Upcoming Events

The USD community celebrates sustainability April 14-24 with “Planting the Seeds of Change.” A collaboration of student organizations and university departments, events are organized around Earth Day.

Earth Fair 2008 in Balboa Park April 20, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. :  USD is sponsoring the Earth Fair at Balboa Park . Visit the touch tank at the Marine Science and Environmental Studies’ booth. Trams will run, on the hour, from the UC to Balboa Park.

Farmer’s Market and Fair Trade Booths  April 22, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Bring a shopping bag to the UC and stock up on produce from local growers; vendors supporting fair trade practices will also be on hand with their products.

Dumpster “Dump and Sort” April 22:  Don’t be surprised when you see a pile of garbage on the lawn in front of Maher Hall on Earth Day. Students will separate what we’ve thrown in the garbage to demonstrate how much more of our garbage can be recycled so it doesn’t go into the landfill.  

USD’s Green Living Expo April 24, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.: This UC event will educate us about changes we can make in how we get to work to the plants we grow in our backyards to lessen our impact on the environment.

E-mail us to receive information about all of the events taking place as part of Planting the Seeds of Change.

The official kick off and main highlight will be the campus visit by nationally known environmentalist Jane Goodall who will offer a public lecture at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on April 17.

Tickets are $10 to the public. 2 tickets free with USD ID at JCP Ticket Office or online at www.sandiego.edu/jennycraigpavilion.

What’s Happening

• The Sustainability Task Force has been meeting every other week, with subcommittee meetings in-between. The task force will submit their Sustainability/Climate Change Program Task Force Report to Provost Julie Sullivan and Vice President Carmen Vazquez this week. Based on feedback from the Executive Council, the task force will develop a strategic action plan over the next two months.
• USD has embarked on a full-scale energy audit of the entire campus designed to identify ways we can increase our energy conservation.

Richard Magale with his New USD Mug
• USD is in 6th place in the nation in Recycle-mania in our category! We are competing with other colleges and universities in the Per Capita Classic as a partial campus, focusing on competing in the residence halls. The amount of recycling is divided by the number of residents. This gives the amount of recycled pounds per student. http://recyclemaniacs.org/ We have placed wheeled toters to collect the specific commodities: cardboard, bottles and cans, mixed paper. Each bin is calculated by using the conversion tables given by the competition for volume to weight. Full bins are collected twice per week by Waste Management, Inc, who tracks the number of bins of each commodity. Lou Magaña, Manger, General Services in Facilities Management does the calculations and submits the numbers.Results are posted on the web site. We are currently in Week 10, the last week of the competition. Thanks to all who participate in this effort!
• The April Parents E-Newsletter featured an article on the Sustainability Initiative explaining to parents the importance of this movement on campus.
• New USD mugs are already being used with the Sustainability Logo to encourage reduction in waste containers. They can be purchased at all the coffee sale spots on campus. Get yours today and enjoy another step toward personal sustainability.
• Trayless Fridays have been introduced at the Dining Hall, a practice now common at university campuses across the nation. The result is a significant savings in food waste as diners are more likely to carry only what they can eat. There is also a saving in water and energy with no trays to clean, less dishware and glassware.


• Burnham Moore Center for Real Estate at the School of Business Administration is committed to exploring the financial implications, barriers and solutions to green and sustainable real estate development. Workshops, conferences, research, and publications have positioned the Center as a resource for private and public real estate organizations grappling with how to go green, and how green to go. Last October, the first sustainable development conference “Is It Easy Being Green?” brought to campus 200 industry and civic leaders. The first systematic study of the benefits of investments in green buildings was just released by the Center and CoStar Group. The study of 435 Energy Star-labeled buildings and 2,871 non-Energy Star buildings across the country showed that the Energy-Star buildings have higher occupancy rates and lower operating expenses. The Center serves as a research partner on The Chula Vista Research Project which focuses on energy-efficiency community development in California. The Center is playing a key role in the launching of a new real estate monograph on green buildings and sustainable real estate. Director of academic programs Norm Miller will serve as co-editor. If well received, it will evolve into the Journal of Sustainable Real Estate.

Tips of the Month

1. Buy your departmental paper through the University Copy and Graphics Department (formerly the USD Print Shop) instead of directly from a vendor for better price and the guarantee that you are using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified rainforest alliance paper. This will make it possible to buy paper in carloads at a savings to all of us, and they will deliver to your office!
2. Turn off your computer AND YOUR MONITOR at the end of the day to conserve energy. You may want to unplug appliances at home as well, since they continue to draw a small amount of energy even when not “on.”
3. Review all your office practices to identify ways you can reduce the amount of paper you generate. Put a note on your e-mails “Think Before you Print” to encourage others to do the same. You’ll be surprised how many things can be handled without ever appearing on paper.
4. At home, collect rain water (well, when it rains) in a container and use that to water your plants later on, after, of course, making sure you aren’t creating a nurturing habitat for mosquito larvae.
5. Rinse and recycle tin cans and plastic food and drink containers.

Sustainability Sites You May Find Helpful

1. You are encouraged to sign up on the AASHE (Association of the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) website for access to the site of valuable sustainability information. USD’s membership is in effect. All you need is to click on “member login,” enter your e-mail address as your user name to “create new account” and you’ll have access!

Did you know?

You can put ALL recyclable materials in the USD Recycle Bins. This includes paper/plastic/cans/glass/cardboard.





2. Recycle San Diego's web site provides a local connection for dealing with difficult recycling issues. Recycle San Diego's mission is to prevent e-waste contamination of our landfills by providing community outreach, education, support programs, and quick, easy, and convenient e-waste recycling solutions for homes and businesses. Check the website for locations.
3. Lessen your own carbon footprint by visiting UnDoIt (PDF) from Environmental Defense. You’ll find 20 simple steps to undo global warming.
4. There are 10 Cool Climate-Saving Actions you can take from Clean Air-Cool Planet at http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/action.

Identified Sustainable Plant

In case you haven’t noticed, the USD campus landscape has already taken sustainability into consideration to a great degree. Of the top 50 recommended sustainable plants, many are represented on campus. How many do you have where you live?

The Sustainability Task Force

Send your response to the newsletter or suggestions to gogreen@sandiego.edu