These recent environmental advancements deserve more than just publicity and wide-eyed admiration. UCLA serves as a worthy role model for environmental progress at a time when “going green” has the dangerous potential to die out as a superficial and fleeting trend.
While celebrities can stand on their soapboxes and market the fashion for Hybrid cars, UCLA ““ along with the entire UC system ““ stands as a genuine and substantial example for public universities across the nation.
The activism of the UCs will help to address big issues such as sustainability, energy consumption and global warming.
As a host to over 38,000 Bruins, UCLA has mass potential to implement environmental influence, which is exactly why Sierra Magazine deemed UCLA and its sister schools eco-friendly.
Sierra Magazine researched multiple levels of criteria in order to rank the schools for its “10 That Get It” article. In order to gauge the eco-friendliness of the campuses, the magazine judged everything from the sustainability of campus buildings, to recycling programs, to residential life.
The UC system was the only statewide public university institution to make the Sierra Magazine list.
The influence of the UCs as a collective unit for environmental progress can set off a domino effect of system-wide green policies throughout the country.
The actions of the UCs can also prove that the typical constraints of a public university budget do not have to handicap eco-friendly policies.
Even seemingly minimal adjustments can have a vast impact when utilized by the UC system.
The introduction of more recycling units on campus is a good example of this idea. At the end of last month, UCLA Facilities Management ““ in cooperation with members from the Student Welfare Commission and Environmental Bruins ““ announced the installation of new recycling clusters in an effort to improve waste management.
As UCLA General Services reported, between January and August 2007, 25 million pounds of waste were produced on campus, which includes up to 2 million pounds of mixed paper and 6,000 pounds of bottles and cans.
UCLA currently recycles 35 percent of waste that would otherwise go to landfills, but with the implementation of the new program, this number will continue to rise.
Indeed, UCLA has been active in initiating environmentally friendly policies throughout campus.
But the most important contributions in addressing global environmental problems have been through education, as pioneered by the UCLA Institute of the Environment.
The institute has been responsible for the additions of the environmental science major and the environmental systems and society minor to UCLA.
In addition, La Kretz Hall, the headquarters of the Institute, is the first building at UCLA that follows the guidelines of the U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
The LEED Green Building Rating System incorporates criteria such as the use of recycled materials in construction and the use of heating or air conditioning systems that are designed to reduce energy use and cost.
The LEED system will be utilized for the future renovation of Rieber Hall.
Residential life will also start to reap the benefits of UCLA’s environmentally-conscious and cost-efficient plans for the campus.
And, hopefully, the LEED system will be utilized for buildings on the rest of the Hill.
When the recent years’ Hollywood-infused green trend begins to die down, it will be important to note how the cooperative UC system has managed to successfully grasp its position as a role model for other public universities ““ and all other public spaces ““ in terms of environmental progress.
By ending last month on a high note for green policies, UCLA has made giant steps to tackle the current issues of our generation, to make direct changes in response to the public’s concerns about the environment and to educate the student body on subjects that can shape the future of our world.
E-mail Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.