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Sustainability

Sustainability efforts can be found almost everywhere on the Occidental campus, from residence halls and the Marketplace to administrative offices and the Facilities yard.

Policy

  • Occidental's Sustainability Committee, drawn from faculty, students, and staff, acts as an advocate for sustainability efforts on campus, helps develop new initiatives, and advises the president and his cabinet on sustainability issues.
  • All new construction and major renovations of campus buildings are carried out according to LEED silver standards.
  • Occidental purchases only Energy Star appliances, Green Seal cleaning products, and organic pesticides.
  • Occidental recycles aluminum, glass, cardboard, paper, some plastics, and electronic waste (computers, printers, printer cartridges).
  • Occidental Alumni are urged to make gifts to the College Green Fund. Launched in 2009, the Green Fund raised $20,000 for green projects in its first year.
  • The Occidental Bookstore replaced plastic bags with reusable cloth bags in 2009.
  • Human Resources stopped printing direct-deposit slips for employees in April 2010, a move estimated to save $30,000 worth of paper annually.

Academic Programs

  • Students majoring in urban and environmental policy address a wide range of environmental issues; theses by graduating seniors this year addressed such topics as community-supported agriculture, brownfield projects, and the voluntary carbon offset market.
  • Since 1997, Occidental's Center for Food Justice has been leading efforts at the local, regional, and national level to develop, promote and evaluate farm to school food programs.
  • The Sustainable Oxy/Eco-LA program was created in 1999 to enhance the campus environment and work with community partners interested in urban greening initiatives. The program includes "Environmental Problem Solving," a course which has evolved into the Environmental Stewards Program.
  • Endowed in 2008, the annual Antoinette and Vincent M. Dungan Lecture on Energy and the Environment features major policymakers. The 2010 Dungan Lecturer was New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan '82.

Co-Curricular Initiatives

  • Sustainability House is an off-campus theme house launched in spring 2010 to give up to eight students the opportunity to model sustainable living practices.  

Student Initiatives

  • FEAST (Food, Energy and Sustainability Team) is a student club dedicated to studying, enjoying and discussing the connection between our food and the environment. It runs the on-campus organic garden, which in 2009-2010 diverted 3,240 lbs. of food-prep waste into its compost pile and reduced water use by 1,400 cubic feet.
  • Student government's Renewable Energy and Sustainability Fund supports environmental outreach in residence halls and projects that have included adding more bike racks on campus.
  • The Environmental Action Coalition is an independent student organization that works to address sustainability issues on campus.
  • Occidental's Circle K chapter delivers unserved food from Dining Services to Midnight Mission, a major emergency food provider on Los Angeles' Skid Row.
  • Ten Occidental students met with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa prior to his trip to the 2009 Copenhagen Conference to offer advice on policies the city should pursue to reduce carbon emissions.

Food

  • Marketplace menus feature organic produce from local farms, cage-free eggs, grass-fed beef, and fair trade coffee; vegan entrees daily; corn-based take-out containers and bags, and compostable sandwich wraps are used.
  • Occidental has joined the Real Food Challenge.
  • Preconsumer food waste from Dining Services is donated to the student garden.
  • This fall, Dining Services is rolling out a pilot program for its new eco-clamshell, a reuseable takeout food container. Participants receive a 25-cent discount on every takeout meal that uses the eco-clamshell.

Energy and Water

  • In an ongoing project, more than half of the campus has been retrofitted with low-flow toilets, waterless urinals, high-efficiency condensers, and motion sensor lighting.
  • Individual utility meters are being installed on each campus building to allow the College to better monitor electricity, water and gas usage.
  • Occidental has a full-time manager of operating systems, a mechanical engineer who is charged with increasing the effectiveness and energy efficiency of campus systems.
  • Ongoing initiatives to improve energy efficiency include a campus-wide lighting retrofit project, a duct cleaning program, and the installation of variable-frequency drive motors. These efforts are beginning to pay off: Occidental's utility bills were reduced by $400,000 in 2009-10, including a 40% reduction in water usage.
  • Most of the Occidental campus is on an automated, satellite-controlled irrigation system that is based on evapotranspiration.
  • All members of the entering class of 2014 received a stainless steel water bottle to reduce the use of conventional bottled water. During the first full week of classes in September, bottled water sales dropped 26%.

Transportation

  • About one-quarter of the College's vehicle fleet is made up of electric vehicles, and the president's official car is a hybrid.
  • Occidental launched its own Bike Share program in April 2010. Students, faculty and staff can check out one of 10 reconditioned bicycles at the checkout counter in Clapp Library.
  • Occidental students, faculty and staff over age 18 can check out one of two Zipcars (including a hybrid) on campus, a program launched this fall.