Sustainability
At UC Berkeley, many of us would like to consider ourselves environmentalists: we
recycle, print double-sided, and carry reusable water bottles, among many other things.
However, the student groups we participate in, by printing thousands of flyers and
generating hundreds of pounds in waste every year, often fall short of this ideal. As Cal
Dems we like to lead by example, so this semester we were thrilled to be one of a handful
of clubs to participate in the pilot program of the ASUC’s Green Certification Program.
The Green Certification Program, which is spearheaded by ASUC Senator Elliot
Goldstein, rewards clubs that take simple steps to be more sustainable, like printing on
100% recycled paper, and providing recycling and composting at all their events. Here
are some of the ways in which Cal Dems has reduced our impact on the environment:
- All of our flyers are printed on 100% recycled paper
- We provide recycling at all events and meetings
- We provide composting whenever we serve food
- All plates, forks, knives and utensils at our events are 100% compostable
- All meeting minutes and agendas are electronic
- If possible, we walk/take public transportation to off-campus events, and if not,
- we always carpool (at least 4 to a car)
- The Smart Ass is printed with soy-based ink on 30% post-consumer recycled
- paper
- We recycle our unused Smart Asses (just the magazines)
- We use large reusable containers for serving water, and never serve bottled water
- We hosted a luncheon for Campus Camp Wellstone on April 2nd that
- received “Super Green Event” status through the UC Berkeley Office of
- Sustainability. We were able to accomplish this by providing only compostable
- plates and utensils, donating leftover food to a local homeless shelter, and
- printing all promotional materials on 100% recycled paper.
We encourage all student groups to be a part of the Green Certification Program next
semester, and join with Cal Dems in reducing our impact on the environment.