| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.57 |
| Liaison | Juliana Goodlaw-Morris |
| Submission Date | Dec. 18, 2020 |
California State University, San Marcos
PRE-2: Points of Distinction
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Juliana
Goodlaw-Morris Sustainability Manager Safety, Risk and Sustainability |
Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Inclusive sustainability is a transformative example of innovation and investment connecting inclusive excellence and sustainability. When we can think about environmental justice as a social justice issue, we can begin to understand the complexities of marginalized and vulnerable communities. It is important to consider, many of our students come to CSUSM with a personal narrative that reflects years of environmental and social justice struggles. This initiative seeks to place students at the center of their lived experience and give them tools and access to be leaders combating some of these struggles we are currently facing as a society. We are striving to ensure our students and the wider CSUSM community can live socially just lives within our ecological limits.
UC Santa Cruz faculty in collaboration with the People of Color Sustainability Collective (PoCSC) coined the term and defined inclusive sustainability as the recognition, celebration, and validation of diverse understandings and expressions of sustainability. CSUSM has built upon what UCSC developed and currently views inclusive sustainability as a transformational framework that connects social justice and sustainability by placing student/academic success at the center while addressing holistic wellness, safeguarding environmentally sound practices, ensuring socially just communities and seeks to identify inequities for current and future generations.
Structurally, Inclusive Sustainability is a shared initiative of the Office of Inclusive Excellence (OIE) and Safety, Health and Sustainability. Currently, the Sustainability Manager, Juliana Goodlaw-Morris and the Assistant Director of Programs and Initiatives within OIE, Ariel Stevenson are collaborating on the Inclusive Sustainability Program. Each office brings in cohorts of students and draws on faculty for ad-hoc campus-wide efforts. The collaborative work out of these two offices has resulted in consecutive California Higher Education Sustainability awards for social equity and justice in sustainability at CSUSM in 2019 and 2020. The ongoing joint efforts are intended to meet the dual challenges of systemic racism and climate change on behalf of students, yet lack a centralized office and mission for launching, coordinating and sustaining these efforts.
Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Website URL where more information about the accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Name of a second highlighted sustainability program/initiative/accomplishment:
A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
This past Fall 2020 semester, CSUSM launched the Sustainability Minor. This minor was almost four years in the making and we are excited to see it begin. The new minor is a way for students who don’t want to commit to an entirely new major gain a meaningful understanding of sustainability by completing an 18 unit minor. This is open to all non-Environmental Studies students.
Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Name of a third highlighted program/initiative/accomplishment:
A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
The Emerald Energy Program is an innovative alternative method for the treatment and disposal of bio-hazardous waste. Compared to the traditional method of autoclaving and landfilling the waste, the Emerald Energy Program is a more sustainable practice for this laboratory waste stream. This program diverts waste from the autoclave and landfill to an incineration facility in California. At the treatment facility, the waste is incinerated to produce steam. The process of incineration leads to thermal energy, which is transferred to power local power grids. CSUSM does not send any medical waste to the landfill for disposal.
The Emerald Energy Program capitalizes on new and innovative technologies to manage biological waste streams. There are many benefits to the University and our surrounding communities. The reduction of water and energy use to power the autoclaves means that precious resources are saved. In addition to the reduction of the Universities energy consumption, the waste is not taken to local landfills. In addition to the environmental benefits, these waste management practices are actually cheaper to the University. The waste-to-energy process is a complete reversal of how we as a university can approach waste management. By identifying and leveraging new technologies, CSUSM is leading the way in waste management from our laboratories.
Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.