The Wooden Center will stop providing towels to gym patrons in the fall to reduce water consumption on campus.
Rich Mylin, director of recreation sports venues and event operations, said students, faculty and staff will have to bring their own towels, but the Wooden Center will also provide towels for purchase. According to a Graduate Students Association report, the Wooden Center reduced the number of towels available for use in early 2016.
Mylin said the change is part of a campuswide effort to reduce the number of potable gallons of water used per capita by 36 percent by 2025. He added the reduction of towel usage is projected to save about 400,000 gallons of water annually.
Mylin said the Wooden Center will install automated faucets, automated soap dispensers in bathrooms and dual flush mechanisms in toilets, which will allow the user to choose between high and low water flow.
He added the Wooden Center switched to low-flow shower heads and upgraded its plumbing in 2015, when UCLA first announced its 2025 water conservation goal.
Katie Zeller, sustainability coordinator for UCLA recreation sport venues and event operations, said UCLA received an award in April 2016 for its minimal water usage in 2015.
Nurit Katz, UCLA’s chief sustainability officer, said the university will need to implement every water-saving project possible to reduce their water consumption to achieve UCLA’s 2025 goal – especially following UCLA’s increase in student enrollment.
Katz added drought-resistant landscaping on campus has helped cut water usage. She said a drought-tolerant landscaping project around Murphy Hall has been saving approximately 3 million gallons per year.
Mylin said the Wooden Center also used dry landscaping to prevent plants from absorbing excess water that could otherwise be recycled. He said the Wooden Center also planted succulents and native plants above the center to save water.
Mylin added the projects being pioneered at the Wooden Center will be implemented at Drake Stadium, Pauley Pavilion and other recreational venues on campus if they are successful.