How Sustainable is Riverside City College?

For this weeks assignment we were asked to evaluate and draw up a tentative plan to improve how sustainable the Riverside City College (RCC) campus is. To evaluate RCC it is necessary to observe the "life"of the campus and ask yourself questions like: "How many people attend this college" "How much trash do we produce here?" "Are there an efficient number of trash cans for the produced waste?" "Is recycling promoted?" "Is the waste we produced able to be reused?" "Are we utilize sustainable resources or do we to rapidly consume resources that are nonrenewable?" "etc..." All these questions, and more, are good questions to ask and can help identify a problem, or a group of related problems, on the campus. And Identifying existing problems is always the first step towards improvement!

Picture of RCC from merchantcircle.com

So what next? Well, if you believe that an area on campus needs to be improved then the chances are there are other students who feel the same way! Talk to other students, share your concerns about areas in which you believe the campus may need to improve, and listen, with an open mind, to other student who may share your concerns or have concerns of their own. Obtaining others opinions can either provide validation for your concerns or give you a heads up that you over looked something while problem solving. Either way a second, third, or fourth opinion is a good idea! 

A problem that I see on the Riverside campus is waste! No recycle bins and lots of waste thrown into the trash cans! So where do you start? With a club! Did you know it only takes one professor's support to initiate a club. Find a professor who supports green sustainability and ask for their support! Power in numbers! 15 students can change 15 times more then one student by themselves! Then find out why! Ask Marvin Osejo, the Custodial Manager, why RCC does not recycle? Why don't classrooms have bins to recycle paper? If our campus has vending machines why don't we recycle aluminum? Ask the Food Service Department why RCC does not use reusable service ware. Interview ED Bush, Vice President of Student Services, to find out why the bookstore does not promote the use of reusable bags. Seek outside assistance. Riverside County Waste Management Department is an excellent outside resource! Develop an obtainable plan. Use the information that you and your peers acquired and develop a feasible plan to present. Anticipate the reasons why your plan may be rejected an incorporate ideas that explain why your plan is achievable. Present your ideas to each department that could help initiate your plan. Lastly, be persistent and flexible because change usually occurs gradually, little by little over time.     

We were also asked to investigate colleges that have already initiated plans to promote sustainability. Happily there are a lot! According to The Daily Green colleges such as Oberlin College, in Ohio, has developed a completely self sustainable "living Machine" on their campus! Which is great but requires a great deal of resources to replicate. On a smaller scale, and probably more obtainable for RCC and most other colleges, are changes that schools like the University of Santa Cruz have initiated. Changes, according to USnews, like the implementation of organic food served in the cafeteria, the use of food waste to promote the growth of an organic garden, and to use a tray less dinning system which saves "30,000 gallons of water per month." Changes like these may seem small but they are a great place to start. They promote sustainability on campus and may lead to greater changes later on. The students and facility at Oberlin had to start somewhere, and it may have been by planting an organic garden or promoting water conservation in the cafeteria. You never know!