2515 Ninth St, Berkeley, CA 94710
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Stephen Collins, Maintenance Manager
stevecollins@berkeley.net
Sofia Peltz, Sustainability Program Coordinator
sustainability@berkeley.net
The Sustainability Program serves as a leader for sustainability initiatives across the District. Since 2018, when the District adopted a Sustainability Plan, we have undertaken a wide range of initiatives to improve the sustainability of our school campuses. We are working to eliminate the District’s carbon emissions, increase water resiliency, build healthy communities, and increase nature-based education for all students. Stakeholder and community engagement is an important part of this process. We have hosted and will continue to offer various opportunities for community engagement. To stay informed on District-wide sustainability efforts, accomplishments, and volunteer opportunities please become a member of the BUSD Sustainability Google Forum.
Our vision of the Sustainability Master Plan is that all Berkeley students have access to healthy, green school buildings and grounds and hands-on environmental and outdoor education.
8 Core Goals: Where and How we Measure Progress
Recent News
This year BUSD Sustainability and UC Berkeley’s Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) will be partnering to bring a UC Berkeley Fellow to our school campuses to assist with the implementation of our sustainability goals.
Elsa Cuenca-Rubio, Public Service Intern
Elsa is a senior at UC Berkeley studying Environmental Economics & Policy with a minor in Public Policy. This school year, she will support the Sustainability Program as a Public Service Intern. Elsa’s role is to educate youth on zero-waste sustainable practices to help meet the District’s sustainability goals. This year she will be facilitating waste audits, an introductory walkthrough of properly sorting waste commonly found at school. She will also be working on reviving the ReUse Center at Berkeley High to encourage student participation in Reuse/Recycle/Repair practices and find community in implementing BUSD’s sustainability goals. You can reach out to Elsa at emcr@berkeley.edu.
Student Engagement
Become a Waste Sorting Monitor at your school:
This tool can be used to create a system for students to monitor waste sorting and help fellow students sort properly. The goal is to share this responsibility across grades. Use and adapt the template linked above to help set up a system and schedule for student lunch monitors at your school.
Sustainability Student Leaders Spotlight:
Is your school working on a sustainability-related project? Is there a student that champions this work? We want to hear about it. Submit your sustainability stories and we’ll be sure to share your story on this webpage and A+ News!
Hearing stories from across the district helps inspire students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Everyone has ideas, and your student’s success lets people know that they can do it, too! By sharing your story, we create a culture of stewardship for the earth and healthy and sustainable practices for students, so THANK YOU!
Please send your story to Sofia Peltz at sofiapeltz@berkeley.net. She might email you for more details if needed!
Speaker Series
Every month, Sofia Peltz, BUSD’s Sustainability Coordinator, and Climate Corps fellow, will have engaging conversations with Bay Area sustainability professionals who are making our communities more resilient. Professionals such as business leaders, energy conservation experts, food entrepreneurs, and systems thinkers will meet with Sofia to present their visions, research, and experiences.We invite you to come and be inspired by these forward-thinking speakers who are addressing complex problems across a variety of sustainability-related fields. Those who choose to attend the live sessions will have an opportunity to present questions during the Q/A sessions!
Our Partners
- SEI
- Altamont Advisory Board
- Safe Routes to School
- ReThink Disposables
- The Center for Environmental Health
- City of Berkeley
- StopWaste
- Green Schoolyards America
- Teacher Leaders
- Custodial
- Facilities and Maintenance
- Nutrition Services
- Gardening and Cooking Program
BUSD Sustainability in the News!
Follow us on Instagram to keep up to date with student opportunities @busdsustainability
Berkeley’s yellow school buses are going green
Berkeley schools sow the seeds of climate progress with ‘pocket forests’
Recipients of the 2021 leaders in sustainable schools fellowship announced
Get involved in our efforts!
You can contact your school’s Green Team or send an email to “Striving for Zero Waste” and Sustainability Coordinator Sofia Peltz: sustainability@berkeley.net.
We hope that you support BUSD’s commitment to healthy, green school buildings and grounds and hands-on environmental and outdoor education.
