This year’s Sustainability Month has come to a close, meaning it’s the perfect time to reflect on all the exciting progress and engagement that went on this October. In the past several weeks, over a dozen events were held by a variety of different sustainability organizations on campus – engaging more than 800 students, staff and faculty in everything from beach cleanups to climate conferences.
The beginning of Sustainability Month was marked by a lively festival on Dexter Lawn. Here, students played games, connected with sustainable clubs, bought handmade goods and swapped unwanted clothes for new ones. Missed out on the clothing swap? Cal Poly’s Sustainable Fashion Club hopes to continue regular clothing swaps throughout the year.
Sustainability Month offered a variety of opportunities for outside of the classroom learning. Net Impact ran a Sustainability Professionals in Tech Panel and over 50 talks were available during the two-day Climate Solutions Now Conference. Surfrider’s beach cleanup, Sprout Up’s Trivia Night, and the Cal Poly Experimental Farm workday offered some more hands-on learning experiences.
The State of Sustainability brought in students, staff, and faculty to learn about the progress that’s been made since last spring’s Sustainability Charrette. Updates were heard from several sectors at Cal Poly like Transportation and Parking Services, Campus Dining, and ASI. Participants also heard from the Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability office who gave vital updates on Cal Poly’s drought response, carbon neutrality and zero waste goals.
A big thank you to the Green Campus team, who organized this year’s Sustainability Month. This group of student interns are working on a variety of projects dedicated to improving sustainability at Cal Poly, ranging from water conservation to campus reuse programs.
Sustainability Month is over but keep an eye out for the dozens of sustainability initiatives happening on campus year-round.