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. The ERC has also created a library of local Environmental Impact Reports, maintained an internship and job database, and worked 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.

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/Job Database The internship database is regularly updated with job listings and internships available locally and nationally in environmental fields.

Current Projects

Transportation Development

In Fall 2008, the ERC team started a monthly bike to school day. This event is being carried out once again this Fall. We will see the first major Bike to School Day event on Thursday, October 15. The event will include showing off awesome bicycles, offering bicycle safety knowledge, as well as selling locks, lights and tools. A group bicycle ride is planned for that day as well as other activities. Those who ride other forms of Human Powered Vehicles are invited to participate as well!

Waste Management

Fall 2008 marked the ERC’s adoption of the New School of New York’s “Slutty Paper” campaign. It involves using the backsides of printed paper instead of using a new sheet. Now the ERC plans to take a new step by asking all students, faculty and staff to reduce their carbon footprint individually. Part of the plan is to encourage SJSU associates to take an ECOfootprint Quiz–planned by our current Sustainability Coordinator, Katherine Cushing. People who take the quiz will win prizes. Additionally, the ERC is helping plan and manage SJSU Recycles Day again this year.

Resource Conservation

One of the major problems at San Jose State University are the excessive amount of grassy lawns. Although some are very useful for sports, outdoor movies and other activities, a lot are on uselessly small plots and can be used better. Additionally, grass takes a lot of water to be kept. The solution to this is to use more native plants, and with the help of SJSU botanists, the ERC will be making a pitch to administrators to alter their usage of the plants on campus to save money and improve the beauty of our campus. Native plants not only use less water but possess a unique only to be found in Santa Clara County. Additionally, we won’t need to warn pedestrians to not step on the lawns because the native plants themselves warn against stepping because they are not flat lawns.

Past 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.

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

Please also check out our forum for a list of current projects that we are working on now!