bringing together all those inter-ested in the environment and bridging the gapsbetween environmental clubs.

Photo credit: Kira Stoll

Photo credit: Kim LaPean

To learn more about the forum, click here .To see pictures of the April 2010 Sustainabil-

ity Forum, click here .

Article by Joanna Young

Photo credits: Kira Stol
http://www.clas.berkeley.edu/http://www.clas.berkeley.edu/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://www.aj-treat.com/terrene-synergetics/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://strawberrycreek.berkeley.edu/index.htmlhttp://berkeleystudentfoodcollective.org/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/http://www.clas.berkeley.edu/About/goinggreen.htmlhttp://www.clas.berkeley.edu/About/goinggreen.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/gcerts/index.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=172128&id=62295986103&ref=mfhttp://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=172128&id=62295986103&ref=mfhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/gcerts/index.shtmlhttp://www.clas.berkeley.edu/About/goinggreen.htmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://berkeleystudentfoodcollective.org/http://strawberrycreek.berkeley.edu/index.htmlhttp://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://www.aj-treat.com/terrene-synergetics/http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/pages/projects/forum.shtmlhttp://www.clas.berkeley.edu/http://www.clas.berkeley.edu/http://www.clas.berkeley.edu/http://www.clas.berkeley.edu/


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The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) has awarded14 projects funding as part of the 2010 grant cy-cle. These projects, funded through a $5.00/semester student fee, address the campus envi-ronmental impact and through a variety of pro-

jects works to reduce the University footprint.

The Office of Sustainability is a recipient of one of these grants. The Teaching, Learning &Change (TLC) project will provide a series of training and mentoring experiences for studentsand staff on a wide variety of sustainability topics.The TLC will be a year-long effort beginning in

July 2010 and through an eclectic assortment of experiential opportunities, the TLC will work with campus students and staff to evaluate andimplement both infrastructure and behavioralimprovements related to state-of-the-art sustain-ability practices. Through hands-on experiences,participants will gain insights as well as work com-petencies and products important to career ad-vancement in the sustainability field. The TLCproject will include a job shadowing program, staff sustainability training, multi-media communica-tions production, and an assortment of sustain-ability internships for students.

TGIF is awarding$249,150 this year thefollowing projects:

Bike to Work Day

Regional Sponsorship ($2,500) Funds re-gional sponsorship forBTWD 2010

Cal Habitat Restora-tion Student Leader-ship Training ($17,000) a program to trainstudents to promote and lead volunteer habitat

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2010 The Green In i t i a t ive Fund Gran tees


restoration events

Custodial Staff Out-reach ($15,000) Conduct an outreach / education campaign be-tween custodial staff and building occupants to

boost communication about sustainabilityEnd the Cycle:Sustainable Laun-dry Campaign ($3,100) Imple-ment a sustainablelaundry educationcampaign in theresidential halls

Greening Kroeber Art Studios and Bath-rooms ($5,000) Develop a design and market-ing campaign to create awareness in Kroeber Hallabout sustainability and waste reduction

Human Power Genera-tion at the RSF ($15,000) Retrofit a stationary bike andelliptical machines at the RSFto derive power from humanuse

Hydration Station Instal-lation and Design Guide-lines for Existing Buildings ($27,000) develop design

guidelines for the entire campus on hydrationstations and install two pilot stations in Dwinelleand MLK Union

I Heart Tapwater Campaign ($4,500) Hiretwo interns to support outreach efforts of the IHeart Tapwater Campaign

Mobilizing Sustainability at Berkeley: The

Greening Operations(GO!) Team fund a group

of students to provide buildingaudits and green event out-reach on a case-by-case basis

Reduction in Chemical Useat the UC Botanical Gar-dens Establish a compost tea brewing applica-tion program as a part of an integrated pest man-agement program

Teaching, Learning, and Change ($16,650) Create a year-long career training and mentoringeffort for students and staff

UC Berkeley Energy Symposium ($5,000) Sponsor the 2011 UC Berkeley Energy Sympo-sium, a clean energy conference, to green theevent

Real-time water metering in campus build-ings: making blue part of a green initia-tive ($58,600) Install water meters in eightbuildings and increase publicity and outreachactivities

Wurster Hall Sub-Metering ($56,000) In-stall energy sub-meters in five floors of Wurster

Hall to help achieve LEED:EBOM certificationMore information about all of these projects willbe released in June as part of the TGIF 2010 An-nual Report. Get on the email list to receive anotice about the annual report or visit http://tgif.berkeley.edu .

Cal i fo rn ia Higher Educa t ion Sus ta inab i l i ty Confe rence 2010

Register now for the 9th AnnualCalifornia Higher Education Sus-tainability Conference , held from

June 20-23, 2010 at the Los Ange-les Trade-Technical College .

There you can learn proven solutionsfrom your peers, discuss best practicesdesigned for California campuses, meetstudent leaders creating change, meetgreen business leaders at the exhibitorshow, and meet the decision-makersfrom the three higher education sys-

tems in California.

Article by Nicole Leung

For more information, click here.

Photo credit: Joanna Young
http://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/?q=node/2http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://2010higheredsustainabilityconference.org/index.phphttp://2010higheredsustainabilityconference.org/index.phphttp://2010higheredsustainabilityconference.org/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/https://calmail.berkeley.edu/manage/list/listinfo/[email protected]://sustainability.berkeley.edu/os/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/?q=node/2


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Naked Bear Magaz ineFood Sus ta inab i l i ty Journa l i sm DeCalApril 22, 2010 not only marked a day for theEarth, but also the day that the Naked Bear took its first steps. The Naked Bear is a student-produced, student-published magazine aiming toeducate and inform the campus community aboutfood sustainability issues and practices. Jenna

Kingkade had the idea of creating an educationalmagazine when she became a Sustainable FoodEducator with Cal Dining. I was frustrated that alot students didnt know how to eat sustainablyor dont care, Kingkade admitted. I created ablog where we posted articles about how to eatsustainably, but we wanted to produce somethingpeople could pick up.

After applying forBRITAs Filter for Good Eco -Challenge, her idea

became one of fivewinners to receive a

grant of $10,000. They used the funds to print10,000 copies, half of which they distributed overtwo days. The other half will be distributed toincoming-freshman.

An exciting part of the production process was inthe design of the DeCal class for the contributorsto the Naked Bear . Kingkade had met MichaelPollan at the College of Letter and Sciences Eat,Learn, Live event and asked him if he would beinterested in advising a DeCal on food journalism.

The two teamed up and created the syllabus, alist of readings, and guest speakers.

The stories in the issuecover a range of topics,including local farmersmarkets, honey producedby an Oakland beekeeper, and a personal

account of changing to agluten-free diet. More-over, the articles in themagazine are as diverse asthe body of writers whoconstituted the class. TessMcEnulty, an Earth andPlanetary Science gradu-ate student, chose to takethe class because of her interest in re-buildingthe food system in the US. In her piece, she de-scribes how the discovery of her allergy led toher realization of how gluten was ubiquitous inalmost every corner of the grocery store, andher diet shifted to eating more whole foods.McEnulty was stunned to learn that approxi-mately 2.5 million people in the US live withundiagnosed forms of gluten sensitivity. It isagonizing for me to know how many people areundiagnosed and suffering when the solutioncould be as simple as removing gluten from theirdiets, commented McEnulty.

The DeCal focused on several aspects of journal-ism and served to teach students how to teachtheir peers. They began with an introduction toelementary journalism, covering skills such ashow to pick sources, how to conduct interviews,

and how to make future stories.While writing about food mayseem like a piece of cake, King-kade knows that it is much moredifficult than that: There aremany ways to approach food

journalism. You dont want towrite it like a Wikipedia entry,but you want it to be informativeand easy to read. An importantaspect to the magazine wasreaching out to students frommany disciplines, not just onesthat were already interested inthe subject. The class also heard

from guest speakers on how to write a success-ful story, including a writer from the Edible East Bay magazine and the founder of the blog Ethicu-rean and watched documentaries like King Corn and Food Inc .

The magazine allowed an opportunity to un-buckle and expand the mind, to challenge normsof the American food culture, and integrateother ideas. As Kingkade replied, it was largely alearning experiment. I like the potential that theidea had. These are students arent necessarilystudying food sustainability.so its a learningprocess for them too. I thought it was neat thatwe can create a chain where were educatingeach other on things that really matter.

Article by Vickie Ly

Read the magazine online

How M uch Water Do We Use?In response to consecutive yearsof drought, the state of Califor-nia has passed water conserva-tion legislation, which calls for a20% conservation mandate forurban areas and increased meas-

ures to protect area water resources. Concernsabout water and possible future rationing orprice increases also prompted the ChancellorsAdvisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) tocommission this research report. CACS soughtto better understand baseline campus water con-sumption and identify areas of opportunities forconservation, with a focus on domestic and indus-trial use of potable water in campus buildings.

Joanna Zhang, a junior Industrial Engineeringmajor, was charged with conducting the research.

The results are interesting. The campus currently

spends approximately $4 million on water and

sewer fees. The CACS report found that abouthalf of the water consumed in 2008 was domes-tic (toilets, urinals, showers, and faucets), dividedequally between residence halls and all othercampus buildings. About one-fifth of usage wasin campus lab buildings (excluding their domesticusage), with irrigation and the steam plant eachusing about 10% of the total.

To put these percentage in perspective, the cam-pus currently uses just over 660 million gallonsper year-an average of 35 gallons per personeach day. While total water consumption(excluding residence halls)has decreased by over 15%since 1990, we are still oneof the largest users of wa-ter in the area. This reduc-tion was achieved through

an improvements to the

efficiency of our irrigation system, from buildingretrofits, and from the installation of a limitednumber of more efficient bathroom fixtures.

But how easily can we make further reductions?The research team looked at various water con-servation opportunities. They found that a $1.5

million investment could fund seven projects thatwould reduce water usage by around 8% andsave the campus $240,000 per year. They alsoidentified other possible savings from reducingusage in residence halls by changing behavior andinstalling new equipment like lower-flow showerheads. Anecdotal evidence shows that eachresident showers for 20-30 minutes per day,these projects could bring the total reduction inwater usage to 10% below current levels.

More information is available in thepreliminary water research repor t .
http://calfoodies102.blogspot.com/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.ethicurean.com/http://www.ethicurean.com/http://caldining.berkeley.edu/NakedBearMagazine.pdfhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/general_cacs_pdfs/CACS%20Water%20Research%20March%202010%20Draft.pdfhttp://sustainability.berkeley.edu/cacs/general_cacs_pdfs/CACS%20Water%20Research%20March%202010%20Draft.pdfhttp://caldining.berkeley.edu/NakedBearMagazine.pdfhttp://www.ethicurean.com/http://www.ethicurean.com/http://www.ethicurean.com/http://www.ethicurean.com/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.ediblecommunities.com/eastbay/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://www.filterforgood.com/ecochallenge/http://calfoodies102.blogspot.com/


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UCB E mbra ces B ike to Work DayT hurs day, May 13th , 201 0!Rejuvenate yourself on your wayto finals by participating in the BayAreas 16th annual Bike to

Work Day on Thursday May13 th , 2010 . Whether you arefamiliar with the event and partici-

pated last year or are new to theBay Area, be sure to join thecrowd this year to bolster human-powered transportation. Becausebikes use no fuel and take less energy to makethan a car, bicycling significantly reduces transpor-tation emissions while reducing traffic congestion.

On May 13 th, energizer stations located along bikecommute routes will provide free beverages,snacks, and encouragement to bicyclists. WilliamRiggs of UCBs Physical & Environmental Planningdepartment announced that this years campus

energizer station event located at the entranceto Sproul Plaza will have extended morning

hours from 7 a.m. to 11a.m. to allow for morepeople to gain goodies.Due to prior successfulturnouts, UCB has ordered300 more goodie bags for

this year so that everyonewho participates has anopportunity to get one. Asa result, we will have the

single largest Bike to Work Day station in theEast Bay.

Riggs notes the importance of alternative trans-portation to campus sustainability goals and ef-forts such as installing over 500 new bike parkingspaces and joining Zimride are just a few of theways the campus supports this.

But Riggs points at the bigger picture and urgesus to think about our impact beyond the campus:

UC Walks: Cal Walk s a t Work DayWedne sday, May 19, 201 0

UC Berkeley will celebrate the first annual, sys-

tem-wide UC Walks on Wednesday, May 19,2010 . Faculty and staff are encouraged to committo a 30-minute walk on this National EmployeeHealth and Fitness Day for their health and thehealth of the planet.

UC Walks: Cal Walks at Work Day campusevent will include four organized campus walks allcollectively ending at the Campanile for some funwalking-based activities, information and lightrefreshments from noon to 1:30 pm. Rememberto BYOB: Bring Your Own Bottle, of water!Water will be available at the Campanile for refill-

ing bottles.

Registered partici-pants get a freeUC Walks t-shirt(while supplieslast) and earneligibility for prize

drawings whichinclude iPod shuf-fles, hats, pe-dometers andmore! You can register to commit to fit a walk into your workday or to walk with any of theorganized walks.

This event is coordinated by Health*Matters andco-sponsored with Kaiser Permanente and Stay-Well Health Management. For event informationand to register, see the CalWalks page here .

UCB Fina l i s t in S tap les Globa l EcoEasy Cha l lengeExplosi-Divas , a team of women undergraduatemechanical engineering students, were the run-ners-up in the Global EcoEasy Challenge , sponsored by Staples. The Challenge was lookingto find the next environmentally-preferable officeproduct among university teams from around theworld.

After being named one of seven finalists for theirEco-Stapler , the team presented details of theirmini-stapler made of green materials to distin-guished panel of judges. Their product was notedas being light and functional and an eco-conscious alternative to the conventional sta-pler.

Plus it has a captivat-ing design. Con-gratulations to theExplosi-Divas!

Article by Lisa McNeilly

Active Workstyle Tips for fitting

fitness into your workday-

-Allot time to walk or bike to meetings on campus

a healthy alternative!-Take the stairs instead of the elevator burn calo-ries, not electricity!

-Use public transportation to commute to work andcount on the walk from the transportation stop toyour work location as part of your daily fitness.

-Schedule walk & talk meetings.

-Join the Health*Matters Walking Group andwalk any M, W, F, 12:10 12:50 pm.

While many of us frame how we travel to cam-pus within the story of our daily lives, therereally is a larger role we each play in improvingthe regional transportation network and air qual-ity.

When joining us for Bike to Work Day, remem-ber to practice safe cycling. The East Bay BikeCoalition is sponsoring free bike safety classes incoordination with Bike to Work month. Sinceour campus has a unique setting of urban hillsthat generate a lot of speed, slow means safe. Itsimportant to acknowledge shared bike and pe-destrian routes by following designated dismountareas.

Article by Nicole Campbell

Learn more about campus bicycle initiatives here and find out about other exciting events taking place during Mays National Bike Month .

Article by Nicole Campbell

Photo credit: Kim LaPean

Photo credit: Delicious.com
http://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://www.zimride.com/http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/facstaff/healthmatters/CalWalks.shtmlhttps://ecoeasychallenge.com/pages/TeamBio4.htmlhttps://ecoeasychallenge.com/http://www.ebbc.org/?q=safetyhttp://pt.berkeley.edu/around/bike/infohttp://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://pt.berkeley.edu/around/bike/infohttp://www.ebbc.org/?q=safetyhttps://ecoeasychallenge.com/https://ecoeasychallenge.com/pages/TeamBio4.htmlhttp://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/facstaff/healthmatters/CalWalks.shtmlhttp://www.zimride.com/http://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://www.youcanbikethere.com/http://www.youcanbikethere.com/


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Cal Days Sust a inab i l i t y Walki ng Tour The Office of Sustainabilitys studentcommunications team enthusiasticallywelcomed prospective students, cur-rent faculty, and alumni on its Sustain-ability Walking Tour on Cal Day.

According to Princeton Review , two-thirds of university applicants say aschools environmental report cardwould influence their enrollment. UCBearned a spot in Princeton Reviews high-est green honor roll ranking , so the SustainabilityWalking Tour set out to demonstrate and fosterour environmental awareness and commitmentby presenting various sustainability hot-spots that

passionatestaff, faculty,students, andalumni havecreated.

The one-hour tourhighlightedfront-runningcampus sus-tainability

efforts such as installing semi-permeable paversto reduce pollutants in storm-water runoff, cre-ating re-use centers for materials exchange, and

increasing natural light in buildings.

Even if prospective studentsexcited but over-whelmed by Cal Days craziness-- did not get achance to go on the tour, I believe they wereable to observe and feel our dedication to envi-ronmental action through the presence of awalking tour focused on sustainability, noted anOffice of Sustainabilitys student communicationsassociate.

Check out the Sustainability Walking Tour Bro-chure online via the Office of Sustainabilitys

website . Article by Nicole Campbell

Exchange i tUC B erke leys Onl ine Mate r ia l s Swap

Wouldnt it be great if everything were free?Well, log onto the new UC Berkeleys OnlineMaterials Exchange (OME) and you will entera new world.The Online Materials Exchange is the brain-

child of ReUSE , a student run program in theRecycling and Refuse department, focused onconnecting the campus community through reus-ing and recycling materials. The club hosts semi-annual events to promote the reuse of readers orclothes and offers reuse stations on campusstocked with paper, binders, notebooks, andother school supplies on an ongoing basis. Whilethese initiatives have been well-received, formerReUSE student managers Halley Finkel and SarahCowan wanted to expand the idea by incorporat-ing larger objects, like furniture and appliances,and providing an on-line forum to do so.

According to Cowan, OME sort of emerged outof popular demand. People expressed their desirefor a place where people could obtain new orused items or offer their unwanted goods toothers, and was Berkeley-specific. Cowan felt thatby connecting the UC Berkeley community, ex-changing goods would feel more secure thancontacting strangers on Craigs List. ReUSEwanted to keep everything on the forum free toinsure that items arent lost in convoluted legal

and logistical issues. Also, by putting par-ticipants directly in control of the ex-change, the trade doesnt require a mid-dle-man and can be more time efficient.

Funded by a grant in 2009 from The Green Initiative Fund and supportedby a Chancellors Advisory Committee onSustainability internship grant and the

dedicated work of students, UC BerkeleysOnline Materials Exchange was realized.

OME is simple and requires only a couple minutesto register and get started. The materials ex-

change is open to campus students, faculty andstaff. You need to have a berkeley.edu emailto participate.

If you want to get rid of something, you can postsomething by clicking on one of the five categories that your object falls under.Then, click on the link that says "post new topic".This brings you to a page where you can fill outall the information about the object. The post willbe placed online automatically and, if people wantthe item, they will contact you by email and youcan decide how/where to meet and carry out the

exchange.An interesting aspect to OME is theCommunity section. The "Community" sectionis just a place where the Berkeley community cantalk about whatever they want, explains market-ing co-director Annie Davis. Besides building ahealthier environment, the site also works tounite the community, since community involve-ment in small local projects like this is crucial tosuccess. In the "community" section, you canpublicize "green" events and discuss local events

that are being held.

The OME student team, comprised of web mas-ter Tonia Beglari, marketing co-directors AnnieDavis and Jing Pan, and current ReUSE managerKimberly Lam willbe loosely regulat-ing the site tomake sure no mis-hap occurs. It isnotable that mate-rials purchasedwith university funds with an original value of $5,000+, or with a University Property ID# ortag cannot be posted on the Exchange. The teamwill be consistently re-evaluating its success overtime and considering new options to make thesite better. Since it is a pilot program, it functionson a relatively simple and easy basis. Once peopleget accustomed, they will be on the ball to im-prove the site.

Students excitement in the project may be thekey to the growth of OME. They have alreadyreceived a lot of feedback and curious views.According to Davis, within five hours (7:15pm-12:15pm) on April 20 th, the Exchange homepagewas loaded 156 times. Not bad, considering thesite officially launched two days afterwards onThursday, April 22 nd.

Article by Vickie Ly

Sign up today and check outall the re-usable goods:

http://exchange.berkeley.edu !

Photo credit: Joanna Young
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtmlhttp://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtmlhttp://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtmlhttp://www.sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://www.sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://reuse.berkeley.edu/About_Us.htmlhttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://tgif.berkeley.edu/drupal-6.4/index.phphttp://reuse.berkeley.edu/About_Us.htmlhttp://exchange.berkeley.edu/http://www.sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://www.sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://www.sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://www.sustainability.berkeley.edu/http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtmlhttp://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtmlhttp://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtmlhttp://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/07/27_green.shtml

bright green newsletter, april 2010 ~ uc berkeley office of sustainability

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