Sustainability

Cal State LA's Campus Sustainability Committee (CSC) was created in 2016 in order to promote collaboration among faculty, students, and staff in the adoption of best practices, policies, projects and technologies to improve the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of the campus community. The CSC serves in an advisory capacity to the President, and is charged with 1) educating and engaging campus stakeholders and external partners on sustainability issues, 2) integrating sustainability into campus policies and procedures, and 3) facilitating communication of initiatives, strategic plans, assessments, and updates on campus sustainability efforts, both internally and externally.

To learn more about Cal State LA's Campus Sustainability Committee, see Administrative Procedure 428.

The California State University system has been a long-time proponent of energy conservation and other sustainability initiatives. In 2014, the CSU Sustainability Policy was approved and incorporates nine goals to track the system’s progress in achieving greater energy efficiency and sustainability. The CSU Sustainability Policy aims not only to reduce the university’s impact on the environment and educate our students, faculty and staff on sustainable practices, but also to incorporate sustainability principles and climate science in the university's educational offerings.

To learn more about the CSU Sustainability Policy and current efforts throughout the CSU system, visit CSU's Commitment to Sustainability website.

Established in 2016, Cal State LA's Green Revolving Fund (GRF) is intended to empower all members of the Cal State LA community to help create a more sustainable world. The mission of Cal State LA's GRF is to financially support projects that promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, waste reduction and other sustainability initiatives with a demonstrated return on investment. The GRF looks to the university's students, faculty and staff to contribute ideas on the best ways to invest in energy and sustainability projects that reduce utilities consumption and generate cost savings.

To learn more about the program, see the Cal State LA Green Revolving Fund Charter. If you have an idea you'd like to submit for consideration, please use the GRF Application and Close-Out Form.

On April 4, 2016, Cal State LA became a signatory member of Second Nature’s Climate Commitment. The Climate Commitment includes: 1) the publication of annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions inventories, 2) a campus-community resilience assessment, 3) active support of a joint campus-community task force, 4) development of a comprehensive Climate Action Plan, and 5) the annual evaluation of progress toward carbon neutrality with climate resilience goals.

To learn more about the university's climate commitment, visit Cal State LA's Second Nature Reporting Platform.

Cal State LA reports its sustainability efforts with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) with their Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS®). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Performance indicators and credit criteria is organized into four categories that span the breadth of higher education sustainability: Academics, Engagement, Operations, and Planning & Administration. On June 6, 2016, Cal State LA received a STARS Silver rating and the university's Hydrogen Research and Fueling Facility was highlighted in AASHE’s 2016 Sustainable Campus Index.

To learn more about the university's sustainability achievements, see Cal State LA's STARS Report.

Cal State LA is committed to achieving the zero waste goals of the California State University Sustainability Policy, which are 1) to reduce solid waste disposal by 50% by 2016, 2) reduce solid waste disposal by 80% by 2020, and 3) move to zero waste. In 2016, Cal State LA surpassed the first goal with a 63% diversion rate and created the Cal State LA Zero Waste Plan to achieve the following two zero waste goals: 90% waste diversion by 2026 and move towards zero waste by 2036.

California State University defines zero waste as managing products, services, and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Zero waste maximizes recycling, minimizes waste, reduces consumption, and ensures that products are made to be reused or recycled back into nature or the marketplace.

To learn more about the university's zero waste program, visit the Zero Waste page.