Having been on campus for two months now, it is a safe assumption you’ve heard people bragging about CSU’s sustainability initiatives. Since becoming the first university to receive a platinum-level STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating Systems) ranking, CSU has continued to push their sustainability initiatives, achieving the platinum distinction three more times since and currently boasting the second-highest ranking in the US. Student involvement is a large driver of these sustainable actions; our generation is demanding more, and our campus is responding. To this day our Housing and Dining services have established ten LEED-certified residential buildings and is in the process of increasing water efficiency, conserving energy, managing waste, reusing materials, and working to bring other buildings up to LEED standards. HDS has also created many living labs on campus such as the Spoke, a student-run bike repair shop that assists/teaches students about bike maintenance and repair,  Horticulture Campus grown produce, a composting operation at the Foothills campus, and beehives located at Durrell Center.

Achieving this change hasn’t been possible without the help of students like yourself. While issues surrounding climate change and sustainability are overwhelming, CSU’s Housing and Dining services offers many approachable ways for students to make a difference. This can be as quick as taking the Eco Pledge, an opportunity for students to commit to reducing their carbon footprint and living sustainably on campus. Participants are eligible for different prizes, such as drier balls and reusable farmers market bags, or can forgo these options in favor of planting trees through reforestation projects. You can also take part in the Ram Food Recovery program; by subscribing you will be sent a text alert about leftover food from catered events and given a time, date, and location for food pick-up. This minimizes food waste and helps combat food insecurity on our campus. We also recommend finding the time to chat with your Eco Leader or checking out the Living Green Guide to learn about more tricks and tips to minimize your impact on campus.

The Housing and Dining Service also offers an HDS Sustainability Fund which supports grassroots programs the promote sustainable action on our campus. Applications are open to any CSU students who have support from a faculty/staff advisor. Initiatives can be new ideas, such as past projects like the Beehives at Durrell and SkiSU. The fund also can be allocated towards supporting cost differences between standard and sustainable items (such as switching to LED lights).

No matter how minor an action may seem, every sustainable choice we make helps build a better tomorrow. Together we can work towards a sustainable future through small actions, lessoning our carbon footprint and resource usage. I’m not sure about you, but when I think about the sustainability initiatives our campus has available to us, I can confidently say I’m proud to be a CSU Ram.