The local, organic produce served at Humboldt State’s main dining hall is fresh. In fact, if you’re eating a salad in The J at noon, there’s a good chance the lettuce was picked that same morning.

HSU’s Dining Services has experienced great success with its local, organic and sustainable offerings. While Dining Services has worked with local food suppliers for decades, about four years ago HSU connected with the Humboldt County chapter of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and began increasing its local food options. The result has been that during the North Coast’s growing season—roughly April to October—between 50 to 100 percent of produce at HSU is local and organic.

Full Story: From the Farm to the Dining Hall

California State University Channel Islands earned recognition for its sustainable lighting practices at the Seventh Annual CSU/UC/Community College Sustainability Conference. More than 1,000 people attended the conference that was held July 31 through Aug. 3 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

CSU/CI was one of eight California State University campuses recognized for efforts in areas such as building retrofits and operations, green buildings, sustainable transportation and student sustainability programs. The award CSU/CI received specifically recognized the University for 2008 Best Practice in the category of Lighting and Controls for its work in retrofitting portions of the campus with efficient and sustainable exterior lighting.

Full Story: CSU Channel Islands Receives Award For Sustainable Lighting

Save paper, save a tree. Save a tray, save water and reduce waste.

Following the university’s commitment to go green, Los Olivos has been enforcing trayless dining since the beginning of the fall quarter. Since then, the dining commons has seen a tremendous decrease in food waste and its use of power and water. As an added bonus, students have been challenged to avoid the habit of overeating in a buffet-style setting.

Full Story: Trayless Dining at Los Olivos Helps University’s Green Initiative

Green Campus efficiency projects at Humboldt State University are really starting to pay off – literally.  Savings projects initiated by Green Campus Interns qualify HSU to receive $131,828 in rebate funding from the University of California/California State University/Investor Owned Utility Energy Efficiency Partnership.

These “bundled projects” combine energy savings from student-led network-based power management projects and monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) of the Wildlife Science Building. More »

Construction is slated to start early next year on a $2.9 million home for Humboldt State University’s Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC), for three decades a pioneer in clean air technologies like hydrogen power.

The 6,000 square foot-plus facility will house an exterior laboratory, two indoor labs, a machine shop, a conference and demonstration room and offices for staff and graduate students. Groundwork will begin in January 2009 and full-scale construction will kick off in March.

Full Story: New Schatz Home Takes Shape