Cal Poly Humboldt
EN-3: Student Life

o Green Campus: Green Campus seeks to improve environmental sustainability at Cal Poly Humboldt by achieving measurable energy, water, and waste savings, educating the campus community about sustainability, encouraging daily behavioral changes, preparing future professionals for green workforce jobs, and collaborating with other sustainability organizations across the campus. Current projects include Weigh the Waste, EcoReps in the Residence Halls, Green Workplace Assessment and Employee Peer Education Program, and Green Speed Networking. This group operates under the mentorship of the Office of Sustainability and receives funding from Facilities Management and Advancement. https://greencampus.humboldt.edu/
o Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT): The Campus Center for Appropriate Technology is student managed, student funded live-in demonstration home for appropriate technology. CCAT is part of a registered non-profit organization and home for three student co-directors who live in the house and manage the program for one-year periods. CCAT co-directors also manage the student employees that CCAT hires every semester. Motivated by an ethic of “education by example,” CCAT offers tours, workshops, and opportunities for hands-on involvement to university students and the general public. CCAT tries to balance the benefits and harms of a technology to determine if it is appropriate. CCAT is funded by Associated Students and has a rotating staff or faculty advisor. https://ccat.humboldt.edu/
o Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP): The Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP) at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, California strives to encourage alternative perspectives on consumption and provide a means for landfill substitution in our campus community. The five departments of WRRAP; the Bicycle Learning Center, Compost, Education, ROSE (Reusable Office Supply Exchange), and Zero-Waste Events; offer a diverse student outlet for hands-on learning experiences that helps students take responsibility for the campus’ waste flow and make a positive contribution to the quality of our campus environment. WRRAP endeavors to bridge awareness and action through all of its programs. WRRAP is advised by a staff member in the Office of Sustainability and funded by Associated Students. https://wrrap.humboldt.edu/about-wrrap
o Earth Week Every Week: The Earth Week Every Week Committee is an Associated Students Committee charged with planning programs, events, and workshops that seek to educate, create community, and foster dialogue revolving around the theme of sustainability specifically related to issues of social and environmental justice, human and non-human rights, and healthy lifestyles. The group is chaired by an elected student member of the Associated Students Executive Board, and maintains membership from appointed members of various groups throughout campus, including but not limited to WRRAP, CCAT, Green Campus, Housing and Residence Life, MEChA, Black Student Union, Vegan Club, ITEPP, INRSEP, and the Multicultural Centers. The group typically meets weekly and plans events associated with Earth Day and Earth Week, in addition to other events throughout the year. Read more at https://associatedstudents.humboldt.edu/committees/earth-week-every-week-committee
o Other student groups that may have a mission or project aligned with or interrelated to sustainability include: Youth Educational Services (YES House), the Environmental Resources Engineering Student Association, the Environmental Studies Club, the Oceanography Society, and the Renewable Energy Student Union, among others. Read more at https://clubs.humboldt.edu/

o Fisheries Biology Program- This program gives students a field-based understanding of the relationships between freshwater and marine fishes and the habitats upon which they depend, and provides specialized training in fish population dynamics and fishery management, restoration ecology, systematics, marine and freshwater aquaculture, fish health management and water pollution biology. The program also hosts an on-campus Fish Hatchery, which is a unique classroom-setting for hands-on education. Faculty mentored student research activities expose students to current aquaculture technologies and develop opportunities for students to learn about the operation of recirculating aquaculture systems. Read more at http://www2.humboldt.edu/fisheries/index.html
o CCAT Edible Landscape, Gardens, and Greenhouse: CCAT coordinates a vast array of teaching opportunities for food cultivation on their grounds, including: garden beds throughout the grounds hosting a variety of seasonal vegetables and herbs, a food forest of apple and plum trees, a greenhouse used to start seeds and grow edible plants, and volunteer Fridays where students may assist with and participate in skill shares and completion of grounds project. Visit the CCAT website for more information https://ccat.humboldt.edu/content/home
o CCAT Community Garden: This garden provides space for students to learn about and practice growing food and other plants organically and is managed by CCAT and located west of the Jensen House. The garden also serves as one avenue to practice collaboration and learn to care for the commons. Fall of 2019 was the first official term for this garden, though applications for plots opened during Spring 2019. Framed as a pilot project throughout the negotiation, future iterations and success will be determined by student interest and involvement, and therefore this project has the potential to demonstrate the need for an expansion of garden opportunities elsewhere on campus. Students may submit an application for a plot via an online form. The garden is planned to be relocated in future years because a new Sustainability & Microgrid Building will take over the site. Read more general info about the garden at https://ccat.humboldt.edu/content/community-garden
o CCAT Organic Gardening Classes: This one unit course is managed by CCAT and listed through the Department of Environmental Studies (ENST 123). The course is intended to create a foundation that enables each student to successfully plan, plant and harvest an organic garden of their own. Read more about it on the CCAT website https://ccat.humboldt.edu/content/classes
o CCAT Urban Homesteading Classes: Another one unit course offered by CCAT (ENST 123), this class covers topics such as urban composting, gardening, food preservation, and more. https://ccat.humboldt.edu/content/classes
o Bayside Park Farm: The Bayside Park Farm is a 3-acre vegetable farm located in the City of Arcata's Bayside Park. The Farm is dedicated to cultivating connections between our community and sustainable agriculture. Started in 1993 when a group of Cal Poly Humboldt professors approached Arcata City Manager about the potential of partnering with the city to create an Educational Farm, the Bayside Park Farm became the first CSA in Arcata and is funded to this day by the community. In 2010 the Bayside Park Farm became a program under the City of Arcata with Educational Farmers working as employees of the City. As well as being a running CSA, the Bayside Park Farm is a permaculture park, and hosts a community garden. For more than 25 years, the farm has acted as an incubator to fledgling farmers by providing a space for the development of practical skills in organic and sustainable agriculture. Though technically a program of the City of Arcata, all community members (including campus stakeholders) are invited to participate in the farm via the CSA and to learn about organic and permaculture gardening. Some classes, such as SOIL 104 (intro to sustainable agriculture) will participate in field trips to the farm. In recent semesters, the Umoja Center for Pan African Student Excellence farmed several garden beds there and invited students to participate in their 'Black to the Land' program. Read more about the farm at https://www.cityofarcata.org/440/Bayside-Park-Farm
o Food Sovereignty Lab: A resulting idea from Indigenous Natural Resource Management Practices course (NAS 331) during Fall 2019, students and faculty at Cal Poly Humboldt are celebrating the emergence of the new Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute. On Dec 10, 2019 the students held a community dialog event requesting input on how the lab could best serve the community. Citing the Declaration of Nyeleni in 2007, the first global forum on food sovereignty Mali, the students stated: “Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods and their right to define their own food and agricultural systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than demands of markets and corporations." While the physical lab space continues to undergo construction, the program has already led and implemented many programs since it's inception in 2019 and has raised more than $500k for future programs. The lab also boasts being the first entity on campus to work through the creation of a co-management agreement with Facilities Management so that they may tend to the landscape space outside of the lab for their programs. As of Jan 2023, the FSL received a $1 million grant which will support the Food for Indigenous Futures program. Read more at https://nasp.humboldt.edu/fsl

o The Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP) hosts two additional activities that seem to meet criteria for student-run enterprises. They are:
 The Bicycle Learning Center: The Bicycle Learning Center (BLC) is the newest branch of WRRAP, which is geared towards bicycle maintenance and operates much like a non-profit entity offering bike services at no cost to campus stakeholders. The BLC seeks funding from Associated Students (their granting and funding entity) each year to educate and advocate for the safe use of bicycles as an affordable, healthful and sustainable form of transportation and recreation.
 Mobile Coffee Table: WRRAP hosts a mobile coffee table that serves as both a way to solicit donations to support other WRRAP programs and as a demonstration hub for zero waste coffee cart practices. Students use donated coffee from community businesses, durable beverage containers to serve coffee to their peers for a low price, and diverts all associated waste from the landfill by way of recycling, repurposing, and composting.

o HEIF: The Humboldt Energy Independence Fund, also known by its acronym "H.E.I.F.", is a concept championed by students whereby student fee money collects into a fund that is then available for sustainability projects on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus. Over the life of the fund (started in 2007), it has evolved from the original intent to fund solely energy independence projects (e.g. energy generation) to funding projects that now include broader concepts that have potential for positive natural resource, sustainability, or carbon impacts. Projects the fund has paid for in the past include a small solar array, lighting upgrades, water bottle refill stations, and compost bins, among many others. Over its lifetime, HEIF has employed a significant number of students who have generally worked on various elements of project proposals. HEIF is funded via student instructionally related activities (IRA) fees, at a rate of $13.41 per semester for students enrolled in 6+ units. Students who sit on the governance Committee for this group and those that serve on development teams get experience negotiating and navigating the types of criteria that influence investment in sustainability projects, often hearing/considering both assertions for and against funding the project from faculty and staff, as well as making these assertions themselves and holding their own vote to influence action. Read more at https://heif.humboldt.edu/about-heif
o Go Green Fund: The Go Green Fund was set up by the Cal Poly Humboldt Advancement Foundation to support programs and campus improvements that enhance the energy efficiency and environmental responsibility of the campus. Today, the fund supports student interns, who are paid to participate in activities of Green Campus. Eventually, Cal Poly Humboldt hopes that money saved through energy efficiency projects will be reinvested into the fund. The Go Green Fund appears to fit STARS criteria here in that it funds wages for students employees with the intent of giving them experience and knowledge that will allow them to develop skills related to green revolving fund and sustainable investment funds (they learn concepts like payback, return on investment, and participate directly in the conversations with decision makers about why or why not certain projects will receive funding, etc.) Read more at https://giving.humboldt.edu/our-funds?combine=go%20green

o The Climate and Clean Energy Series is hosted by the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt. All webinars are free and open to the public. For questions or accessibility requests, contact schatzenergy@humboldt.edu or call 707-826-4345. https://schatzcenter.org/events/ (This event series was previously a collaboration between Schatz and the Environment & Community Grad Program called Sustainable Future Speaker Series; it has now been rebranded as the "Climate & Clean Energy Series" and is now hosted exclusively by the Schatz Energy Research Center.)
o Campus & Community Dialogue on Race: The Campus & Community Dialogue on Race (CDOR) is an annual event at Cal Poly Humboldt that invites students, staff, faculty, administrators, and community members to present and attend programs that relate to racial justice and its intersections with all forms of oppression and resistance. The program's mission is to promote and facilitate social and environmental change by engaging a diverse range of individuals, communities, and viewpoints to explore the impact of racism and its intersections with all forms of oppression. In addition, students can earn a unit of credit in ES 480, Campus & Community Dialogue on Race. Read more at https://dialogue.humboldt.edu/
o Social Justice Summit: The Social Justice Summit is an annual event space that challenges and questions the dominant narratives that have been instilled into our minds and bodies. Historically, the Summit has been a weekend of learning and growth, where attendees have the opportunity to use different forms of expression that further their understanding of Social Justice. The Social Justice Summit is also a one-unit class offered in both Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies. Registration is through Extended Education. The Summit is free for students, faculty, staff, and community members. Furthermore, in 2022, the theme of the Summit was Climate Justice, a topic explicitly related to sustainability. In other years, talks and workshops often explore intersections between environment, society, and economy. Read more at https://sjei.humboldt.edu/SJS
o Zero Waste Conference: In some years, WRRAP hosts a Zero Waste Conference which is a week-long series of free events that are designed to engage students, professors, scientists, activists, and community members to unite in exchanging and generating a new wave of ideas, experiences, and expertise. The conference has included a diverse array of public events including keynote speakers, workshops, film screenings, and other festivities aimed at encouraging an inclusive and comprehensive Zero Waste community. Read more at https://wrrap.humboldt.edu/upcoming-events-0
o Earth Week Every Week: The Earth Week Every Week Committee is a planning group sponsored by Associated students that is charged with planning programs, events, and workshops that seek to educate, create community, and foster dialogue revolving around the theme of sustainability specifically related to issues of social and environmental justice, human and non-human rights, and healthy lifestyles. The group hosts a series of activities annually during earth week in April. Read about the activities and workshops held during April 2022 here: https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/earth-week-every-week

o Cal Poly Humboldt arts events, installations and performances are held at a number of spaces on campus including: Reese Bullen Gallery, Native American Arts Goudi’ni Gallery, Fulkerson Recital Hall, and sometimes in the Goodwin Forum or Kate Buchanan Room. Occasionally arts events put on by the University are held off campus at the Arkley Center for the Performing arts in Eureka. Many of the exhibits held in these spaces focus on sustainability issues and concepts, or on the intersections of social, environmental and economic dimensions. Read more at:
https://artfilm.humboldt.edu/galleries/goudini-native-american-arts-gallery
https://artfilm.humboldt.edu/galleries/reese-bullen-gallery
https://music.humboldt.edu/upcoming
o Center Arts: Center Arts offers a variety of events year-round, and some usually relate to sustainability, whether they are speakers, performances, or music. Sometimes events may relate to sustainability, such as in Spring 2023 when Pattie Gonia will be hosted at the campus for a Philosophy Forum:
Wednesday, April 26 @ 7 PM. To see a list of current offerings visit https://centerarts.humboldt.edu/Online/default.asp
o Toyon: Toyon is a multilingual journal of literature and art that is edited and produced by Cal Poly Humboldt students from all disciplines. While Toyon receives submissions from all over the planet, it is also a journal of North Coast writing and art, and particularly welcomes new voices. Toyon charges no reading fees, and all selections are made through blind review. While Toyon is an art magazine and therefore does not explicitly focus on sustainability issues, past submissions have included narrative and content that revolve around themes of identity, community, inclusion, oppression, and other topics that are relevant to sustainability discussion. Read more at: http://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/toyon/
o Cultural Times: The Cultural Times is a publication produced by students once per semester and features poetry, illustrations, creative writing. The journal is coordinated by the Social Justice Equity Inclusion Center (SJEIC) on campus, which is a student-centered program that fosters acceptance and respect of all people. Furthermore, the SJEIC seeks to provide opportunities for students to explore identity and history, experience cultures and traditions, express feelings, ideas and observations, empower each other to advocate for social justice, and engage to build and sustain community. The publication was on hold during COVID but is planned to be relaunched in Fall 2023. Read more at: http://www2.humboldt.edu/multicultural/cultural_times_archive.php

o Center Activities is a non-profit organization with the mission of providing outdoor, recreational, fitness, educational and social experiences to students and surrounding community in order to promote personal development, discovery, and foster involvement in the community. Often Center activities hosts one Leave No Trace (LNT) Instructor Certification Course, at which participants learn to become LNT trainers themselves. In addition, Leave No Trace principles are incorporated to all outdoor programming. For reference, Center Activities generally hosts between 40-100 outdoor events per year, and these include: backpacking trips, sailing lessons, kayaking activities, rafting trips, day-long hiking events, camp outs, stand up paddling activities, surfing lessons, climbing trips, ski trips, and youth camp programs. Read more at: http://www2.humboldt.edu/centeractivities/.
o Other programs that integrate Leave No Trace and/or responsible environmental stewardship to their training and principles are: Rec Administration Classes, Leadership Education Adventure Program (LEAP, hosted through YES House, http://yes.humboldt.edu/leadership-education-adventure-program).

o Place Based Learning Communities (PBLC’s): These programs are learning experiences where first time students engage in a peer group with structured activities and schedules aimed at bolstering success and retention, generally framed around applied local field experiences and experts. Each community shares in common that students are clustered into the community based on their major, are automatically enrolled in block class schedules, are given the option to live together in on-campus themed housing, participate in summer immersion programming, are given opportunities to network and work closely with local community professionals and peer mentors, and usually develop skills to solve social and environmental problems. Many / most PBLC's explore intersections between environment and society by way of stories of place, culture, and geography. PBLC's with significant connection to sustainability are:
 Klamath Connection: The Klamath flows from Southern Oregon into Northern California. It's big. It's breathtaking. And it’s a complex system affected by ecological, political, and economic factors. Home to diverse communities including Native American tribes, farmers, and fisherman, it's a place we can all learn from. This program brings together Environmental Resources Engineering, Environmental Science & Management, Fisheries Biology, Forestry, Rangeland Resource Science, and Wildlife majors. Read more here: https://klamathconnection.humboldt.edu/
 Among Giants: You live near the Pacific Ocean, ancient coast redwoods—the world’s tallest trees—mountains, dunes, and marshes. These landscapes are home to several Tribal Nations and an array of ecosystems. You venture into the forest to study animals, identify ferns, and examine the soil. In class, you learn broad scientific perspectives and approaches to studying topics ranging from ecosystems to gene expression underlying disease. This program is for Biology, Botany, and Zoology majors. Read more at https://cnrs.humboldt.edu/learning-communities
 Representing Realities: This program connects representations of the world in local Native American art with ideas about patterns and structures in math and computer science. Students become immersed in problem-solving, listen to renowned mathematicians at Kieval lectures, and give students opportunities to compete in the LumberHacks Hackaton or the Mathematical Contest in Modeling. Read more at https://representingrealities.humboldt.edu/
 Rising Tides: Living minutes away from some of the most wild, pristine, and vibrant coastline in California, you can venture onto the open ocean to explore its depths aboard a 90-foot research vessel, or wade into rocky tidepools to study sea stars. Real-world experiences like these help you not only learn marine science, but also puts you on a path to becoming a marine scientist. This program is for Biology (Marine Biology concentration) and Oceanography majors. Read more at https://risingtides.humboldt.edu/
 Stars to Rocks: This program allows students to venture to hilltop observatories, peer at stars, use state-of-the-art technology to look for clues about the nature of gravity, chemically analyze rive samples to determine human impact the natural environment, or take field trips to study the Mendocino triple junction on the Cascadia subduction zone and San Andreas fault. This is a cross-disciplinary learning community for Chemistry, Geology, and Physics & Astronomy majors. Read more at https://starstorocks.humboldt.edu/

o CCAT: The Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) is pleased to offer 1-credit courses in sustainable living to both students and community members through the Environmental Studies Department. All CCAT classes are free to students. These courses vary by semester but may include: Indigenous Perspectives on the Environment, Green Building, Foundations of Organic Gardening, Urban Homesteading, intro to Herbalism, sewing & sustainability, and sustainable cooking. Employees and community members also lead-free workshops on appropriate technology and community building throughout the semester ranging from solar lighting to herbal remedies. Workshops are announced when on a monthly basis as they become available. Read more at https://ccat.humboldt.edu/content/get-involved
o Virtual Green Room: Cal Poly Humboldt encourages campus residents to practice healthy and sustainable living habits while residing on campus and hosts a “Virtual Green Room”, which displays actions that residents may apply when trying to reduce the amount of energy and water used, waste created, and overall consumption of natural resources. Visit the webpage here: https://www.humboldt.edu/greenroom/
o WRRAP: The Education branch of the Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program educates the student body in numerous comprehensive ways. By organizing composting workshops, zero waste events, tabling in the quad, performing educational outreach presentations, designing interpretative displays, and making personal contact with the campus community, WRRAP’s education branch works to show the connections between individual choices and the waste produced on campus. Read more at https://wrrap.humboldt.edu/about-wrrap
o Resident Sustainability Advisor activities: The Residence Sustainability Advisor (RSA) is a student staff member that works in Housing to promote awareness and plan events regarding energy consumption and conservation. The Resident Sustainability Advisor works in conjunction with Housing and university staff to foster a sense of community and promote a quality environment for all residents. This person is expected to produce numerous events and activities throughout the semester, as well as provide information and facilitate resources for composting, recycling, waste sorting, and other conservation activities. Read more https://housing.humboldt.edu/resident-resources/sustainable-living
o EcoReps: EcoReps is a newly assembled group during Fall 2022 with five voluntary members. Their goal is to infuse sustainability more deeply into Residence Life and empower Residents with information, resources, and education. Their fall projects were: learning more about proper waste sorting behavior, learning about energy systems regionally and on campus, designing a waste survey to measure waste knowledge and ideas among residents, and putting together the EcoTopia resource fair (residents invited and encouraged to attend; activities include tabling from sustainability organizations, and crafting opportunities).
o Extended education: Extended Education and e-Learning at Cal Poly Humboldt offer several courses/programs that instill sustainable life skills, including but not limited to: Practical and Advanced Beekeeping, Basic Wildland Firefighter Training, among others. Read more at https://extended.humboldt.edu/extended-education/programs-and-courses/courses

o The campus offers many sustainability-focused student employment opportunities. These are offered through the following groups, clubs, and departments:
 Housing & Residence Life
 Green Campus
 WRRAP
 HEIF
 CCAT
 Office of Sustainability
 Schatz Energy Research Center

o Graduation Pledge: The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility is a campus tradition that started at Cal Poly Humboldt in 1987 and has since spread to campuses around the world. The Pledge is a simple, personal vow to consider the social and environmental consequences of the decisions that we make after we acquire our degree here at Humboldt. Narrative for the pledge includes: “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.” Read more at: https://www2.humboldt.edu/gpa/

The university developed a Climate Resilience Plan as a section of the Climate Action Plan 2.0.
Read more here: https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/sustainability-climate-change-resilience-initiatives