Category: Seeing Sustainability

Earth Day is here, and our blue and gold university has gotten a shade greener. From sustainable food choices to energy-efficient buildings and native plant landscaping, UCLA has completed several initiatives and made progress toward many of the targets set by the UCLA Sustainability Plan, a comprehensive framework for climate action and solutions that was introduced in 2022.

Led by the UCLA Sustainability Committee and developed by stakeholders from across campus with input from faculty, researchers, staff and students, the plan identifies areas for furthering sustainability efforts in operations, education, research and service. Divided into pillars of planetary and human health, climate and energy, food systems, green buildings, landscape and biodiversity, transportation, waste, water and more are defined goals to establish a more sustainable institution.

Newer goal areas include curricula and research and equity, diversity and inclusion, with others building on existing plans for improvement. Here’s a look at some of the progress made over the past two years.

Read the full story on UCLA Newsroom.

By Karen Hallisey

What’s a hungry, hungry Bruin to do when the munchies hit? Vending machines, the food aisles of stores, and even your roomie’s stash may be where you head to fuel up, but before that first bite, pause to consider the environmental impact. About a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food. Snacks can be especially bad — from the outside packaging to the inside’s contents, making it imperative to consider sustainability when snacking.

Tasting good and doing good means making people and the planet priorities. A positive impact includes goodies made of quality ingredients, not artificial or chemical ones, that are sourced responsibly with eco-conscious agricultural practices, packaged properly with low or zero waste wrapping, and from ethically and eco-minded businesses and companies with sustainable operations.

Made with the good stuff

Morsels should be sustainable, organic, non-GMO (genetically modified organism), plant-based, or grass-fed for meat eaters (for items like jerky).

Wrapped right

Go for packaging that can be responsibly disposed of, like a bar that comes in a recyclable or compostable wrapper.

Mindful bites

Look for brands with earth-friendly growing techniques and sustainable farming. Seek out companies with sustainability reports offering transparency on how they operate. Good business practices include using renewable energy, delivery by transportation that doesn’t pollute, and commitments to waste diversion (waste that is composted, recycled, or reused) and lowering carbon emissions.

Farm to table

Go to a neighborhood Farmer’s Market for fresh, locally grown, directly sourced, or produced — not to mention healthy — items. Check out the UCLA Farmers Market (returning in the spring) and the Westwood Village Farmers’ Market.

Hitting the sweet spot

Other places to purchase these products are healthy grocery stores, supermarkets specializing in natural and organic foods, and online retailers.

Labels, labels, labels

Be aware of greenwashing when shopping. Look for labels like fair trade, a certification aimed at helping farmers and producers in less economically developed countries. The term means a fair price is received for goods produced. Also, keep an eye out for small businesses and companies owned by women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color). More on spotting and avoiding greenwashing can be found on this website.

The everyday product to avoid

What exactly is the problem with palm oil? Produced from the fruit of a tree found only in tropical regions, it is one of the most common vegetable oils used in more than half of all packaged goods people in the U.S. eat. It is also a driver of deforestation, wiping out rainforests and ruining the habitats of endangered species. It is associated with increasing carbon emissions, displacing indigenous groups, and labor abuses.

The yearlong effort will support the development of a long-term plan for cutting carbon emissions.

By Karen Hallisey

Imagine a better-powered UCLA that phases out fossil fuels in favor of renewables, slashing pollution. To further green the campus, UCLA is embarking on a decarbonization study to identify ways to accelerate and achieve a switch in usage to low-carbon energy sources. The study is part of a University of California (UC) systemwide climate action commitment to bend the warming curve, clear our air, and advance a healthier and thriving California.

Decarbonization is the term for reducing or eliminating carbon gas emissions and is accomplished by switching to cleaner energy alternatives, like wind, solar, and hydro power. CO₂ is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities that warms the planet, causing climate change.

Since the University of California began tracking its climate impact in 2009, it has cut carbon emissions by a quarter despite significantly increasing its enrollment, saved $400 million in energy costs by improving efficiency, and built more than 100 on-campus solar projects. These achievements have helped put UC at the top of the Environmental Protection Agency’s ranking for green power usage by U.S. colleges and universities.

In July 2023, UC adopted a stronger climate policy that commits all 10 campuses and their medical centers to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2045, aligning the university system’s plans with the net-zero carbon pollution goals set by the state of California.

In this coordinated response to the climate crisis, all UC locations, including UCLA, will be expected to lower their greenhouse gas output and negate any residual GHG emissions through investments in carbon removal projects. Funding for the decarbonization planning effort has been allocated by the UC Office of the President to help UCLA and each campus to meet the challenge of reducing on-site fossil fuel use.

UCLA has kept its emissions below 1990 levels through the use of a highly efficient cogeneration plant, solar electricity, and continuing energy efficiency efforts, like the Smart Buildings and Labs Program. “UCLA led on energy innovation with our cogeneration plant and early use of landfill gas, saving millions of pounds of CO₂ by generating electricity, steam, and chilled water together. Now we are looking to the future and how we can further transform UCLA’s energy infrastructure in response to the worsening climate crisis.”

The study UCLA is embarking on is being conducted by consultants from WSP, a firm that provides technical expertise and strategy advice across sectors that include energy. WSP is advised by a campus Decarbonization Task Force that includes faculty experts, students, and staff operations experts. Bruins will be able to engage and get involved in the study through tabling events and town hall meetings. In addition to the technical analysis the study will also explore equity and climate justice considerations, and the potential for applied learning and research on the path to decarbonization. UCLA’s study will be completed this summer. The study will support the development of an updated Climate Action Plan for UCLA and fulfill the university Sustainability Plan commitment to create a pathway to decarbonization.

The first Town Halls will be held virtually via Zoom on March 11, with two time options – noon and 6pm. You can register for the Town Halls, and follow the progress of the study on this page: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/climate-and-energy/ucla-decarbonization-planning/.

by Elaina Simonsen

            An ongoing issue in our society is the desire for more. We long to purchase so much that we end up overconsuming. One of the main perpetrators of overconsumption and waste globally is the fashion industry. The desire to meet demand has caused companies to reduce the quality of materials used to produce clothes to get them out quicker. This is often referred to as ‘fast fashion’ and it is associated with low quality, low wages, and outsourcing.  Fast fashion affects workers, the consumer, and the environment in a multitude of negative ways.

The Human Impact: Creation

            On April 24, 2013, life in Dhaka, Bangladesh, would never be the same. A garment factory, Rana Plaza, collapsed killing 1,134 people and injuring thousands more. Many could look at this and deem it a “heartbreaking accident” or say that “no one could’ve predicted this,” however, that is wrong. On April 23, 2013, the day before the collapse, large cracks formed across the entire building. The bank and businesses below deemed it unsafe to continue work and closed their doors, however, the garment factories on the upper floors remained open. Greed killed thousands.

            Most fast fashion companies outsource their labor to developing nations, leading to lower wages and less government regulation. The average wage of an H&M factory worker in Myanmar was $2.63 a day all while working 6 days a week. Although many fast fashion companies exploit the labor of workers outside of the United States, even in Los Angeles workers of fast fashion company Fashion Nova weren’t safe. They were paid $2.77 an hour.

The Human Impact: Consumption

            No one is safe from the impacts of fast fashion, even consumers of these clothes are disadvantaged. The speed at which fast fashion companies churn out products to keep up with trends only leads to reduced quality while prices either stay the same or increase. Most fast fashion pieces only last less than 10 wears before they fall apart and are thrown in landfills – a waste of material as well as consumer money.

The Environmental Impact

            To reduce costs the clothing is made of worse and worse materials like polyester, otherwise known as plastic or fossil fuels, which does not decompose. Since the quality is poor and the clothing doesn’t last, it ends up in landfills or waterways. These clothes can break up even further into microplastics which pollute our planet even more and are harder to clean up. The carbon footprint of fast fashion is also intense as most of the clothing is produced across the globe from the main hubs of fast fashion commerce, the United States, Canada, and Europe.

            When informing about fast fashion, it is not about shaming those who cannot afford to buy sustainable clothing, but rather about recognizing our desire as humans to buy things we do not need. When we shop, we should look towards buying second-hand or purchasing clothes made of high-quality materials like cotton rather than polyester or rayon.

Elaina Simonsen is a freshman environmental science major concentrating in conservation biology.

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Sources:

Cheav, Maya. “Fast Fashion and Outsourcing – Fashion Stores Always Seem to Have a Million New Products to Constantly Keep up with the Customer’s Needs. but Have You Ever Considered How They Make Their Clothes so Quickly?” Sustainability, 26 Feb. 2020, blogs.chapman.edu/sustainability/2020/02/26/fast-fashion-and-outsourcing/.

Kitroeff, Natalie. “Fashion Nova’s Secret: Underpaid Workers in Los Angeles Factories.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/business/fashion-nova-underpaid-workers.html.

“Rana Plaza.” Clean Clothes Campaign, 16 June 2021, cleanclothes.org/campaigns/past/rana-plaza.

Why High-Quality Clothes Can Break the Psychology of Fast Fashion – The …, www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/07/long-lasting-clothes-fast-fashion/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2024.

By Karen Hallisey

Every two weeks, approximately 25 to 45 new hires who come through the Human Resources & Payroll Operations Center (HRPOC) at Campus Human Resources hit the hills of Westwood, step through campus doors, and spend their first workday at UCLA attending a New Employee Orientation (NEO). The full-day in-person affair for the departments HRPOC provides services to, which includes but is not limited to UCLA Administration units, Office of the Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer units, the Chancellor’s Organization, and the K-12 schools, among others, covers relevant, valuable topics for employees—campus services, benefits, and a tour. Also on the agenda is sustainability.

The intention, with the HRPOC’s NEO, is to make people’s first day special — show them this is the job they want, where they want to be, and introduce what UCLA is all about. And better equip these new hires with the knowledge and resources they need to successfully transition into their campus roles.

The push for more sustainability in the NEO was a joint effort between the HRPOC and multiple Administration units such as the Office of the Administrative Vice Chancellor, Organizational Effectiveness & Development, and Administration Marketing & Communications, to name a few.

Charlyn A. Lynton-Estrada, a senior human resources business partner at the HROC, was one of the Bruins involved in integrating sustainability into the presentation for onboarding new Bruins. In her role, Lynton-Estrada deals with all things HR, from compensation to talent acquisition and employee relations. She manages multiple responsibilities— including developing the NEO outline and connecting with UCLA Sustainability to share their work at the orientation presentation.

“I feel it’s good for new employees to understand that sustainability is part of UCLA’s culture. Everywhere we go on campus, you see those bins with the three titles: compost, recycle, and landfill. They’re there, but people don’t always know what they mean and probably want some background information. I felt it was important to have Sustainability speakers come in and explain what we do here,” said Lynton-Estrada.

“The environment and the world are changing. I think having that awareness—whether in your home or at work—should be an ongoing conversation.”

The sustainability portion of the orientation covers the following:

• The positive impact of sustainability: reduced pollution, conserved resources, protected natural habitats, improved public health, job creation, and a stimulated economy.
• The comprehensive campus sustainability plan and its goals, including using clean energy, improving food systems, reducing waste, and supporting biodiversity
• Steps to lead a sustainable lifestyle: sorting waste properly, eating plant-based meals, commuting sustainably instead of driving, skipping single-use items, shopping secondhand, connecting with nature, and more.
• How to get involved on campus and be part of the solution.

There’s even a takeaway from the event to encourage green behavior. NEO attendees receive a reusable swag bag containing a reusable bottle and a lunch box made of bamboo and other sustainable materials.

The HRPOC also practices the zero waste habits they preach at these sessions. NEO attendees get reusable name tags instead of paper stickers. Participants are also encouraged to use water refill stations with their new reusable bottle, which replaces single-use plastic bottles at the event.

“Including sustainability in employee orientations is important. We aim to provide tools to contribute and get involved. Sharing these efforts helps people understand sustainability is part of our university culture—and not an afterthought,” said Nurit Katz, UCLA’s chief sustainability officer.

By Karen Hallisey

An enterprise on campus, the Central Ticket Office (CTO), one might assume is responsible for a massive paper trail, is, in actuality, one of the most sustainable campus operations. CTO is an official Green Business, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council Los Angeles.

The City of L.A.’s recognition program is designed to encourage businesses and organizations to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. It was established to recognize and promote enterprises that commit to operating in a more environmentally responsible or sustainable manner.

CTO, located in the James West Alumni Center, services, processes, sells, and distributes movie tickets, theme park admissions, public transit passes, and more for on and off-campus activities. The office distributes more than 1.2 million tickets to over 500 events. CTO handles 20,000 walk-up customers at the office, processes 41,000 internet transactions, and answers over 26,000 calls annually.

To become a certified Green Business, CTO had to meet program standards for conserving resources, preventing pollution, minimizing waste, and following environmental laws and regulations. The certification includes site visits with a coordinator, who helped CTO navigate the process.

Having already transitioned to paperless tickets, CTO wanted to take their sustainability practices further. For the certification, the office took specific actions, including installing energy-efficient lighting, utilizing programmable, smart thermostats, procuring Energy Star office equipment and appliances, using green cleaning products, and making accessible water stations available to cut back on single-use plastic (i.e., water bottles).

CTO also offers telecommuting and flexible schedules and provides storage for bicycles for two-wheelers. One original measure implemented was introducing writing tablets to take notes when assisting customers — instead of going through notepads of paper and pens.

Also, part of the checklist? A community category, with a requirement to establish a “Green Team” that meets regularly to create and integrate sustainability practices and encourage participation across the organization. Things like promoting recycling and reusing, reminding staff to set their computer monitor to sleep mode when stepping away or at the end of their work shift, and even adding indoor plants to the office that help improve air quality!

CTO staff member Jessica Valdez leads this Green Team, along with her colleague Joyce Lee. Valdez, who recently earned a master’s degree in social work from UCLA, is passionate about the connection between wellness and sustainability.

“Taking on this responsibility, I’ve realized sustainability really aligns with human health, and mental health, so this is good for my field. Sustainability is important to overall well-being,” said Valdez.

Along with engaging CTO’s workforce, which includes many part- and full-time student employees, in following sustainable practices, Valdez and Lee deliver quarterly presentations and produce a weekly newsletter filled with relevant facts, helpful tips, and opportunities for deeper involvement, such as participating in a local habitat restoration project or attending a talk on water conservation efforts in LA County. They even share meatless recipes.

CTO was prompted to make these changes in accordance with UCLA Sustainability efforts to support green campus office spaces as well as the University of California’s climate action goals to prioritize direct emissions reductions.

Native American Heritage Month, observed in November, is an occasion to honor the diverse cultures, histories, traditions, contributions, and achievements of the nation’s original inhabitants and their descendants. As a public university located on the ancestral land of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples, the original caretakers of the Los Angeles Basin, UCLA is committed to connecting its past to its future. This includes the care of UCLA’s landscapes and natural areas.

Incorporating traditional ecological knowledge is a guiding principle in the UCLA Landscape Plan. Objectives include:

• Promoting tribal land caretaking
• Incorporating indigenous practices into campus maintenance practices to help fulfill sustainability goals and reduce maintenance costs
• Incorporating native plants and water systems more on campus
• Working with Indigenous student groups to build up landscape programming and Indigenous cultural events.

These efforts build on an agreement between university officials and members of the Gabrielino Tongva tribe to ensure that traditional ways of planting, harvesting, and gathering became part of campus landscaping and caretaking practices moving forward.

The understanding developed and co-written by Mishuana Goeman, a former special advisor on Native and Indigenous Affairs to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, aligns with goals of the Sustainability Plan.

Within the equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice section of the plan, is an objective to continue to develop land-based opportunities with the Gabrielino Tongva and Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Embracing these traditional caretaking practices is part of advancing this goal.

The partnership signed last fall also included provisions related to Sage Hill, UCLA’s native plant and wildlife habitat covering three acres in the northwest corner of campus.

UCLA is also honoring the First Peoples through a Gabrielino Tongva tribe designed and planted basket weaving garden nestled in UCLA’s Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden. The area is home to 15 types of native plants used for basket weaving, with each species identified by signage bearing their names drawn from the Tongva language, when possible, along with their common names and Latin names.

The First Peoples of Los Angeles lived in community and with the Earth with relational reciprocity and respect — a way of life worthy of modeling. As Robin Wall Kimmerer wrote in Braiding Sweetgrass, “For all of us, becoming indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it.”

For additional resources to support our Native American and Indigenous communities at UCLA, check out the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion office’s toolkit.

No matter how much we eat or save for leftovers, many meals inevitably end up in the garbage disposal or trashed and in the landfill. With the season for gathering together— and cooking and consuming — upon us, it’s a perfect time to chew over the impact of food waste, what we Bruins can do to minimize it, and action on campus to create a more sustainable food system.

In 2021, on Thanksgiving alone, about 305 million pounds of food valued at $400 million went to waste, according to nonprofit organization ReFED.

A 2021 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the environmental impacts of food waste estimated that each year, U.S. food loss and waste embodies 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s close to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants. This estimate does not include the significant methane emissions from food waste rotting in landfills. EPA data show that food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the U.S., comprising 24 and 22 percent of landfilled and combusted municipal solid waste, respectively.

Instead of food going uneaten, wasted dollars, and a big burden to the environment, here’s how to help:

• Introduce mindfulness into your grocery shopping routine: Be intentional about your purchases and plan ahead for meals. Even better? Shop locally at a Farmers’ Markets, like the one hosted in Westwood Village every Thursday, or look into a ordering a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box.
• Get creative in the kitchen: Find a use for all the food you bring home – and eat those leftovers! The freezer is your friend and can be a kitchen’s low-waste pal.
• Compost those remaining scraps.
• Donate when possible: If you have extra non-perishables, bring them to the UCLA Community Programs Office Food Closet, or a local food bank.

Here at UCLA, sustainable food considers the full life cycle of what we eat, including how it is grown, harvested, packaged, transported, prepared, and consumed, as well as how its nutrients are returned to productive use when we are done eating — with the campus striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with food.

An enterprise contributing positively to the goal of a sustainable food system on campus is Bruin Dine. The student-run organization works to bridge the gap between food waste and food insecurity by recovering food from UCLA’s dining halls. Food that would have otherwise been thrown away is redistributing to students and other Bruins in need. Food recovery events occur regularly, with diners also encouraged to bring their own containers and utensils.

Final food for thought: by reducing and preventing food waste in our homes and on campus, we can increase food security, promote resource and energy conservation, and help fight climate change.

Recognizing the need for an urgent, coordinated response to the climate crisis, the University of California is accelerating its transition away from fossil fuels with an update to its Sustainable Practices Policy.

UC climate experts, sustainability officers, and other campus leaders developed revised climate action goals for the policy over a long process lasting months. Gathering input was accomplished through public forums and other avenues attended by faculty, students, and staff. The new goals were then unanimously endorsed, with a revised policy approved in July 2023.

All ten campuses and six academic health centers now commit to prioritizing direct emission reductions, limiting the use of carbon offsets, and aligning UC’s climate goals with state of California goals.

What comes next for a fossil fuel-free pathway includes efforts like more energy efficient buildings, clean energy supplies, sustainable foodservice, sustainable water systems, sustainable procurement, and waste diversion.

These stronger targets build on UC’s already significant achievements in cutting its carbon emissions and playing a lead role within California to address the climate crisis through research, education, and public service.

The new Sustainable Practices Policy puts in place a framework and timetable for each UC campus and academic health center to fully decarbonize no later than 2045, while hitting progressively significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, 2035, and 2040.

A state-funded decarbonization study is already underway here at UCLA that will help inform strategies, emission targets, and location-specific climate action plans.

UCLA’s study of the campus’s energy infrastructure is guided by Bruins from the sustainability, capital programs, and facilities management units, and advised by a Decarbonization Task Force that includes faculty and student advocates.

For more information on the updated Sustainable Practices Policy, see the FAQ on UC’s new climate action goals.