About
History
The Environmental Resource Center was established in 1967 and soon became the student research and activist wing of the Environmental Studies Department. Since the early 1970s the ERC has served SJSU with an annual Earth Day celebration, an environmental library and other projects that promote sustainable living. Students in the ERC started the campus recycling program, and an alternative commute planning program which ultimately became a permanent department of Associated Students called Transportation Solutions. Currently, the ERC is creating a library of local Environmental Impact Reports, maintaining an internship and job database, and working with Spartan Dining to add local organic produce to our campus dining options.
Ongoing Projects
Earth Day/Sustainability Week The ERC organizes the campus Earth Day celebration each April as part of Sustainability Week. Sustainability Week was created through a partnership between the ERC and the S.M.A.R.T. Project in 2007. Click here to see the Spring 07 photos.
EIR Database We maintain our own library of Environmental Impact Reports from local cities and counties. These documents are of value to students and urban planners. Anyone can search the database.
Internship Database The internship database is regularly updated with job listings and internships available locally and nationally in environmental fields.
Current Projects
Sustainable Food (Started Fall 2006) We are collaborating with Spartan Dining and other student groups to change our campus food system into a more sustainable one.
Recycled Notebooks (Started Fall 2006) We are working on purchasing 100% post-consumer recycled chlorine-free paper and getting it made into notebooks. We will sell these notebooks to students.
Past Projects
New Internship Database (Fall 2006)
Silicon Valley Environmental Indicators Project We worked with the Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership to update and add to measures that indicate the environmental health of Silicon Valley. Each semester we update and add new indicators to help planners and decision-makers take action to protect and restore our local environment