The Sustainability Team is a special program in ASUC established in Fall 2005. As a team, we create and implement a variety of projects that help establish sustainable practices and promote environmental awareness on campus. Project committees within STeam work as a tight unit to accomplish their goals, and leadership capacity is shared equally. We are a commission of the ASUC, and we meet all together once a week to update each other on the progress of our projects and brainstorm strategies for successful implementation. The team also spends time outside of meetings through our Socials, Retreats, and Community Service days.
In the 2019 Fall Semester, STeam spearheaded several new projects that continued to flourish throughout the 2019-2020 school year: Ethical eats, one of our latest and most progressive projects, centers around giving students access to sustainable restaurants. Our website grants sustainability ratings to local Berkeley eateries. Our team also performed paid research with a graduate student documenting single-use plastic surrounding restaurants. The grounds of this project rest on the belief that students should know how and where their food came to be and are given the proper resources to support sustainability in the food industry.
Another program STeam began is elementary education. We firmly believe that change can be spurred from any age and it is vital to inform our future generations of our current environmental conditions. This team aims to inspire and educate kids to take action and live sustainably by teaching classes in local schools.
Furthermore, we have many panels and workshops in the works. STeam has been gathering professionals from the industry as well as other groups on campus to talk about the importance of sustainability and environmental justice, and potential career paths. There is a lot of environmental growth to be made and we hope to help educate students and our community!
Finally, STeam is responsible for Sunstock, a solar-powered music festival held on campus annually. STeam works hard year-round to prepare a venue, local lineup, sponsors, merchandise, and cuisine. Sunstock aims to unite students through music in an environmentally conscious way that brings light to improvements the music industry can make to be more sustainable. All of our current projects will continue into the 2020-2021 year. Our wide range of project niches displays how sustainability can be brought into all aspects of life and even combined with personal passions!
We are always open to new ideas. The next project we work on could be yours! So come check us out at our meetings and initiate your own ideas.
What We’ve Been Up To
