Residence Hall Education Program

Residence Hall Education Program

Project Leads: Michelle La and Elizabeth Goldstein

Project Sponsor: Cal Zero Waste (CZW)

TGIF Grant: $26,820

Project Theme: Education and Behavior Change

Application Submission

Project Description: To continue the momentum of zero waste in Residence Halls after the bin system was implemented in 2015, the Residential Hall Education Program will aim to close the gap between our current progress and our zero waste goal. This project will develop an educational program to aid students in beginning to understand the basics of the zero waste. This program will focus not just on how to live a zero waste lifestyle, but also why it is important from a regional and global lens. Education at the start of students’ UC Berkeley experience will set the stage for successful results of the zero waste movement throughout campus as these students go into their subsequent years at Cal. As each class moves on to the rest of their time at UC Berkeley, they leave their first year with the knowledge of waste diversion and what it means to be zero waste. TGIF will be funding a team of students who are committed to this project and who will serve as liaisons between the infrastructural components put in place by the university and the student body.

Project Goals: The goal of this project is to create a foundation of zero waste knowledge among students joining the Berkeley community for the first time. The project aims to create a curriculum on zero waste education and integrate it into the first year experience. This unique experience will serve them as they continue their time at Berkeley and teach students a way of living that ingrains zero waste into the lifestyle of a Berkeley student, culminating lasting results. The aim of this project is to educate on not only the action of sorting waste but on the importance that extra second of thought takes. This project strives to inform students not simply on how, but on why.