AWARENESS

The Environmental Affairs Committee (EAC) is part of the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College (ASCMC) and is committed to enacting impactful and pragmatic initiatives that promote sustainable consumption of electricity, water, food, and other material goods by working with the Sustainability Coordinator, Facilities and Campus Services (FACS), and students. All students can submit applications for EAC and to be the EAC chair. EAC members are elected by the EAC chair, and the EAC chair is elected by the vice president of ASCMC. For more information, please contact eac.ascmc@gmail.com. Some of the EAC’s notable initiatives include: 

EcoReps

EcoReps are paid student educators who provide sustainability education to students in each quad. They spearhead their own projects and collaborate on EAC initiatives.

GreenWare Program

An EAC-led program that offers reusable dining ware to CMC students, staff, and faculty free of cost. This program reduces campus waste and litter, saves the CMC community money and encourages the move away from single use items, and creates student employment on campus.
Checkout Greenware Here

Weigh the Waste

A semi-annual campaign to quantify CMC’s food waste reduction efforts and create awareness about food waste in Collins through which large bins are set up to collect and weigh all leftover food waste during a determined time.

 

Laundry Energy Reduction Program

With the support of EAC, the EcoReps rolled out The Lower your Load($) initiative in the fall of 2018. Through targeted campaigning with better washing habits posted in the laundry rooms and a free drying rack rental program, the goal is to reduce energy usage.

The Roberts Environmental Center at CMC supports a combination of scientific, economic, and political considerations in the analysis of environmental issues through its sponsorship of the Environment, Economics, and Politics major, student employment, internships, and a speaker series. The research is conducted by 5C students and includes analysis of the environmental and social responsibility reporting of the world’s largest companies, national higher education institutions’ sustainability efforts, and field studies of the efficacy of natural resource management projects by state and federal agencies. To learn more, visit the REC website at https://rec.cmc.edu/. 

Student-Led Research

The REC consists of student-led teams that research, collaborate, and work on a variety of issues including environmental governance, public policy, urban planning, environmental management, and natural resource management.

Green Careers Conference

Roberts Environmental Center holds an annual Green Careers Conference for a day of discussion, networking, and presentations on the opportunities for 5C students to join the growing field of sustainable and environmental careers. A keynote and panel presentations by green industry leaders highlights the opportunities and challenges facing green jobs today within environmental law, consulting, nonprofits and corporate enterprise. Accompanying the panel is a career fair to provide an opportunity for students to discuss specific career opportunities and facilitate a lasting connection between the Claremont community and innovative environmental firms.

REC Research Station, Eastern Sierra

In addition to its facilities in Claremont, the Robert Center directs the Burger Sierra Research Station off Tioga Pass in the eastern Sierra Nevada, overlooking Mono Lake and just a few miles from Yosemite National Park. This 160-acre reserve houses a few students and faculty engaged in summer internships, thesis projects, and field research activities.

S.S.P.E.A.R. is a vigorous and aggressive and peaceful movement for the defense of the natural environment and the advancement of sustainability. The club’s mission is to raise awareness of environmental issues, the impact of climate change, and responsible uses of the earth’s ecosystems and resources by planning events that educate and enlist humanity to practice sustainability and to protect and restore the natural environment. Learn more at http://cmcsustainability.weebly.com/. Below are some examples of the type of work SSPEAR does.

Trash on the Lawn

Trash on the Lawn is a dormitory waste audit SSPEAR organizes each semester to analyze campus recycling habits.  The club gathers trash bags from dorm lounges, and instead of sending them to the landfill, students dump them out on the lawn, and—armed with gloves and tarps—properly sort the contents!

Power Down Challenge

The Campus Conservation Nationals competition, known at the Claremont Colleges as “PowerDown,” is a nation-wide effort to create awareness of everyday energy and water use by residents in dorms.  Every spring semester, Claremont McKenna dorms compete against one another, the school faces off against the four other Claremont Colleges, and there is a national ranking based on the school’s ability to reduce its own energy and water demand.

Monitoring the Sprinklers

SSPEAR helps keep watch to ensure the campus sprinklers operate as efficiently as possible, especially during periods of critical drought. The club has taken pictures and mapped any sprinklers which were over-watering or turned in the wrong direction, and with the help of CMC Grounds personnel, they were able to quickly make the necessary repairs.