The Green Initiative Fund chose 19 projects this year, awarding a total of $187,864 to help make UCSB a greener campus. A big thanks to the student population whose fees make the implementation of these projects possible, and to the TGIF committee for their dedication to this great program. See below for summaries of each project you can expect to see completed over the next academic year:

CCBER NCOS Solar Application ($50,000)

Funds will help construct a 24.5 KW Solar Panel system on the south facing roof of a maintenance shed currently under construction on North Campus Open Space. Not only is this a high profile location with good opportunities for interpretation to the broader public, but it is also a significant contribution to campus carbon neutrality goals.

Electric Leaf Blower ($20,403)

The grant funding will be used to purchase 48 electric leaf blowers to replace all of the gas leaf blowers currently used on campus. The electric leaf blowers will significantly reduce UCSB’s environmental impact by saving energy, limiting air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the noise level.

Robertson Gym Water Laundry Conversion ($16,638)

Funding will be used to add an Ozone cleaning system to the two industrial laundry machines in Robertson Gym. This system will shorten wash cycles and allow all laundry to be done using cold water, significantly lowering natural gas, water, and electricity use.

IV Theater Lighting Upgrade ($10,635)

This project will upgrade the dimmable incandescent lighting system in Isla Vista Theater, which will provide better light quality, reduce maintenance needs, and be easier to operate for staff and faculty. The project will save 7,056 kWh in lighting energy, 2328 in cooling energy, and over three metric tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions, annually.

TGIF Equipment rebate program ($10,000)

The TGIF rebate program encourages departments considering replacing old or buying new equipment (refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers, etc.) to purchase the most efficient model. TGIF offers an efficiency rebate of up to $1,000 to departments purchasing new equipment and or replacing old equipment with an energy or water efficient model. The rebate program requirements, terms and conditions, and application can be found here.

Reducing Energy Consumption at Val Reserve ($5,221)

Funding will be used to replace some of UCSB’s Valentine Eastern Sierra over 20 year old refrigerators, reducing electric energy consumption. Replacing the old, inefficient refrigerators is estimated to save 8,692lbs. (or the equivalent) of CO2 per year.

Cambro Riser Stands ($2,180)

TGIF funding will be used to purchase stands for Cambros, the insulated beverage containers that UC Santa Barbara uses at events where food is catered. These stands will elevate the container so that standard reusable coffee mugs or water bottles can fit underneath, decreasing the amount of disposable cups used.

Isla Vista Trading Post ($1,300)

The funding will provide Isla Vista Trading Post, a student run organization that hosts community trading events, with a permanent location and baskets to enable members to pick up donations on bikes as opposed to cars. This organization limits the waste produced by fast fashion and has the potential to divert over one million pounds of textile waste from the landfill.

CHESC Registration Support ($7,560)

Funding will cover costs for UCSB students to attend the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) July 8th-11th, 2019.

Food Cycling Program ($1,205)

To ensure the longevity of food recovery operations, TGIF has awarded the FoodCycling program funding to cover the costs of one year of routine bike maintenance and tune-ups, and a new bike, trailer attachment, and cooler so that they can continuously expand service to additional dining locations/cafes (i.e Tenaya Market, Courtyard Café, Coral Tree Café). TGIF also awarded funding to cover the costs of a workshop series on ways to reduce food waste.

HSSB Courtyard Solar Table ($9,119)

The TGIF grant will help the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts purchase one Sunbolt CampusXL solar tables  This tables, located outside the HSSB, will use solar energy to power student devices, reducing the campus’s environmental impact and allowing students to interact with the tangible benefits of sustainable energy.

Orfalea Family Children’s Center Solar WorkStation ($8,819)

The TGIF grant will help Early Childhood Care and Education Services purchase one Sunbolt CampusXL solar table for the Orfalea Family Children’s Center. This will bring clean solar power to the children’s center while creating educational opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math for the children.

Fostering a Green Generation of student Athletes ($995)

Funding for this project will be used to support student leaders within sports programs of Recreation and Athletics to attend the PAC 12 Sustainability Conference.

Carbon Sequestration Study ($15,195)

This grant funding would enable studies at North Campus Open Space to include an assessment of the carbon sequestration potential. This project will help sequester carbon and will empower student participants through hands-on, mentored, research experience in the newly evolving field of “carbon farming”.

SSMS 2nd Floor Replacement Hydration Station ($3,000)

This project converts an existing hydration station on the 2nd floor of Social Sciences and Media Studies to the newer model. This model is more accessible for disabled individuals and allows students to fill water bottles more efficiently, leading to fewer single use water bottle purchases.

Sustainable Tech Repair Pop-up ($16,812)

The project creates a Sustainable Tech Repair Pop-Up service that provides minor software and hardware repairs of smartphones, tablets and computers for students. The goal is to reduce e-waste by increasing students ability to repair — rather than discard — technology, contributing to UCSB’s zero waste goals.

Hatlen Theater Hydration Station ($3,000)

Grant funding will cover the cost of installing one hydration station unit in Hatlen Theater to help students access water for their reusable containers. Installing a station in an area that currently has none will reduce that amount of single-use water bottles purchased.

Marine Biotech Lab Hydration Station ($2,782)

Grant funding will cover the cost of  installing one Elkay filtered bottle filler hydration station on the first floor of the Marine Biotechnology Laboratory, limiting waste production created by single use plastic bottles.

Hydration Station for Education Build ($3,000)

Funds will go towards the installation of a hydration station in the Education building. This would advance the plan to discontinue having a water bottle delivery service in the building, thus reducing the building’s overall environmental impact.

UCen Big Belly Trio at UCen ($3,500)

Grant funding will be used to cover part of the cost of purchasing a Big Belly Trio for the UCen lawn. By replacing the current Bertha receptacle with a Big Belly trio, it will help minimize pest scavenging and increase diversion away from landfill toward compost. In addition to having a larger capacity than the Bertha receptacle, the Big Belly uses the sun’s energy to automatically compacts trash at the point of disposal, decreasing the amount of disposal trips needed.