Date: 10/20/2009

San José State Launches Ambitious Initiative to Reduce Its Ecological Footprint

Contact:
Katherine Cushing, Sustainability Director, 408-924-6348
Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU Media Relations, 408-924-1748

SAN JOSÉ, Calif., -- San José State has launched an ambitious initiative to reduce the ecological footprint of its students, faculty and staff by 10 percent during the 2009-2010 academic year. The university will use an innovative online tool to measure impacts, and will motivate participants with eco-friendly prizes including a six-speed folding MTA Metrobike, Dell Inspiron Mini 10V Netbook Computer and Sony E-book Reader.

"Our initiative is unique because we are going well beyond measuring the ecological footprint at one point in time for one individual," said SJSU Sustainability Director Katherine Cushing. "We will also ask all participants to re-measure their impacts at year's end, after they have had the opportunity to participate in a series of five educational workshops on topics ranging from biking to sustainable food systems. We believe this project is the first-of-its-kind in the nation to engage all campus community members and systematically measure their pro-environmental behavioral changes."

More than 2,000 employees and students have registered for the Footprint Challenge since early October, including President Jon Whitmore, who appointed Cushing last summer. Cushing holds a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University, and has served as an assistant professor of environmental studies at SJSU since 2003.

"Sustainability is a top priority for many reasons," President Whitmore said. "It's good for our planet and it's good for our budget because we'll save money when we consume less. We'll also leverage city progress under San José Mayor Chuck Reed's Green Vision, and we'll build on the many efforts underway on our campus from water recycling to classes preparing our students for the green economy."

An ecological footprint is an estimate of the amount of productive land required to support a person's lifestyle. The concept is a useful way of helping people understand how their lifestyle choices affect both the quantity and quality of the Earth's precious natural resources. Working with the Center for a Sustainable Economy, SJSU designed a customized version of the nationally recognized online Ecological Footprint Quiz.

"The ecological footprint is one of the most rigorous and ubiquitous sustainability metrics in use today by governments, businesses, and schools worldwide. We are thrilled to have San José State adopt it as a tool to promote sustainable lifestyles within the university community," said John Talberth, senior economist for the Center for Sustainable Economy and co-creator of the Ecological Footprint Quiz.

"Our award-winning Ecological Footprint Quiz reaches millions of visitors each year with the message of personal responsibility. The San José State Footprint Competition is an innovative way to reward those who take this responsibility seriously and adopt the lifestyle changes we need to make to protect the planet," says Kinga Dow, director of the Sustainability On-Line Program at the Center for Sustainable Economy and managing director of Kinga Dow Productions, an international web development firm.

All students, faculty and staff members were invited to measure their individual ecological footprint. Participants answered 25 simple questions, ranging from how many miles they drive their car in a year to where they buy their groceries. At the end of the five-minute quiz, participants find out what their footprint is and are given a menu of options for going on a "footprint diet" that will enable them to reach the 10 percent reduction goal.

From October through March, SJSU will sponsor monthly educational workshops, scholarly panels, and other events to promote environmentally friendly behavior. In March, participants will be asked to enter their new footprint data. Individuals with the lowest absolute footprints and who have reduced their October footprints by the greatest percentage will win prizes.

Read more about the Ecological Footprint Challenge.

Read more on sustainability at San José State.

Read more on the San José's Green Vision.

San José State -- Silicon Valley's largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 5,700 employees -- is part of the California State University system. SJSU's 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation's 10th largest city.