California State University, Northridge
EN-3: Student Life

Sustainability Club The Sustainability Club is a student led organization that serves as liaisons' to the Institute for Sustainability. As a club we advocate for the development, research and promotion of sustainability within the student body of the university and its serving community.

CSUN has a campus compost site as well as a garden. These two facilitates are primary ran by students employed through the Institute for Sustainability. Not only do these facilities serve the university to help reduce our organic waste, but they also serve as education opportunities for both internal and external community members to learn how to compost and garden. CSUN offers a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program to all faculty, staff and students! CSA boxes from Underwood Farms in Moorpark will be delivered to CSUN every Tuesday. Participants will be required to pick up their boxes between 3:00PM and 6:00PM on the east side of the Matador Bookstore, located on Lindley Ave. and have the option to sign up for monthly, quarterly, or annual memberships! CSUN Food Garden The CSUN food garden was established to educate students about sustainable food gardening techniques and healthy food choices, to promote direct community involvement and provide service-learning opportunities. A food garden working group, chaired by Dr. Erica Wohldmann and Jean Porter, was started in July 2009. The group met with campus leaders and students to develop the CSUN food garden. The garden is currently managed by Dr. Mario Giraldo and the food garden working group. A student assistant helps to maintain the garden together with dedicated volunteer students. With over 400 square feet of raised beds, more than a dozen fruit trees, and low-water irrigation, all built and planted by dedicated student, faculty, and staff volunteers the garden has grown tremendously and continues to thrive. CSUN Composting CSUN has an on campus composting program that is ran through the Institute for Sustainability and sponsored by The University Corporation. This program handles all of the pre-consumer food waste from the main eateries, Juice It Up, and all of our campus coffee shops.

CSUN's Associated Students is a student ran enterprise with funding from student fees. Associated Students (AS) is the primary advocate for students at California State University, Northridge and provides excellent, meaningful programs and services designed to enhance and create a spirited learning-focused campus environment. AS is also the official seat of student governance for the campus. The Student Government division represents the student body, advocates its needs and defends its interests in dealings with faculty, campus administrators and government officials. One of their 7 committees in Student Government is the AS Sustainability Committee.The Committee discusses pressing environmental issues at CSUN, institutes change and spreads awareness. The committee welcomes all CSUN students, faculty and staff to help create a sustainable CSUN campus. The Sustainability Committee has patterned with the CSUN Institute for Sustainability and looks forward to planning many exciting events and engaging projects.

CSUN hosts several events annually that are focused around sustainability. Some of these include water Day, Earth Week, Solar Workshops, Energy and water Conservation sessions, etc.

CSUN's Art Department, through their Art Education program, has done several projects and pieces related to sustainability. More recently they have done projects on GMO's, fossil fuels, plastics in the ocean and on toxic waste.

Since 2008, CSUN Outdoor Adventures (OA) has been providing unique recreational opportunities to the CSUN community. Through our Wilderness Outings, RIDGE Rockwall, rental center, team building program, workshops and clinics, Outdoor Leadership Program, and most recently Camp Matador, we provide awe-inspiring, transformative experiences to more than 6,000 students each year. The outdoor adventure programs follow the Leave No Trace principles and there are even workshops to teach students, staff and faculty about the concepts.

The Common Reading Program invites everyone on campus to think, talk, and learn together across and beyond the boundaries of the classroom by using the book as a starting point. As a new freshman, they are invited to read a book and to discuss it as part of a campus-wide community of readers. These books tend to relate to one aspect of sustainability, one of the most notable ones that have been on the list over the last couple of years was Garbology.

The Matasphere Themed Living Community brings together students who are interested in sustainability and environmental conservation to plan and implement efforts to reduce waste and consumption in Student Housing. Residents will be on the front lines of sustainability efforts in the residence halls and engage with community partners on new practices and programs to conserve resources. Residents who live in the Matasphere will pave the way for reduced energy consumption in Student Housing and role model responsible behaviors and practices to limit excess waste.

CSUN's Associated Students employs several students for 2 sustainability focused programs. The first program is the Associated Students Recycling, which has been around for over 20 years. This program uses students to help promote and collect recyclables on campus. The second program is the Sustainable Office Program. This program gives students the opportunity to work as consultants as they evaluate and give feedback on office sustainability practices. The Institute For Sustainability also hires students to help promote on campus sustainability, outreach and various sustainability related campaigns. These students also participate in sustainability and climate related research.