VOLUME 7 Bright Green News

July 2009 2008

October The Campus Sustainability Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE T h e O f f i c e L a u n c h e s R e d e s i g n e d We b s i t e s
• The Office Update
Launches Redesigned
updated frequently ties sponsored by the Chancellor’s
Websites
to spotlight current Advisory Committee on Sustain-
• Building Sustainability at Cal –
activities and mile- ability (CACS). CACS has rich
• Sustainability Job Opportunities
Service Learning stones – one can history of engaging the campus in
• 2008 Greenhouse Gas Emissions access a broad range pressing environmental issues and
• Green Activities & Events
Inventory of campus sustain- creating actionable measures to
ability informa- address them - this website is in-
• Bottle-less
Water & The Water Coolers
Itty Bitty Fruit
tion. The site is tended to help keep this momen-
Label Alert
• Recycling Your Old Athletic organized primarily tum going.
Shoes The Office of Sustainability has just by topic and provides an overview
• TGIF Grants- Call for Proposals These sites are a work in progress
launched updated versions of sites of the specific issue as well as links
• University Extension—New and the Office will continue to
originally created by the members to other related websites and docu-
• Berkeley
SustainableEnergy
StudiesResources
Initiative enhance them. The Office wel-
and friends of The Chancellor’s ments. The main page provides
Collaborative Events comes you to:
• Water Quality: Wipes Cause Advisory Committee on Sustain- easy access to 5 campus sustainabil-
Clogs ability (CACS). The redesigned ity websites – including The Berke- • Send your comments and
websites reflects how much sus- ley Institute of the Environment’s suggestions
tainability has grown and become enviro portal and Facilities Services
The more integral to the institution Green Building site-which provide a • Encourage others to check
over the past five years. broad range of companion re- out the new sites
Office sources.
sustainability.berkeley.edu • Link to these sites from your
Update …is a UC Berkeley gateway web-
sustainabil- website

site to campus sustainability re-

• Please encourage
your friends and colleagues to
join our list serve.
• Become a fan of our Facebook
Page!
Contact us:
Lisa McNeilly:
lmcneilly@berkeley.edu
Kira Stoll: stoll@berkeley.edu
Check out our website:
http://sustainability.berkeley.edu
ity.berkeley.edu/cacs • Come back frequently to get
sources and operational prac- …has been updated to easily com- the latest sustainability news
tices. From the home page –that is municate the initiatives and activi-
C AC S I n t e r n s h i p F u n d i n g & N e w J o b O p p o r t u n i t i e s
Apply for CACS Communications Associates in the Of-
Student Internship fice of Sustainability
Funding
Help the Office of Sustain-
Any UC Berkeley faculty, staff, ability implement
or graduate and undergraduate student group with sustain- “Talking Louder about
ability projects in need of helping hands can apply for in- Campus Sustainability
(a boisterous communications campaign)”. Bring your
ternship funding. Applications are due August
creativity to outreach events, and develop innovative
4th by 5pm.
ways to communicate through web, video, and other
media. The campaign is made possible by a grant from
BicyCal Head Student Mechanic
The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF). Two positions are
BicyCal, the new Berkeley Student Bike Cooperative, is available, and applications will be reviewed starting
currently seeking to fill one position for a UC Berkeley early August.
student to be the future Head Student Mechanic for Fall
2009. For the complete job posting, click More details are posted on http://
here. sustainability.berkeley.edu.
 Bright Green News VOLUME 7 July 2009

2 0 0 8 E m i s s i o n s I nve n t o r y R e p o r t — t h e re s u l t s a re i n . . .
UC Berkeley has set an ambitious greenhouse down 8% with more electric vehicles being added The Office of Sustainability will be finalizing the
gas (GHG) emissions reductions target – to to the pool. 2008 inventory as part of the 3rd party verifica-
reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2014 tion process and publically reports the inven-
- Emissions from student commuting were
- and identified multiple strategies for achieving tory to the California Climate Action Registry.
down by 15% - a fall 2008 survey reveals just 7%
this target through the Cal Climate Action More information can be found on the CalCAP
of students commute by driving alone to campus
Partnership (CalCAP). The preliminary results website.
and walking and biking are on the increase.
of the 2008 greenhouse gas inventory reveal an
increase in emissions of about 1.6% (or 3,300 - Business air trips were up by 2,000 up in
tons) over the 2007 inventory, even though 2008, but emissions
emissions per square foot has dropped by 0.4% were only slightly up UC Berkeley Emissions by Source, 2008
to the same level as in 1990. due to a more refined analysis Student Fleet 1%
of the trip data that resulted in com m ute
Natural gas
a lower emissions rate per Faculty/staff 2%
A few items of note on the 2008 inventory 5%
com m ute Steam 41%
compared to 2007 include: trip. 8%

- Electricity use (kWh) was up by about 3%, - Accuracy adjustments made Air travel
10%
although emissions from electricity went up by to faculty/staff commuting
Solid Waste
7% due to changes in the power source mix data effectively increased the 1%
provided by the utility. 1990 baseline - this change Water 1%
reduces the amount emissions
- Natural gas use was down by 4%. Refrigerants Electricity
reductions needed to meet 31%
1%
- Fleet fuel usage and emissions were our 2014 target.

B o t t l e - l e s s Wa t e r C o o l e r s
The typical water cooler uses large
plastic bottles of water that are
transported by trucks. At the Haas
School of Business, there is a wa-
ter cooler that is bottle-less and
thus uses less energy and re-
sources. Over the past winter
break, Gerardo Campos, the facili-
ties and building operations man-
ager for Haas, retrofitted several
water coolers by directly piping
water from the sink to the dis-
pensing unit. Without large plastic
bottles, the water cooler still
serves filtered water that is able to
be chilled or warmed. Many posi-
tive side effects occurred as Cam-
pos notes, “This [innovation] has
taken away the unsightliness of
keeping 25 water bottles and con-
tainers in a small space and
[decreased] our costs for provid-
ing water to our community by
about $200 a month and
[eliminated] the costs of delivery
Gerardo Campos
to deliver/pick-up empties.” He
next to his
also mentions that they will “avoid
innovative water
those mishaps and cleanings when
cooler.
someone drops [a plastic bottle].”
Best of all, this change did not cost
him a single cent.

R e c y c l i n g Yo u r O l d A t h l e t i c S h o e s
Recycle your old athletic shoes by a used shoe be donated to a variety of charities, including the
placing them in the collection bins in drive. Just bring Nike Grind program, which grinds the shoes up
the RSF atrium near the vending in all your old and uses them to make playing surfaces --- play-
machines. sports shoes grounds, basketball and tennis courts, and
(running, ten- even soccer and football fields -- all across the
Your obsolete sport shoes can actu-
nis, basketball, world.
ally help kids and fellow athletes! At
etc.) and place
the Recreational Sports Facility Article and Photo courtesy of the
them in the RSF atrium’s collection bins near
(RSF), the Bear Student Athlete Advisory PlayGreen Blog.
the vending machines. The collected shoes will
Council (Bear SAAC) is currently running

Page 2
 Bright Green News VOLUME 7 July 2009

UC Berkeley Extension Launches New Sustainable Studies Initiative

President Obama’s commitment to Beginning

a new clean energy economy is
beginning to produce thousands of
new jobs in solar and wind energy,
while new “green” industries are
emerging across the country; hope-
ful signs in tough economic times.
UC Berkeley Extension is re-
sponding to the demand for com-
prehensive sustainability education
by launching a new Sustainable
Studies initiative. Sustainability
Studies builds on the success of
UCB Extension’s sustainable design
program, and expands the range of
relevant courses.
Extension has created these training
programs with an interdisciplinary
approach - energy, transportation,
corporate social responsibility and
global change management - de-
signed to give professionals immedi-
ate impact in their careers.
this fall, new
exciting
courses will
be offered
including
Sustainabil-
ity Manage-
ment, A
Global Survey of Sustainable En-
ergy, Energy Use and Climate
Change, Photovoltaic Systems,
taught by Ken Han -a visiting scien-
tist at Lawrence Berkeley National
Lab - and a course in Green Poli-
tics.
Extension will also be offering
preparation for the U.S. Green
Building Council’s Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) exam, along with LEED
courses in both residential and
commercial building.
Find out more about UC Berkeley Courses begin every month. A new edition
of our catalog is published three times a
Extension’s sustainability courses:
year in early April, July and December.
http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/
gogreen/. Extension also offers a
free Information Session on Sus-
tainable Studies: LEED, Sustain-
able Design, and Other Profes-
sional Programs – mark your DID YOU KNOW?
New bike racks are being installed
calendar for Thurs., Aug. 13,
6:30–8:30 pm to attend. this summer at many locations around
campus, including the Hearst Women's
For more information : Gym, the Bancroft Parking Structure,
http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/ Giannini Hall, Wellman Hall, and
Mulford Hall.
gogreen/
Email Stephen:
schan@unex.berkeley.edu

Wa t e r Q u a l i t y — W i p e s C a u s e C l o g s
You may have seen advertising touting a vari-
ety of disposable wipes, such as baby wipes,
sanitary wipes and antiseptic wipes, saying
they are “flush­able.” As convenient as that
might seem, so-called “flushable” wipes actu-
ally can clog pipes and cause untreated sew-
age to back up into your home, neighborhood
streets, creeks or San Francisco Bay.
Why? Most wipes are made of woven fibers
that do not easily break apart – unlike toilet
paper, which is nonwoven and disperses
quickly. The wipes can wrap around roots
invading the sewer system and even clog
machinery in a wastewater treatment plant.
Cotton-tip swabs and plastic bags cause clogs,
too. These materials all increase wastewater
treatment costs, because they have to be
removed either by machinery or by hand,
then hauled to a landfill.
You can help prevent back-ups by remembering
that wipes clog pipes. Only toilet paper and
human waste should be flushed down the toilet. DIDN’T MAKE IT?
For more information contact the Environ-
The 2009 UC, CSU, CCC
mental Services Division at clean-
Sustainability Conference Sessions
bay@ebmud.com or call 510-287-1651.
Available On-Line
Didn’t make it to the conference this
year – a select number of sessions
have been videotaped and are available
for viewing. Most of the presentations
from the conference are also available
on the conference website.
Article and graphics
courtesy of East Bay
Municipal Utility
District,

Page 3