With a fast–paced academic schedule, heavy course load and an insufficient amount of sleep in an overcrowded college, it’s easy for students to overlook things. For example, most of us take for granted all the changes and initiatives that are being implemented to make De Anza College a more eco-friendly and sustainable campus.         

As we eat our food in the cafeteria, many of us don’t notice that the utensils we are using are biodegradable. As we find a space for our cars in the parking lot, the shade provided by solar panels goes unnoticed, as well as the designated carpool parking allotments. As we throw away our garbage, we don’t notice that there is a separate bin for recyclable items or that there are hand dryers in some of the bathrooms to discourage paper towel abuse.

Nor are we aware that the campus landscape all around us is, in fact, sustained by composted kitchen scraps from our cafeteria. Instead of using synthetic fertilizers, the grounds keepers, who are responsible for providing a safe, clean and well-maintained campus, collect approximately two tons of food scraps each month from the kitchen to turn into usable soil.  These scraps  would otherwise be sent to a landfill. 

We should give our school a standing ovation for the effort being made to make our campus more “green.”

The De Anza College Environmental Advisory Committee developed a Sustainability Management Plan that was adopted and put into action in 2007 with the goal of guiding De Anza to become one of the first sustainable community college campuses in California.

According to the SMP, “De Anza College served as a leader in sustainability within and for the California Community College system, including these past measures and programs: first Community College district in California (and nation) to have three U.S Green Building council LEED buildings, with three completed green building LEED projects: Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies; Science Center; Student and Community Services.”

Some of the many features that certify the Kirsch Center as an LEED building includes a solar panel roof, water conservation and runoff control, radiant heat and cooling, natural ventilation, natural day lighting, spectrally selective window glazing, energy–saving LCD computer screens and much more. The building itself was made out of 70 percent recycled steel, fly-ash concrete, sustainable and non-toxic building materials, paints low in Volatile Organic Compounds, recycled carpeting and Forest Stewardship Council certified lumber. 

The CEAG, in conjunction with the De Anza Student Body Environmental Sustainability Committee, has gone lengths to transform the campus by encouraging eco-friendly initiatives and discussing future projects to further campus sustainability.

To encourage and promote alternative modes of collective and “greener” transportation, the VTA bus pass program is now available to eligible students and is currently going for a discounted price of $35 a month, compared to the previous $70 fee. Applications can be found online and are being accepted until Jan. 14.

In addition to the fuel savings and low–cost traveling via bus, newly constructed bike racks and a new bike program will be initiated this quarter to increase the appeal of biking to school. The program will make bikes more accessible to students by loaning them out for free. So far, De Anza has obtained 10 bikes and is working to get more.

The efforts that have been done thus far may not seem like much, but in comparison with West Valley or Foothill Colleges, De Anza reigns supreme. Foothill has just started to implement its own sustainability plan that was taken from what De Anza has already created.

These efforts, along with the many developments and future changes to come, make De Anza one of the most “eco-friendly” campuses in the Bay Area.