Amid a fleet of electric and alternative-fuel vehicles, public transportation maps, and representatives from UCLA and the city of Los Angeles, attendees at the General Services Sustainability Fair in Bruin Plaza were able to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint on the planet.
UCLA’s first Sustainability Fair focused on recycling, water and energy conservation, electric vehicles, and mass transportation.
The theme was “For a Greener U.” Groups such as the Sustainable Urban Network (SUN) and Greenpeace were represented.
Also there were employees from the Los Angeles Department of Public Works and from UCLA’s parking, maintenance, environmental health and safety, and transportation services.
Mike Sandler, a graduate student in urban planning and member of SUN, said the primary goal of the day was to teach people about ecological alternatives to wasteful habits.
“We hope to help educate students about (environmentally sound) products and making the university more sustainable,” Sandler said.
Janice Andrad, a first-year undeclared student, was there as a representative for Associated Students UCLA employees, specifically those in food services.
She sat behind an array of eco-friendly products, including containers made from corn and the “spudware” silverware available at campus eateries like Greenhouse.
“Spudware is made of potatoes. It decomposes in 45 days. Right now we’re just trying to get (the product) out there,” Andrad said.
She added that many UCLA restaurants do not use these products because they tend to be expensive, but that if more places were to try them, the makers might be able to drop the prices.
Jesse Alberti, residential hall manager for Hedrick Court, was at the fair promoting recycling in the dorms.
“It’s something we’ve been working on for a while,” he said. “We’ve had recycling, but we’re really pushing it this year.”
Efforts by UCLA Housing and Hospitality Services to improve resource conservation have included delivering blue recycling bins to dorm rooms to give students an easy way to reduce waste.
In addition, the Condo & Apartment Recycling for Everyone program, sponsored by the city’s sanitation department, will give Westwood residents a way to enroll their building in a free recycling program.
Ron Milo, the environmental engineering junior official for the City of Los Angeles Department of Sanitation, said people living in apartments or condos are just a few steps away from a recycling program with C.A.R.E.
“The building landlord or manager has to register the building with the city, then we provide recycling bins,” Milo said.
Milo added that collection of materials is twice a week and there is no cost to either the residents or building landlord or manager.
Mary Rodriguez is a peer counselor with MEChA Calmecac, a part of the Student Retention Center, which provides assistance to Hispanic students in order to help them graduate.
Rodriguez went to the Sustainability Fair to get information for herself and her counselees about UCLA’s various commuter programs, including the Bruin Go! transit pass program, Go Metro, and the UCLA Vanpool services.
“I commute, my students commute. I like the commuter program, because just getting my bus pass, that helps a lot,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez added that more people should consider mass transit to reduce congestion on the roads.
“I think if people were to take the bus, it would eliminate a lot of the traffic,” Rodriguez said.
Brad Barker attended the fair because he is the national sales manager for T3 Motion, one of the companies displaying electric vehicles.
Their Personal Mobility Vehicle, which resembles a three-wheeled Segway scooter, has zero gas emissions.
T3 is marketing them as a fossil fuel-free alternative for campus police and security, and many schools already use them, according to Barker.
“Colleges like Duke, Virginia Tech, and USC already use our vehicles,” he said.
He added that he is hopeful that UCPD will adopt these vehicles.
“We’re here … to expose the campus to the vehicle. It adds capability to law enforcement and security,” Barker said.
Chase Schneider, a first-year ecology student, said a lot of the ideas presented at the fair were things he was already aware of.
“They have some good ideas, but a lot of it I’ve heard before,” Schneider said.
Sharon Cech, a graduate student in urban planning, attended the fair to learn about campus resources.
“I wanted to see what was available, what was being emphasized. I think that (the university) could be doing a lot more in terms of supporting (sustainability),” Cech said.