New initiatives aim for greener campus

As California confronts one of its worst droughts on record, students in the Environmental Student Assembly announced the launch of a new certification program on Tuesday. The program will provide organizers with a guide on how to make on-campus events environmentally friendly.

ESA Executive Director Shawn Rhoads says that the certification program is a major step in making USC a leader in sustainability.

“We don’t want to ‘be like’ some other university, we want to set the standard,” Rhoads said.

On-campus groups, student organizations and university departments are all eligible to use the certification program as a guide and resource for environmentally friendly event planning.

If an organization uses the program, ESA’s executive board approves a checklist of environmental goals for a planned event and rates the event based on seven categories: general practices, food and food services, communications and marketing, promotional items, transportation, production and a miscellaneous category for other innovative green practices.

Within the category of food and food services requirements for the certification range from vegan and vegetarian options to a prohibition on styrofoam products for food. Transportation requirements include the use of either public transportation or electric, Zipcar or hybrid vehicles.

Based on the percentage of the checklist met overall, the event receives a certification of “Cardinal,” “Gold” or “Green.” Green is the highest certification an event can achieve, with 67 percent or more of the applicable checklist practices met.

“I want this to serve as encouragement for students. I want students to go to an event and ask, ‘Is this ESA-certified?’” Rhoads said.

ESA moved to reform events after the 2014 Welcome Back concert that took place Aug. 23 on McCarthy Quad. Ralphs Grocery Company promoted the event and gave students plastic bags with food and grocery items. After the event, many bags were left on the quad.

“Not only were these bags left on the quad, but all the food and all the bags were wasted,” Rhoads said.

Rhoads hopes that the certification program will eventually be adopted into official university policy. The program is the next stage of ESA’s mission to create a “green culture” on USC’s campus.

“Program Board committees and assemblies, including Concerts Committee, recognize this issue on campus and have expressed interest to focus [their] efforts to use our program as a resource for their events,” Rhoads said in a statement to the Daily Trojan.

On Tuesday, ESA members and supporters met at the “Fall in with ESA” event at Hahn Plaza. The event, which featured bicycle-churned ice cream from Peddler’s Creamery, informed students about new initiatives and ways to promote sustainability.

Ashley Louie, graphics director for ESA, said that she joined the organization because it combined an issue she cared about with her professional ambitions in architecture.

“In the field of architecture, it’s not just about creating a sustainable building, but determining how much energy it takes to maintain a building,” Louie said. “Things like natural lighting and solar panels are important.”

ESA began in spring 2014 as a representative assembly for all environmental organizations at USC and has since grown from its initial group of five member organizations to nine. Rhoads, who was elected as the organization’s first executive director last spring, said identifying sustainability issues on campus is a critical part of ESA’s mission.

“I think that since USC is a global leader, it should take more responsibility for its own community,” Rhoads said.

Among these issues is USC’s use of a single-stream recycling service that combines plastic and paper recyclable waste. This limits the amount of waste that can actually be reused due to the contamination from soiled items.

ESA also wants to raise awareness about companies such as Freeport-McMoRan drilling using hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” on Jefferson Boulevard. Environmental activists are concerned that the chemicals used to break up rock underground can taint groundwater supplies and be hazardous to residents.

Water conservation is another issue. Currently, USC’s Facility Management Services charges fees to turn off fountains and sprinklers for events. Instead, ESA believes the university should incentivize water conservation.

“We’re in the middle of a drought; why aren’t we conserving water?” Rhoads asked.

In spite of these issues, some students think the university is improving its sustainability. Supporters have pointed to examples such as efforts to eliminate waste on football game days.

ESA hopes to raise its profile even more this semester. Members said that the event certification program is only the beginning.

“Sustainability is a huge issue, and our campus certainly needs to work on it,” said Kelly Billings, a junior majoring in environmental studies.