UCSC FARM TOUR

On March 6, 2018 the Financial Affairs Green Team toured the UCSC farm to learn about different composting methods. In addition to composting, they were treated to a general tour of the farm operations starting with soil management and greenhouse seedlings and ending with field crops, harvesting and composting. We highly recommend the free self-guided UCSC farm tour to all UCSC staff and the general public. The farm is open to the public daily from 8-6pm for free self guided tours (park at the Hay Barn).

​WORM BIN COMPOSTING

David Shaw, a faculty member from the Sustainability Education Department (sustainability.ucsc.edu), joined the Financial Affairs Green Team on December 5th to demonstrate how a composting worm bin can benefit both the planet, by eliminating some food scraps from the garbage can, and the garden.  There was lively discussion about what to feed the worms, how they break down the scraps into castings and how the castings and tea can benefit both indoor plants and gardens. We were fortunate to use the Financial Affairs' bin (which is also used by our groundskeeper, John, to nourish our atrium garden) to see how the worms produce the castings and tea.

David invited us to release our inner gardener and "dig in" (gently and with gloves) to the bin and see what the worms like and what does not break down. He then harvested the bountiful bin and shared the worm tea with the group to bring home and feed their plants. This was followed by a discussion of cover crops to plant in the fall and plow back into the garden in the spring to feed and nourish the soil.

DIMEO LANE INITIATIVE

What prompted the Financial Affairs Green Team to measure our waste generation? Don’t they have enough projects to work on? Well, they do. So in early-2013 they sought out others in Financial Affairs to volunteer to work on the Dimeo Lane Project. Its charge was to better understand what happens to the waste Financial Affairs generates and identify opportunities to divert as much of it as possible from the landfill. The project team visited the landfill at Dimeo Lane and interviewed the management there about waste diversion opportunities for UCSC. Observations, notes, videos, and photos were taken.

GREEN LUNCH WORKSHOP AND DEMO

On April 3rd,using monies secured through a grant award from the Student’s Carbon Fund Committee, the Financial Affairs Green Team sponsored a "Green Lunch" event featuring local nutritionist and author Talya Lutzker. The hour-long cooking demonstration showcased easy-to-make recipes with an eye towards reducing take-out lunch packaging. There were also suggestions about choosing foods that can be readily composted if leftover. Lutzker offered up a variety of healthy and tasty dishes for attendees to sample from lemon and apple cider vinegar kale salad, to smoothies, and jicama "chips" with dip. Tamara Santos, PPS/ETAS Manager for EFS and a workshop participant, declared, "The snacks were great! Talya provided simple recipes that tasted so good. I can't wait to try them at home." If you wanted to attend this green lunch workshop but for whatever reason missed the opportunity, let your Green Team representative know and maybe we’ll plan a “redo”!

​HAND TOWEL TO WORK WEEK

Beginning the week of February 3rd, we set up on the mezzanine asking FA staff to take the Chancellor's 2014 waste challenge and to use a cloth hand towel for one week. With volunteers manning the table --sacrificing half of their lunch hour-- 82% of us took the towel pledge! Congratulate yourselves for saving resources and sending fewer paper towels to the Dimeo Lane landfill.​