Cal Zero Waste

Students at Cal Zero Waste received a $26,400 grant this fall to promote and study waste reducing practices in and around UC Berkeley. 

New plastic recycling bins were implemented in campus's Br-Ün Lab on Monday, sparking conversation on nonhazardous waste reduction in campus research labs.

UC Berkeley junior Lauren Hibbert is running for the ASUC Senate focusing on creating academic support systems and increasing campus sustainability. 

During this year’s move-out season, I have hope that we can collectively mobilize behind the Cooperative Reuse program to redistribute thousands of furniture items and leave Berkeley a more sustainable place.

To most students residing off-campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, away from the bustling dining halls and the ever-crowded campus cafes, food waste may not be a top priority. On campus, however, Cal Dining and other campus entities continue to work toward reducing the amount of food UC Berkeley wastes.

The Cooperative Reuse pilot program, which aimed to eliminate illegal dumping during the student move-out process at the end of the spring 2018 semester, will be repeated this year, starting May 18.

With the year 2020 approaching, UC Berkeley has diverted only about half the solid waste from landfills necessary to reach its zero waste by 2020 goal.

In order for UC Berkeley to reach our zero waste by 2020 goals, these are the bold next steps our students and administration must also adopt. In fact, as an institution of higher learning and the No. 1 public university in the world, we should now go even further in leading the way to eliminating the use of single-use disposable plastics and other landfill items on campus.

According to UC Berkeley’s recently released Supplemental Environmental Impact Report, or SEIR, the campus’ carbon emissions, waste generation and greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions continue to decrease despite the projected 33.7 percent increase in projected student enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year.

UC Berkeley Facilities Services is hosting “Zero Waste October,” a series of events aimed at “celebrating, highlighting and achieving zero waste,” according to its website.