Connecting students from across California to make our universities more sustainable.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other subnational leaders, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Environment Programme, is hosting the Governors’ Global Climate Summit 3. This summit will take place November 15-16, 2010 at the Mondavi Center on the campus of the University of California, Davis.
Join global experts from government, business, non-profits, [...]
Now nearly 140 coal ash sites have proven water pollution problems
Knowledge is king, and now we know more about the extent of damage coal ash sites across the country are causing to our drinking water. A new report issued today by Earthjustice, the Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club offers data that documents water [...]
With the California Senate preparing to vote on AB 1998 — a bill that would ban plastic bags statewide — Heal the Bay has released a hilarious mockumentary in the vein of a BBC nature film, following the travels of “one of the most clever and illustrious creatures: the plastic bag.”
Narrated by Academy Award-winning [...]
One hot summer’s weekend in mid-August, I was fortunate enough to attend the CSSC leadership retreat in Napa, CA. Hailing all the way from San Diego, I crossed my fingers that the long journey up would be worth it… it was.
Immediately upon entering the room, I felt the sense of community that I have come [...]
Legend has it that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. These days, Congress fiddles while the world burns.
More precisely, it’s Russia that’s burning at the moment, with a record heat wave and forest fires being blamed for as many as 15,000 deaths so far. Also troubling is the drought, which prompted the Russian government to ban [...]
Despite a whole lot of brouhaha over AB 32 and the proposition to derail it, two-thirds of California residents continue to back it — a percent unchanged from last year. So says a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California.
But the results don’t put the climate law in the clear in November. Pollsters [...]
Stuck in traffic in Washington, DC in 1959, President Eisenhower was shocked to learn that the delay was being caused by Interstate Highway construction. Surely the Interstates were being built between cities, not in them. The President demanded to know who was responsible for this state of affairs, only to be told that he was; [...]
Riddle me this: What’s more valuable, global food security or a batch of luxury homes? I know, seems like kind of a no-brainer. Keeping the world fed should obviously come before some new McMansions. But apparently a Russian court thinks otherwise.
SIGN THE PETITION
Yesterday, a Russian court declared that the Russian Federal Fund of Residential Real [...]
To assess how heavy a blow the BP oil spill has dealt the Gulf of Mexico, researchers are closely watching a staple of the seafood industry and primary indicator of the ecosystem’s health: the blue crab.
Weeks ago, before engineers pumped in mud and cement to plug the gusher, scientists began finding specks of oil in [...]
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mess of trash and plastic that moves around the north Pacific Ocean and is roughly the size of Texas. It has a high concentration of plastics and chemical sludge. Photos from the patch of trapped sea turtles and tires will snare the attention of even the most stone-hearted [...]
Empowered. Connected. Strong. That’s how I felt after spending this past weekend in Chicago meeting and working with fellow youth activists from across the nation. The connections I made there are deep-seated and lifelong, and I am honored to call each and every one of them my friends. They are working on projects ranging from [...]
More than three weeks after BP capped its gushing oil well, skimming operations have all but stopped and federal scientists say just a quarter of the oil remains in the Gulf of Mexico.
But wildlife officials are rounding up more oiled birds than ever as fledgling birds get stuck in the residual goo and rescuers make [...]
The West Coast Summer Leadership training will be held in Atascadero, CA (near San Luis Obispo) this summer to help students share their experiences and build organizational skills. Only 25-30 students are accepted for the training, and spots are filling up! This is a great way to learn from fellow students and devise strategies to [...]
Chinese officials said Monday that an oil slick in coastal waters has been cleaned up 10 days after a massive explosion sent an estimated 1,500 tons of crude into the Yellow Sea along the northeastern port city of Dalian.
But beaches along Dalian’s long shoreline remain closed indefinitely, with oil covering rocks and pebbles on the [...]
Credit: Katherine BourgFlorida researchers said Friday that they had for the first time conclusively linked vast plumes of microscopic oil droplets drifting in the Gulf of Mexico to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The scientists, from the University of South Florida, matched samples taken from the plumes with oil from the leaking well provided by BP. The [...]
The details have finally emerged on the American Power Act, the climate and energy legislation rolled out Wednesday by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). More telling than the details, however, is a number not mentioned in the bill – 350.
You remember 350, don’t you?
Environmental activist Bill McKibben and thousands of volunteers organized [...]
This is how a climate bill dies. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the bad news: “We don’t have the votes.” Without a single Republican backing the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, the Senate’s version of a comprehensive energy bill, there was no point taking it to the floor, he explained. [...]
Californians will vote twice in November on the state’s groundbreaking law to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming – once on an oil company-backed initiative to put the law on hold indefinitely, and once in the governor’s race, where Republican Meg Whitman has promised to suspend the rules for a year.
Governors are normally [...]
Watch the film (along with other Story of Stuff videos) at the site http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/
This film was inspired by major loopholes in US federal law that allow the $50 billion beauty industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products.
The seven-minute film, hosted by Annie Leonard, reveals the implications for consumer and worker health [...]
BP petrol stations in central London have been shut down by environmental activists.
Campaign group Greenpeace claimed it had shut off the fuel supplies to all stations in the area. The oil company said about 12 had been closed.
BP said activists stopped the flow of fuel by flipping safety switches, then removing them to prevent the [...]
We at the CSSC believe that to create a truly sustainable world, we must use the horrific events in the Gulf as a catalyst to end our addiction to dirty fossil fuels and move us towards the reduction of material goods based on “cheap” oil. Check out some of our favorite articles about the spill [...]
OurEarth.org’s 2010 Summer Internship Program is a chance to work on a number of diverse environmental projects, be in a team with students from other colleges, and earn course credit. Because OurEarth.org is still a young organization, this is also an opportunity to join on the ground floor of an up-and-coming initiative. This means that [...]
The problem here is not just two awful laws – it’s the idea that a single company, with loads of cash, can utterly subvert the basic premise of Democracy.
The California Democratic Party voted at its statewide convention April 17 to oppose Propositions 16 and 17. The San Francisco Chronicle — no friend of public power [...]
9th Annual CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference
June 20th-23rd, 2010
Hosted by Los Angeles Community College District
At Los Angeles Trade Technical College
Learn proven solutions from your peers
Discuss best practices designed for California campuses
Meet student leaders creating change
Meet green business leaders at the exhibitor show
Meet the decision-makers from the three higher education systems
For more information, [...]
Our generation’s calling is clear: If we are going to build a “Movement of movements” that is broad and connected enough to address the system-wide problems we are facing, we have to rally our entire generation to collective action, moving from apathy to engagement, powerlessness to empowerment, and connecting our individual efforts up within the [...]
We saw you! You were taking awesome pictures at the Convergence. We want the best of the best Convergence photos. So, we’ve created a contest. Pick your ten best photos that you took of the Convergence. The Operating Team will then select the top three submitted photos that best campture the [...]
CSSC is very active right now and we need your help to keep going strong. We are dependent entirely on student and alumni volunteers to accomplish our work. Joining CSSC’s leadership is an excellent way to take your work to the next level, build your resume, cultivate your leadership skils, and meet lifelong [...]
Jared Muscat, 2010 Spring Convergence Coordinator, reflects on the amazing weekend that took place from April 30th to May 2nd at UC San Diego. This post includes a slideshow of photos from the Convergence!
Join the San Rafael community this Tuesday, May 11th, including partners such as Marin Peace and Justice Coalition and Teens Turning Green for a special screening of the new film LA MISSION, a film which captures the essence of the struggles of humanity on a personal, social and political level. Following the film, there [...]
The Mario Savio Memorial Lecture & Young Activist Award invites you to nominate a candidate for the 13th annual Young Activist Award. The award this year carries a cash prize of $6000, divided equally between the prize-winner and his or her organization. This award is presented to a young person (or persons) with a deep [...]
Nikki Henderson featured in the ELLE Gold Awards 2010: 5 at 25
Nikki Henderson has been with CSSC for a long time. As a student she participated in Convergences and Leadership Retreats, joining the CSSC Leadership along the way. As an alumni, she joined the CSSC Board of Directors where she currently acts as the Director [...]
Hello Convergence Attendees!
There is less than 3 weeks till the first day of the Convergence and we are buzzing with excitement and eagerness! The weekend is shaping up to be an absolutely outstanding one with all pieces falling into beautiful places.
I wanted to write real snappy to inform you all of two very important pieces [...]
The Associated Students Environmental Affairs Board of UCSB is proud to announce its partnership with The Monday Campaigns, a non-profit organization that runs the Meatless Monday initiative with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. This national campaign aims to improve the health of both citizens and our planet by helping Americans reduce their [...]
A Carrotmob is a method of activism that leverages consumer power to make the most socially-responsible business practices also the most profitable choices. Businesses compete with one another to see who can do the most good, and then a big mob of consumers buys products in order to reward whichever business made the strongest commitment [...]
[ April 21, 2010; 5:00 pm; ] Applications due April 21st for the LoCal Renewable Energy Summer Research Program. The Summer Program is four weeks long with the first week an online course. The following three weeks are on-site in Denmark and include full-time course work combined with classroom lectures and seminars as well as field trips to relevant energy [...]
Environmental Education for the Next Generation (EENG) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by undergraduate students at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Learn how to bring it to your school.
Become a Contributor to our website and share news, events, opportunities and other information with our community. Register once and add articles any time!
The CSSC Operating Team is a body of students from across California who voluntarily fill roles that maintain the regular operations, events, and projects of CSSC.
Gabi Kirk, UC Santa Cruz – On March 23rd, students from across the state pulled together successful messaging to ask the UC Regents to strengthen sustainable food policies and support UC’s investment in renewable energy projects. The UC Board of Regents met from March 23-25 at UC San Francisco. Various committees discussed every aspect of [...]
On February 12-14, over 200 students from 35 campuses gathered in Santa Cruz, California, for the third annual Strengthening the Roots: Food and Justice Convergence. The convergence brought together a diverse group of students – from aspiring farmers to animal rights activists to campus dining employees – who were committed to creating a healthy, just, [...]
Fine Fun Friday!
Hello all Convergence comers, UCSD awaits you in a quite and anxious manner. We are only four full weeks away from the Friday of the Convergence, a night certain to be full of relaxed memory. The Old Student Center of campus, stocked full with the Food Co-op, the General Store Co-op, Groundworks Bookstore Co-op, [...]
[ June 20, 2010 to June 23, 2010. ] Over 1500 students, staff, faculty and administrators in California higher education will gather from June 20-23, 2010 at the 9th annual California Sustainability Conference at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, to explore the ways in which we can implement social, environmental, and economic sustainability on our campuses statewide; prepare this generation for green collar jobs, and [...]
[ March 14, 2010; ] Please join us for a community building dinner of dedicated students working towards sustainability in the Los Angeles and Southern California region. Please bring a yummy dish, appetizer, desert, or beverage to share, as well as any musical instruments. Join us in this wonderful opportunity to get to know one other, celebrate, and become familiar [...]
The CSSC Council is a network of student leaders from across the state who come together to share information about projects on their campus, statewide campaigns, events, or other sustainability opportunities. We host Networking Calls where the CSSC Council can dial in to share information with their peers or just to listen. It’s a great [...]
Voces y Manos Por el Derecho a la salud is looking to recruit enthusiastic, committed volunteers for our summer program! Since 2007, Voces y Manos has been working with Indigenous communities to promote educational opportunities for local youth, and community health. Voces y Manos is unlike the majority of other summer volunteer programs—our objective is [...]
[ June 20, 2010 5:00 am to June 26, 2010 5:00 am. ]
The California Water Tour seeks to bring together qualified students and young professionals on a week long exploration of California’s intricate natural and artificial water systems. Participants will visit public, private, research and non-profit institutions in a peer-to-peer dialogue concerning the future of California’s water. University students, recent graduates and young professionals have the technical [...]
[ May 14, 2010; ] Entries Due May, 14 – The Northwest Institute for Social Change is now encouraging and accepting entries from high school and college students across North America for its 2010 Student Sustainability Film Festival. We are inviting students to produce and submit short films about projects their communities and colleges have instigated to promote sustainability. Entries [...]
Applications Due May 15th – The Brower Youth Awards has launched the 2010 prize search for outstanding grassroots environmental leaders across North America. We celebrate eco-activists, ages 13-22, leading the way to a green, just future. Six Brower Youth Award recipients will receive a $3,000 cash prize, an all-expenses paid trip to San Francisco to [...]
Responsible Investing is the practice of taking social and environmental concerns, not just monetary, into account when making investment decisions. Colleges and universities own stocks of companies – often millions, or even billions – in their endowments. As large institutional shareholders, universities have the power to use their investments to push for the progressive elimination [...]
The CSSC’s 5th biannual leadership retreat this Winter was a success! From January 16th to the 18th, twenty five students and alumni gathered at our beautiful retreat space amongst the hillsides of Arroyo Grande representing thirteen campuses to build community amongst our statewide leaders, exchange ideas, and collaborate on programs and campaigns that address the [...]
