UCSB has a rich environmental culture. Students engage with many on-campus organizations that are affiliated with environmental justice, environmentalism, and/or sustainability. Below is a list of some of those organizations.
Plastics Solutions
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/ucsbppc/
Email: plasticsolutionsucsb@gmail.com
Plastic Solutions at UC Santa Barbara is a student-led organization committed to educating students about the negative health and environmental impacts of single-use plastics. We are currently promoting the use of UC Santa Barbara Hydration Stations as an alternative to purchasing single-use plastic water bottles that pollute our coastlines. These stations provide filtered water to students free-of-charge at 31 different locations on campus. In addition to advocating the water stations, we have been involved with a campus-wide shift toward using 100% compostable products in campus eateries. In addition to this culture shift, the campus has successfully included language in their policies that promotes the reduced use of harmful materials such as styrofoam. While we are very excited about the positive changes we’ve seen, we continue to work toward our goal of banning single-use plastics altogether on our campus.
Program for the Assessment and Certification of the Environment and Sustainability (PACES)
Website: https://www.sustainability.ucsb.edu/paces
Email: kcmaynard@ucsb.edu
PACES recognizes leadership in campus sustainability and assists departments, event coordinators and sports teams in identifying new opportunities where they can further reduce their impact on the environment. We focus on empowering individuals to make changes towards sustainability and engage their direct community, whether that be department members, event coordinators and attendees, or athletic teammates, to do the same. PACES offers departments an office assessment, climate and sustainability action plan write up, and presentation for department members. A similar consultation service is offered to athletic teams. We also work with event coordinators to reduce costs and implement sustainable practices in efforts to certify them as Green Events. Participants in PACES receive advice regarding energy usage, waste disposal/reduction practices, office health, sustainable procurement, transportation, and more.