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“The Sustainability/Climate Change Task Force worked over the summer and early this semester to make our campus a greener place to work, study and live. The Task Force is looking into ways to increase our commitment to recycling, alternative transportation, and student involvement in activities connected to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly campus. Faculty on campus are meeting to discuss new courses, new majors and minors and new research and community service activities related to sustainability, social responsibility and care for the environment. Everyone wants to do their part so if you want to get involved, look for information in the newsletter, in your residences and in events on campus and become part of the green revolution at USD.” Be Blue - Go GreenMichel A. Boudrias, Ph. D. Chair Sustainability & Climate Change Task Force Sustainability Task Force UpdatesThe work of the Sustainability/Climate Change Task Force continues into FY 2008-2009 with the following members appointed by Roy Heynderickx:
Academics In Action
Since last spring, there have been two very exciting academic developments related to Sustainability: 1. Energy Policy Initiatives Center publishes San Diego County Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Funded by the San Diego Foundation, San Diego Association of Governments, and NRG Energy, Inc., the inventory is the first report of its kind in San Diego, perhaps in California, says says Scott Anders, Director of EPIC. “We undertook this task to provide fact-based information about the sources of greenhouse emissions in our region in order to help local and regional decision-makers prioritize actions as they consider ways to reduce emissions.” A joint effort between EPIC and USD’s Chemistry/Biochemistry Department, the project calculated historical greenhouse gas emissions form 1990 to 2006 using best available data, then estimating future emissions to 2020. The charts and graphs in the report visually describe the sources of emissions in the region and the changes over time. 2. Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate Launches First Certificate in Sustainable Development. It is a comprehensive program for professionals interested in better understanding the mandated, complex, and time-consuming processes that are involved in land use decisions. The program is designed to clarify the entitlement and permitting process, as well as the environmental impact assessment. It will help participates understand how to incorporate sustainable measures in their projects through site planning, building design, and energy-efficient approaches. This continuing education program partners with USD’s Office of Corporate and Professional Education. Additional good news: SDG&E has offered ten full scholarships for students who work for local government and nonprofit organizations. External support of this nature is critical to all our sustainability efforts. Business Adaptations Toward Sustainability
This new water delivery service gives us major savings and benefits including expansion of vendor services on campus, increased support for special events, and special "at home" discounts for USD employees and alumni. Sparkletts provides five gallon bottled water service, reverse osmosis units and free trade certified office coffee service. Contact UR’s Marketing and Strategic Partnerships with questions. Recycling Update
Lou Magana (Manager, General Services, Facilities Management) reports expansion of USD’s recycling program which had its beginnings in 1989 through the efforts of the Associated Students’ Conservation Club. Paper recycling was added, with all offices and classrooms receiving blue recycling wastebaskets that accept both white and mixed papers. Comingled recycling dumpsters have been located throughout campus. All residential units have one blue recycling wastebasket for use by the students. Currently, all recycling bins will accept commingled recyclables, which includes commingled beverage containers and mixed paper. At a transfer station in El Cajon, Waste Management Inc. separates the recyclables, which they pick up at USD on Tuesdays and Fridays. Inkjet/toner cartridges can be recycled throughout campus. Inkjet cartridges can be sent by intercampus mail to the General Services office. Toner cartridges can be collected by calling ext. 4250 to place a work request to pick it up. These eventually are recycled or remanufactured by the company. For E-waste such as cell phones, computers, monitors, electronic devices, call ext. 4250 for pick up. The conservation and recycling programs currently in operation through Facilities Management include:
Water 2 Save (W2S) Project Update
W2S will prepare water usage comparison reports, internet access to irrigation data via a designated website, and other services related to optimization of water usage. W2S provides all labor, equipment and materials for the installation of 5 WaterLink units, and the support required to implement the water management service. Total project cost is $22,427 over a five year period. Roger Manion, Assistant Vice President, Facilities Management, expects the installation to occur within the next month. Even without the Water 2 Save Project, USD has made a significant difference in water use as Roger’s department responded to the San Diego Mayor’s 20/20 request. Since March of last year, 15 million gallons of water have been saved at USD. This was accomplished by cutting back one or two minutes of irrigation at each station on campus. Since irrigation represents 30% of the water use on campus, this is a significant savings that will continue to increase as plant materials adapt over time to the availability of less water. Students Embrace Sustainability
The CASA group collaborated with AS, creative marketing, residence life, auxiliary services and various faculty/staff members to help make these events successful. One of our sophomore RAs, Liz Crosby, spent her freshman year carrying recycling she sorted out from her hall all the way from the valley to a recycling center up Linda vista, and this year she makes sure her hall's recycling gets sorted out and drives it up to a recycling place where she gets money for it that she uses for hall events. She also participated in the panel discussion on sustainability that Catholic Relief Services held. There are many students and groups around campus who do a lot though, she's just one I happen to know better. Overall I think it was a big success considering the time constraints we had in putting it all together, and the most important part of that was that we had people from all different parts of campus come together to help out with it. More importantly though, there's a lot of enthusiasm about improving on what we did this year and also making things like this happen year-round, not just on Earth Day. Sustainability Now Available at USD Bookstore
These products are taking increasingly diverse forms: soy-based or organic cotton clothing, highlighters made from recycled plastics, pencils made from sustainably harvested timber, jewelry and book bags that promote fair trade with developing countries, and many more. “We’re taking steps to become more globally conscious as a store and incorporate the campus initiative on sustainability into how we operate,” noted Kathy Missel, Associate Director of the USD Bookstore. “This is made easier by the growing number of everyday products that are produced in a sustainable way.” While the new sustainable section of the bookstore offers dozens of products, Kathy has some favorites that exemplify new ways of thinking about what we buy and how they are manufactured:
“There are many visible and invisible products that are produced in a more ecologically and globally responsible way,” Kathy observed. “Sometimes they cost a little more, like a fair trade bar of chocolate, but there is the potential for just about any product to be made in a more sustainable way – these are the kind of companies we are trying to partner with, even though their practices and methods of production are not always advertised or noticed.” Who’s Teaching Who About Sustainability?!
The “sustainability teachers” were amazed at how attentive the students were, how much they participated, how good their answers, and how quickly they learned. They soon found out why: these little children 1) already had a compost pile just outside their classroom and checked it daily; 2) knew the song “We are the Change” and knew what it meant; 3) already cautioned each other about using too many resources including monitoring the number of squirts of hand soap each one used; 4) were conversing with their parents about recycling; 5) planned to take recycling into their new Kindergarten classrooms and engage their teachers and classmates. (They’re 4 and 5 years old!) So, our congratulations go out to Grace Kelly-Pousson and the teachers and staff at the Manchester Family Child Development Center: you’re doing an awesome job of preparing the next generation to take on the responsibility of fixing what this one has messed up, and doing it with a spirit of mutual cooperation and collaboration! Bravo! Sierra Club Quiz: How Green is My Dorm Room?1. It's a hot day and the air is thick with the scent of your roommate's dirty socks. To make it more bearable while conserving the most energy, you should use a portable fan instead of a portable air conditioner -- because air conditioners use more energy. A typical air conditioner uses 12,000 BTU per hour in order to function. If the air conditioner is left on for 10 hours per day, it will use around 35 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy each day. Alternatively, a typical fan requires 50 watts of power for use. If the fan is also left on for 10 hours per day, then it uses only 0.5 kWh of energy each day. This is roughly 70 times less energy than is consumed by the portable AC. 2. Whether you're writing a term paper or adding photos from Saturday's water polo game to your Facebook page, your computer is likely a big part of your life. The average laptop uses only half as much energy as a desktop PC. False. If you took the "How Green Is My PC" quiz, you'll recognize this question. A laptop actually uses only about one-fifth as much energy as a typical desktop computer. As a college student you should seriously consider owning a laptop rather than a desktop -- not only for the energy-saving benefits but also for the ease of transport. If your roommate is being loud, just pack up your laptop and head to the library! 3. When watching a movie (What? You haven't seen Animal House?), to use the least amount of energy you put the DVD in: The laptop is the best answer in terms of total energy used during the movie; it uses 30 watts. The second-best choice is a desktop computer, which requires about 200 watts of power. An average 32-inch television screen uses 135 watts. A typical DVD player uses 100 watts of power, while a game console uses even more. An Xbox 360, for example, uses 187 watts. Thus, the third-best choice would be to play the movie in a DVD player and watch it on the television screen (about 235 watts), and the worst option is clearly the game console (about 315 watts). 4. Which of the following should no dorm room be without? All of the above. The powerstrip makes it easy to shut down or turn off energy "vampires" that would otherwise draw power 24/7. The coffee mug will save you a few cents and avoid wasting paper cups if you bring it to the local cafe for study sessions. And the extra wastepaper basket is an easy way to collect paper for recycling. Don't want to buy another basket? A cardboard box will work, too. Your school does recycle paper, right? If not, raise a ruckus. 5. Whether you share a restroom with your neighbors or have your own, everyone goes to the bathroom. (We learned that in kindergarten, remember?) Is there a more environmentally friendly alternative to standard toilet paper? Yes. Using recycled toilet paper can help prevent pollutants from entering marine ecosystems. The recycled papers are usually "processed-chlorine-free," which means that no compounds containing chlorine were used in the recycling process. These chlorinated compounds are often used to bleach the paper and can enter into waterways as runoff from factories. 6. Whether you're packing it with last night's leftover buffalo wings or a case of Red Bull to get you through late-night study sessions, a refrigerator that satisfies the EPA's Energy Star efficiency criteria requires 20 percent less energy than refrigerators manufactured before 1993. False. In fact, an Energy Star refrigerator uses about half as much energy as a refrigerator that was made before 1993. Furthermore, Energy Star refrigerators use 20 percent less energy than is required by current federal standards and 40 percent less than the standard models from 2001. Most college dorm rooms are relatively small and it is thus important to note that compact refrigerators and freezers that satisfy the Energy Star criteria also use 20 percent less energy than is required by current federal standards. But hey -- the best move would be to get rid of your mini-fridge altogether and ask your school to provide a standard size Energy Star fridge for communal use. One of these fridges will use far less energy than 20 mini-fridges, even if they are Energy Star rated. To learn more about Energy Star, visit www.energystar.gov. 7. Now that you've successfully pressed college officials for a communal Energy Star refrigerator, do you fill it with locally grown produce, or buy whatever is on sale at the supermarket? Local produce is usually the more sustainable option. Buying locally grown fruits and vegetables means that they were transported over a shorter distance to reach you. This means that less energy was used to keep the items fresh and refrigerated and that less pollution was released during transport. It also means that the produce reaches you sooner after it was harvested and is therefore more fresh and tasty! 8. When it's time to get horizontal (as in trying to get some sleep instead of pulling your fourth all-nighter in a row), you're glad you had the 'rents buy you organic linens because they're healthier for the environment -- and for you. True. Organic sheets (made from cotton, silk, or bamboo) keep toxic chemicals out of the environment and out of your body through all-natural manufacturing. For example, organic cotton is grown by using the natural ecosystem to control pests. On the other hand, conventional cotton contains many toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. These toxic chemicals can remain in the manufactured product and even be absorbed by your body. 9. Having a bright desk lamp is critical to late-night studying when you didn't get enough done while cramming at the beach using natural light. (Hey, it was perfect weather for a volleyball game!) Which should you have, an incandescent lamp or a compact fluorescent lamp? Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). A CFL is more efficient than a traditional incandescent lamp because CFLs emit light at specific frequencies whereas incandescent lamps emit a broader spectrum of light. This means that a portion of the spectrum emitted by an incandescent light source is not in the visible portion of the spectrum and therefore does not contribute to the strength of the light. Thus, CFLs are more efficient because less energy is lost to heat or other forms of radiation outside the visible spectrum. Also, for a given amount of visible light output, CFLs use about one quarter of the power required by incandescent bulbs and last longer as well. The lifespan of most CFLs is around 10,000 hours, while that of an incandescent bulb is around 1,000 hours. One concern you may have is that CFLs cost more than incandescent bulbs. However, the longer lifespan of the CFL more than compensates for its initially higher cost. Let's take a look. If an incandescent bulb costs $1 and lasts 1,000 hours, you will have to purchase 10 such light bulbs in order to last as long as a single CFL bulb. Thus you will actually have to pay $10 as compared with the $5 that you would have had to fork over initially for the CFL. And hey, they're using less energy, so the bill is less, too. Another issue between CFLs and incandescent bulbs is the mercury that could be released from a CFL if broken. While CFLs contain mercury (it is a very tiny amount: it would take 125 CFLs to equal the amount of mercury in an older thermometer), incandescent bulbs are actually responsible for more release of mercury into the environment. This is because, as we have seen, the incandescent bulbs are less energy efficient than CFLs and thus require more electricity production, which -- when provided by a coal-fired power plant -- is a large contributor of mercury into the environment. CFLs win again!
Comments from Our ReadersRegarding unnecessary wasting of water on campus, we have made great improvements on raising awareness of water conservation but the school itself is struggling to abide by such principles. The limited tray use in the caf is a good step, but I noticed this morning the use of power washers to clean the sidewalks: there was a huge stream of water washing down the gutters. There is no need for power washers on the sidewalks. I strongly urge the 'be blue go green' campaign to bring awareness of this issue to the maintenance committee. Kristen Gephart
I am a current employee and 1st year law student here at The University of San Diego and I bicycle commute to the university. I enjoy the 8.5 miles of my bicycle commute. It is great to be out of the car enjoying San Diego’s world famous weather and to know that I am doing my part by lowering my carbon footprint. The most difficult part of my commute is showering and changing into my work clothes once I arrive at the university. I have not found either showers or lockers available for use in the morning for cyclists. Gregory Pogue’s recent email on transportation savings listed “bicycle parking racks” as a service provided by the university to help alleviate surging fuel prices. What good are bike racks if showers and lockers are not provided for the sweaty commuter? Will the University of San Diego be putting in showers and lockers for those of us who bicycle to campus? With rising gas prices and the university’s commitment to sustainability, providing facilities for cyclists seems like low hanging fruit to help us reach our goal of sustainability. Gary Grumbley
So much of our campus landscaping is not drought tolerant. With the water shortage in California, it would be great if we could convert some of our grassy areas to native plant habitats. There are many beautiful plants that would use less water. The garden outside the IPJ is a great example of how beautiful xeriscaped areas can be—I’d like to see more of this. I am also concerned when I see our colleagues in landscaping needing to wear masks while they spray pesticides or herbicides. I’d love to see Dining Services compost some of the plant waste we generate here, and gradually convert our campus to use of only organic landscaping methods. This would take some effort, but would be well worth it.
Karen P. Lese-Fowler
I am inspired to write after reading a recent front page article in the Union-Tribune regarding companies modifying work hours to lessen the burden of daily commutes for their employees. I work in Public Safety here at USD where the Patrol Officers have been, for some time, routinely scheduled for 10-hour shifts, 4 days a week. A few months ago, discussions among the Public Safety Dispatchers led the Dispatch Supervisor, Frank Zaccaria, to approach Public Safety Director Larry Barnett with the idea of 12-hour shifts for the dispatch crew, a concept that has been successful at other municipal and educational public safety entities in our county and elsewhere. Chief Barnett initially approved a trial of the modified schedule which allows dispatchers to work longer shifts during a 4-day work week and enjoy a three day “weekend.”
This modified schedule has benefitted our crew in terms of wellness in that it allows more time to be spent with family and friends as well as in pursuit of our personal interests which, previously, were often ignored when dedicating much of our shorter two-day weekends to chores and other necessary distractions and appointments. Having an “extra” day has been greatly appreciated by us and has made for a more contented crew overall. Due to the nature of our 24/7 operation it is difficult for some of us to take advantage of alternative forms of transportation to/from work. Odd shift hours and the possibility of being called in on short notice to cover for an unexpected absence make driving our personal vehicles a necessity. An added bonus to this modified schedule has become obvious with the recent rise in gasoline prices which many experts believe will not be reversed. Driving to and from work one day less each week doesn’t seem like much until one considers that it represents over 100 trips annually wherein each of us are saving fuel and, of course, abbreviating our personal pollution output. It just makes sense that since we’re here anyway we simply work longer days to facilitate a shorter work week. As I mentioned, this is simply a trial schedule that Chief Barnett has instigated in order to monitor its merits. Whether employing the 12-hour-a-day schedule or even a 10-hour-day schedule, being relieved of having to drive during that 5th day each week is very welcome. So I wanted to make you aware that Chief Barnett has been somewhat ahead of the game in recognizing the possible benefit to a longer day/shorter week work schedule. Those of us at Public Safety certainly appreciate his foresight and practicality. John Frawley
Great work, please keep it up. I have 2 suggestions that would help USD become more respectful of its environment:1. Close the main doors of the building. Keeping the entrance doors open all day long while running heat or air conditioning is a waste of energy and money. This is especially true for Shiley Science and Technology Center, where the glass doors are open to a huge hall. 2. Convince the USD shuttle drivers to turn off the gas of their shuttle while waiting. For example, every morning, the USD shuttle driver waits by Old Town train station for 10 minutes, leaving the gas running, the air conditioning blowing full force, and the radio on. This is a terrible waste of energy and horrible polluting habit. Dr. Hélène Citeau
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Launched September 4, the Burnham Moores Center for Real Estate announced the first Certificate in Land Use and Sustainable Community Development Program. 
As you noticed in the campus e-mail from Roy Heynderickx, USD’s partnership with Sparkletts Water Company contributes to our goal of becoming a more sustainable campus by using only 100% polycarbonate, recyclable bottles, providing environmentally safe paper cups and utilizing propane powered delivery trucks. The use of bottled water also helps us dramatically reduce the number of plastic water bottles we use.
Through a partnership with San Diego Gas & Electric Managed Landscape Pilot Program, USD will be installing WaterLink System hardware on a 15.1 acre-feet landscaped area on campus. The system will tap into a local weather database, calculate the amount of irrigation needed given the current weather conditions, and adjust the irrigation system to reflect that data. The estimated water savings on this space alone will be 1.8 million gallons per year.
Earth Day was really well attended and probably could be considered the most "fun" because there was free food, shopping, fresh produce and a reggae/ska/surf band called Mike Pinto (and music by some of the farmers when Mike Pinto wasn't on), but there was also the green living expo on Thursday that turned out really nicely and had a lot of cool vendors/information as well. There were also some smaller events that happened the week before Earth Day, like the interactive fair trade demonstration and the showing of Black Gold at aromas. Those were clearly less well attended than the stuff in front of the UC, but there were a good number of people who watched all of Black Gold and the fair trade demo ended up being pretty successful as well, especially considering that it was competing with Mr. University.
Sustainability is as much about the everyday decisions of consumers as it is about global problems, federal policies or corporate practices. That’s why the USD Bookstore has embraced a wide range of recycled, sustainable and fair trade items now on sale in its new sustainability section. 
