Sustainable You - Students
Student Groups and Opportunities
Students are a driving force behind improving campus sustainability and promoting change. A great example of students enacting change is the Stanford Carbon Offsets to Reduce Emissions (SCORE) initiative, in which students worked to fund the purchase of offsets for all varsity sports team air travel.
Are you a student who has seen the far-reaching impacts of Sustainable Stanford and wants to get more involved in our efforts? Here are some ways that you can work towards becoming the most Sustainable You as a student leader in the energy space. Check out some of the sustainability-related clubs on campus, paid opportunities with the Office of Sustainability, and campus research opportunities.
Sustainable Living at Stanford
The Students’ Guide to Sustainable Living at Stanford provides practical tips on reducing your environmental impact while on campus. Use it to champion sustainability as a Green Living Coordinator for your dorm or house and encourage your fellow residents to live and act responsibly with precious campus resources.
Student Trainings for Sustainability
There are many trainings offered to Stanford students to support learning about various aspects of sustainability!
Student Orientation
Starting in fall 2021, all incoming and transfer students are introduced to campus sustainability through a new module incorporated into the New Student Orientation Mandatory Sustainability Training. Stanford's Office of Sustainability partnered with Students for a Sustainable Stanford, the ASSU, and Residential & Dining Enterprises to develop a waste sorting training module for students who are new to the campus. The training module educates them on the hows and whys of proper waste sorting and contains a quiz to check for understanding.
Now all students will be educated on proper waste sorting before arriving on campus and will help the university reach the Zero Waste Goal. In addition, orientation staff are trained to help the incoming students sort their waste during the entire week of orientation. Additionally, the Stanford Transportation Department has a “Bike Program Welcome for New Students” on two days as the new freshman and sophomore students arrived at campus. All who stopped by were encouraged to sign up for a Bike Safety Training. They would receive a complimentary bike safety check and learn how to keep their bikes secure. Students also pick up tips at the Training to navigate campus on two wheels and more. See details on this event and Bike Safety Training sign-up here: https://transportation.stanford.edu/news/bike-program-welcome-new-stude…
Student Educators Program
R&DE Student Energy Conservation Team
Residential & Dining Enterprises trains dozens of student volunteers every Fall Quarter to educate students on how to use their thermostats, and how to take other key energy-savings actions particularly when they leave campus such as during the three week winter closure period in December / January. The students go door to door, creating 1:1 interactions with students to encourage them to unplug devices and turn off lights and heating systems. Over the last few years we have seen over a 30% drop in energy usage from our 2016 baseline year with this approach.
Cardinal Clean
Residential & Dining Enterprises offers students access to a free, powerful and environmentally friendly cleaning solution and laundry detergent that eliminates the need for harsh chemicals, and the plastic and water pollution they create. Student educators train students on the benefits of using this solution and how to use the machines.
Zero Waste Education
Residential & Dining Enterprises trains student interns to offer dorm events that educate students on how to correctly sort their waste into recycling and composting dumpsters. For example, student are incentivized on Sunday’s to bring their waste to enclosures to sort their personal waste with student intern experts.