In an extraordinary year, an unwavering commitment to sustainability

Regardless of huge disruptions attributable to the worldwide pandemic over the previous 12 months, the College of California pushed forward on its sustainability targets, making vital progress in its efforts to fight local weather change and construct resilience throughout its campuses.

A new interactive website permits customers to trace UC’s progress and discover detailed knowledge about how UC is doing on the systemwide and campus stage in areas equivalent to local weather safety, zero waste, meals and transportation.

Amongst among the highlights from 2020:

• UC Merced grew to become the primary public analysis college within the nation to realize carbon neutrality, a milestone it achieved two years forward of schedule.
• UC now makes use of extra inexperienced energy than another school or college within the nation, in line with the EPA. And it ranks sixth in on-site inexperienced energy era in comparison with all firms and governments.
• The College’s funding portfolio is now fossil-free, and UC has surpassed its five-year purpose of investing $1 billion in clear vitality initiatives. 
• UC introduced it’s phasing out single-use plastics throughout its 10 campuses.
• There are over 1,300 electrical automobile charging stations all through the UC system. 

Guests to the web site may also discover an array of tales that present simply how resourceful UC folks have been within the face of the pandemic, as sustainability practices had been shortly tailored to assist communities meet the unprecedented challenges they confronted.

At UC Berkeley, for instance, bioengineering professor Amy Herr launched a collaborative analysis mission to determine decontaminate and safely reuse N95 masks — decreasing waste, whereas serving to to deal with a scarcity of protecting gear.

UCLA Well being met the problem of provide chain disruptions by turning to upcycling, working with union staff to remodel recycled surgical wrap into face masks, serving to meet an pressing want through the early days of the pandemic.

And at UC Riverside, the eight-acre campus backyard grew to become an important supply of free vegatables and fruits for college students who remained on campus through the transition to distant instruction.

“With operations remodeled throughout our campuses, medical facilities, and labs in 2020, we seized a novel alternative to assume much more deeply about how we are able to prioritize sustainability in all the pieces we do,” UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D., stated as he offered UC’s annual sustainability report back to the Board of Regents. ”This report is a outstanding testomony to the College’s dedication to those rules.”