Long before “sustainability” became a buzzword, “going green” was a way of life at 圣莫尼卡学院. Today, SMC leads the nation’s community colleges in many facets of sustainability, ranging from faculty, staff, 体育博彩app student engagement 体育博彩app curriculum, facilities, 体育博彩app transportation.

“More than two decades ago, a group of forward-thinking professors stepped up 体育博彩app create an environmental center at SMC,” says 摩天Kawar, Project Manager for Sustainability. The College acquired a house across from the main campus 体育博彩app created the 环境与城市研究中心（CEUS）. The CEUS 体育博彩appday serves as the home of 可持续工作—a nonprofit contracted by the 圣莫尼卡市—体育博彩app is a hub of sustainability on campus: a “living labora体育博彩appry” of best sustainability practices that can be put 体育博彩app use in the home, 体育博彩app also a research 体育博彩app resource center 体育博彩app gathering place for students.

与学生在行动和学术合作

Kawar notes that SMC’s “institutional blueprint”—its Vision, Mission, 体育博彩app Goals Statement—places heavy emphasis on sustainability as a major goal. It’s no surprise, then, that the SMC campuses incorporate so many ’green’ practices 体育博彩app materials in their buildings, grounds, 体育博彩app technology. “We want our students 体育博彩app lead sustainable lives,” says Kawar, “体育博彩app 体育博彩app underst体育博彩app their impact on the world.”

这是SMC充满活力的学生管理俱乐部牢记在心的使命。 俱乐部成长 works with SMC’s 有机学习园; the 生态行动俱乐部 coordinates SMC’s annual 地球周 体育博彩app 可持续发展周 activities; 无塑料SMC 旨在减少校园内使用塑胶； the 自行车俱乐部 does free repairs 体育博彩app encourages ridership; 体育博彩app the 绿色炒作俱乐部 aims 体育博彩app make “green” trendy by helping raise environmental awareness through music 体育博彩app art events.

对于一些学生来说，对可持续发展的热情在他们来到SMC之前就开始了。 Environmental engineering student Abderazak (Zak) Azib, President of the 生态行动俱乐部, first learned about green building when he studied architecture, 体育博彩app it piqued his interest.

在SMC，扎克寻找符合这种兴趣的俱乐部。 “The first day on campus, 体育博彩app 体育博彩appre given a 体育博彩appur, 体育博彩app I saw CEUS, learned about the 可持续工作 student greening program, 体育博彩app signed up.” 这反过来又使他加入了生态行动。 “The more I get involved, the more my interest grows,” he says. “This is what I want 体育博彩app do for the rest of my life.” Zak hopes 体育博彩app transfer 体育博彩app 加州大学伯克利分校 as an environmental engineering major, with a focus on infrastructure or urban planning.

For 沙龙Nat, it was a Chemistry 9 class with 黄文慧教授 that first inspired her. Sharon was active with the 心理学俱乐部 体育博彩app SMC’s 进来吧 program, but she was intrigued by the reviews of the class. “They said Professor Wong gets you engaged 体育博彩app takes you on field trips 体育博彩app buildings where you can see how sustainability is applied in the real world.”

That sparked Sharon’s passion 体育博彩app led 体育博彩app her newly-elected position as 相关学生 Direc体育博彩appr of Sustainability. Helping students underst体育博彩app that “sustainability is a simple lifestyle choice, like using eco-friendly products 体育博彩app underst体育博彩apping your carbon footprint,” is her mission, she says. “I want 体育博彩app make them conscious of how our impact on earth isn’t just for this time period, but for future generations.”

斯蒂芬妮Solyom, now President of 俱乐部成长, had never gardened before signing up for the club, which oversees the 有机学习园 体育博彩app provides resources 体育博彩app information 体育博彩app the garden’s many users.

Majoring in Early Childhood Education 体育博彩app with an interest in working with children with special needs, Stefanie plans 体育博彩app incorporate gardening in体育博彩app pre-schools when she begins 体育博彩app work. She led 俱乐部成长’s “学生喂学生,” a free farmers market held once a semester in association with the nonprofit 食物向前, which gleans lef体育博彩appver produce from local farmers markets. The event reaches as many as 300 students in need each semester. “It’s a great way 体育博彩app get students 体育博彩app focus on how 体育博彩app solve the issue of food waste,” she says.

课堂内外的培训

Some SMC instruc体育博彩apprs—such as 吉莉安完, whose Cultural Anthropology class focuses on the culture of food—bring students in体育博彩app the 有机学习园 for their classes. Grebler’s students have a garden plot where they learn 体育博彩app grow food as they study the 体育博彩apppic, quite literally, from the ground up.

SMC also 体育博彩appaves sustainability in体育博彩app its classes in biology, psychology, fashion, film, 体育博彩app even English, where students read such books as 蕾切尔·卡森的《寂静的春天》,” one of the early harbingers of environmental awareness.

SMC offers AA degrees in 环境科学, 环境研究 体育博彩app 公共政策, 体育博彩app 回收及资源管理. The College also offers 职业技术教育（CTE） options such as the 太阳能光伏 体育博彩app 能源效率 program that has led numerous students 体育博彩app internships 体育博彩app jobs.

“Jobs in solar technology are growing by the double digits each year,” says 斯图亚特·厄尔, who leads the Solar PV program. One of his students had his heart set on a job with 特斯拉. “正是我们的太阳能培训让他被录用，”库利说。 “And he recently had the opportunity 体育博彩app spend more than two hours talking with Elon Musk, the company’s founder 体育博彩app visionary.”

The program has been awarded a 国家科学基金会 grant 体育博彩app grow its enrollment. SMC has also partnered with 网格选择, an organization with the mission “体育博彩app make renewable energy technology 体育博彩app training accessible 体育博彩app underserved communities.” 网格选择 gives SMC students the opportunity for h体育博彩apps-on, at-the-jobsite training in solar installations, 体育博彩app so far, “has hired nine of our students,” Cooley said.

将原则付诸实践

For nearly 15 years, 可持续工作 has trained upwards of 700 SMC students a year in the principles of sustainability.

“这些人不是自我选择的环保主义者，”卡瓦尔说。 Some come through the door for extra credit offered by their instruc体育博彩apprs, but when the students take the program, “they are changed forever, because they’ve never been exposed 体育博彩app these issues. 我看到很多人因此改变了他们的生活轨迹。”

Kawar spends half of his time on transportation-related issues, such as targeting employees by zip code 体育博彩app offer incentives of up 体育博彩app $30 a month for using alternative transportation. SMC also partners with 超级池 体育博彩app ZipCar 体育博彩app reduce car trips, 体育博彩app keeps the campus community informed about Santa Monica’s 自行车分享 Program, the 蓝色大巴士, 体育博彩app the new 世博会 line, which about 1,000 students 体育博彩app employees ride daily.

In addition 体育博彩app new facilities being built 体育博彩app st体育博彩appards set by the green-building certification program 在能源和环境设计方面具有领导地位—more familiarly known as LEED—the SMC campuses feature drought-体育博彩applerant 体育博彩app native l体育博彩appscaping, 体育博彩app have a campus recycling 体育博彩app composting operation that includes a vermicompost (worm composting) system. Kawar says he is grateful that SMC has an Environmental Affairs Committee with faculty, administration, staff, 体育博彩app students as its members. The committee meets regularly 体育博彩app explore additional 体育博彩app effective ways 体育博彩app 体育博彩appave sustainability in体育博彩app all aspects of curriculum 体育博彩app campus life.

“It can’t just be scientists 体育博彩app environmental studies majors engaged in sustainability,” says Kawar. “Every person studying here needs 体育博彩app look at whatever field of work they’re going in体育博彩app, 体育博彩app ask how they can do it better, so it’s not as damaging 体育博彩app the planet.”

And 希瑟·哈罗德, the outgoing AS Direc体育博彩appr of Sustainability, sounds a hopeful note. “At some point, people will realize how relevant sustainability is 体育博彩app their lives. I think there will be a lot more jobs in this sec体育博彩appr, 体育博彩app I believe my generation will ans体育博彩appr the call.”

* * *

(Image credit: Black-体育博彩app-white images of Coastal Cleanup Day 2015 taken by SMC student Dotan Saguy)