Spring Grants

These projects were funded during our Spring grant cycle, where projects receive more than $5,000 for projects that take between one to three years to complete. 

Clark Kerr Rain Garden Community Garden Project

Project Description

Our focus will be on the Building 2 Courtyard at the Clark Kerr Campus. Currently, because of poor landscaping and irrigation, water is constantly flooding directly into the entrance of the building and off into the street. Recently, an orchard was planted in the courtyard; however, when it rains, the water flows directly down the side of the building to the door, rather than to the newly planted trees. It is vital that this area be modified, not only for functionality, but for sustainability purposes as well.

Please note due to permitting challenges...

Residence Hall Education Program

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...

Repair for ReUSE Clinic

Project Description

Inspired by Patagonia’s Worn Wear program and Bay Area Fixit Clinics, Cal Zero Waste, in partnership with UC Berkeley’s student organization ReUSE, proposes to establish a Repair clinic housed in the ReUSE store located at Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building beginning August 2018 for primarily UC Berkeley affiliated students, staff, and faculty. In compliance with the UCwide Zero Waste by 2020 goal, this project aims to reduce the amount of textile waste accruing from clothing damage by hiring a team under CZW to operate the clinic and collaborate with...

Brown's Cafe Herbal Garden

Project Description

The Cal Dining Sustainability Team Garden Coordinators proposes a project to develop a new herbal garden with both raised bed and in-ground features at the site of the Brown’s California Cafe in the College of Natural Resource (CNR). Representatives from the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) department, Campus Grounds department, Campus Access Services, and Campus Sustainability Office have been and will continue to be consulted throughout the process. The team proposes that educational signage be created to transform the space into not only a...

People of Color Sustainability Campaign

Project Description

The People of Color sustainability campaign aims to facilitate sustainable and environmental justice education for POCTH residents and Berkeley Student Cooperative students of color. Targeted outreach will be led by a paid resident from POCTH who will facilitate conversations, coordinate workshops and conduct outreach. The campaign will host a series of eight workshops in Fall and Spring, four per semester, devoted to topics of: indigenous food systems and sovereignty, zero-waste and compost, urban agriculture, and decapitalizing your health. Activists, students...

Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center Garden Project

Project Description

This project will be a student/community-led garden maintained to provide fresh food, as well as a platform to introduce students to different ways that we can sustain ourselves while improving lifestyle choices.

Project Links

Project Application

Project Poster

Equity & Inclusion in Campus Gardens and Land Use Decisions

Project Description

UC Berkeley is home to a growing network of gardens that capture student interest in urban agriculture and greening and respond to urban sustainability, food security, environmental health, and climate change resilience. Many of these gardens are student led and maintained with specific functions for food production, education, research, and/or cultural representation. In 2016-2017, a strategic plan for campus farms and gardens was conducted across campus that revealed challenges of equity and inclusion in gardening spaces that...

Phase II: Decolonize the Environment: A Series of Workshops on Environmental Intersectionality

Project Description

A Series of Workshops on Environmental Intersectionality is an educational project created to introduce and explore systems of oppression that creates both environmental racism as well as social injustices.

Project Links

Project Application

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Solar Thermal Heating Systems in the Berkeley Student Cooperative

Project Description

The BSC intends to install solar thermal heating systems in its African-American Theme House (AATH) and Oscar Wilde, its LGBTQIA & Queer Theme House. The BSC celebrated its 85th anniversary last October and remains a cornerstone of student housing at UC Berkeley. As such, this project is a long term investment in green energy and community well-being for generations of co-op students beyond the 59 that currently reside in AATH and Wilde.

Project Links

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Carbon Crew: A Diversified Approach to Carbon Neutrality

Project Description

Carbon Crew was established in Fall 2018 to redefine the role of carbon neutrality in campus engagement through the work of three teams: Food Team, Campus Engagement Team, and CO2RE (CO2 Reduction and Education Team). Focused on institutionalizing plant-forward dishes that are healthy, cheap, and less carbon intensive than regular meals, Food Team hosts regular plant-based sampling events geared towards redefining Cal Dining’s menu cycle by incorporating student interest, chef experience, and Cal Dining leadership to lower our carbon emissions. The CO2RE team is working...