The Student Bicycle Cooperative at UC Berkeley, a student-based bicycle education, resource, and advocacy organization, has found a new home on Sproul Plaza! The new bicycle educa-tion and maintenance facility will provide fellow members with peer-to-peer maintenance and safety education, bicycle licensing, locks, lights, helmets, bicycle rentals and other resources. The organization is open to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Joining is simple; just visit http://bicycal.com/ for more information. Our new shop on Sproul Plaza is going to compliment our existing services, which include our mobile repair days and bicycle advocacy. Every Thursday (Memorial Glade) and Fri-day (upper Sproul in front of MLK) between 12-2pm, we set-up our mobile repair shop to help teach others about bicycle maintenance. Bring your bike over to get a quick tune-up and help spread some bicycle knowledge. If you don’t have a bicycle, come over and we can help you find one! We are always looking for volunteer mechanics, administra-tors, and advocacy/outreach campaigners. If you are inter-ested in getting involved in anyway, please contact us through http://bicycal.com/ – keep on riding!!!

BicyCal “Rides” into Sproul Plaza by Justin Wiley

In 2010, the UCBG ap-plied to TGIF and won a $5,000 grant towards im-plementing a compost tea system for the Garden. TGIF Coordinator Kathe-rine Walsh interviewed Anthony Garza, UCBG’s Supervisor of Horticulture & Grounds, about the new compost tea system.

(K) Where did you get the idea for a compost tea system?

(A) We have known about compost tea for several years and were interested, but certainly the biggest factors in pushing us along would

be the working example at Lotusland Estate Garden in Montecito, CA, along with the funding provided by the TGIF Grant Pro-gram. We have slowly but gradually been moving to an Integrated Pest Manage-ment (IPM) System for quite awhile now, but more recently with disease prob-lems and nutrient deficien-cies in the garden, we have become more aware of our need for a more focused and intentional IPM Sys-tem that incorporates or-ganic principles, one being the compost tea system.

(K) Could you give a common description of how the compost tea system works?

(A) There are two pri-mary functions of com-post tea, but first a brief description of what this is: compost tea is essentially the aerated bag-brewing of a high quality thermal compost and/or vermi-compost material. Addi-tions to this mix may in-clude humic acid, fish hy-drolysate, and cold-processes sea kelp. A commercial brewer uses a suspended bag of this ma-terial that is (PAGE 2)

The UC Botanical Garden Implements Compost Tea System

Leader Spotlight: Joanna Young

2

GO! Team 3

2010-2011 TGIF Goals

3

TGIF Invited to Conference

3

Eshleman Hall Goes Green!

4

Berkeley Student Food 5

2010-2011 TGIF Committee

6

TGIF Hires New Coordinator

6

Inside this issue:

New TGIF Website!

http://asuc.berkeley.edu/tgif

What is the mission of

TGIF?

How did TGIF begin?

Who serves on the

TGIF Committee?

How can I become a

member?

How do I apply for a

TGIF grant?

What projects have

been funded by TGIF?

How can I support

TGIF?

Fall Newsletter

Volume I, Issue I

Joanna Young is the pro-ject manager and grant writer of “Greening Kroeber Art Studios and Bathrooms”, a 2010 TGIF Grant Awardee. Joanna is a third year un-dergraduate in the Haass School of Business whose passion for protecting the environment stems from elementary school and continued throughout high school. During her first year at UC Berkeley in 2008, she joined BEACN, the Bay-area Environmentally Aware Consulting Network,

drawn by BEACN’s prac-tice of combining sustain-ability with local busi-nesses. Simultaneously joining RSP, the Residen-tial Sustainability Program, Joanna led a pilot program to bring paper towel com-posting to Unit 1 Cheney Building. Thanks to the follow-up and continued advocacy of other RSP members, paper towel composting now occurs in four of the four of the six Un i t 1 b u i ld in g s . At the beginning of her second semester, Joanna was hired by the UC

Berkeley Office of Sustainability as a Campus Forum As-sociate where her main task was to serve as a liaison between the Office of Sustainability and students. Joanna now serves as a lead Sustainability Com-munications Associate for the Office. Through the use of social media and her skills in graphics and web design, she ensures that students, espe-cially environment student groups, are connected to news, events, and opportunities related to sustainability. Collaborating with two other Office of Sustainability Associates, Nicole Camp-bell and Vickie Ly, Joanna helps the Office plans its Sustainability Forum once per semester and conducts community outreach through tabling at large events. Joanna enjoys being (PAGE 4)

TGIF Project Leader Spotlight: Joanna Young

Joanna presenting at the

2010 CACS Summit

two collections in this cate-gory that will receive tea ap-plications are the Asian Col-lection and the Garden of Old Roses. However, we hope to use it in several other areas that need disease suppression, fertilization, or biological rejuvenation of the soil.

(K) What are some of the envi-ronmental benefits?

(A) One of the most appar-ent and immediate environ-mental benefits is the reduc-tion or elimination of the use of synthetic materials such as fungicides and fertil-izers onsite. Both of these materials can have adverse environmental impacts and also have the potentials to find their way into the wa-tershed. Over time, with this system in place, the importa-tion of heavy-input materials (ie. synthetic chemicals and fuel uses to deliver them) can be reduced or elimi-

nated. Most importantly, by using compost tea and other organic materials, the soil health and biology can be restored and enhanced. With this comes a plethora

of benefits including, but not limited to: the utilization by plants of organic nutri-ents, perhaps always present in the soil but not available without the correct soil biol-ogy in place; chemical bal-ance and structural cohesion in the soils themselves thus allowing all types of benefi-cial soil organisms to flour-ish; improved soil, plant, and micro and macro animal health; and the improve-

UC Botanical Garden (continued) aerated with a pump for 24 hours, and in our case, in a 100 gallon polyethylene tank. At the end of the “brewing”, the resulting liquid is decanted into some type of spray system to be applied to plant foli-age and/or to the soil. This “tea” is sprayed on foliage primarily as protections against foliar pathogens- in most cases, fungi. The ad-ditional ingredients men-tioned (besides compost) are taken up somewhat by foliage, but can also be used as a soil drench to act as a more deliberate fertil-izer and soil biology activa-tor.

(K) Where will you use the system?

(A) We have some target collections that seem to have more disease inci-dence, and interestingly, more fertilizer require-ments. At the moment, the

Page 2 The Green In it ia t ive Fund Vo lume 1, I ssue 1

ment of water quality due to healthy soil’s high quality nature as a biological filter.

(K) When can visitors see the compost tea system?

(A) Once the system is up and running (which TGIF will announce) 9am-5pm, seven days a week, except major holidays.

(K) Is there anything else our readers might find interesting?

(A) These systems are available in smaller sizes so that homeowners and oth-ers can actually take advan-tage of this type of bio-technology. With the smaller systems, depending on where they are used, one may have to buy the commercial compost in-stead of composting onsite. The quality of compost is of utmost importance to ensure a safe liquid end-product.

“These systems are available

in smaller sizes so that home-

owners and others can actually

take advantage of this type of

bio-technology.”

DiFalco of CSU, Chico and James

Robinson of Humboldt State.

Throughout the conference, TGIF

project posters will be on display and

have the chance to win awards for best

design and best projects idea. These

posters include Talking Louder About

Sustainability, BicyCal, Center for Latin

American Studies, I Heart Tap Water,

Building Sustainability @ Cal, and

Lower Sproul Eco Charette.

TGIF Coordinator Katherine Walsh

has been invited to the sixth annual

CSU, Chico and Butte College “This

Way to Sustainability VI” Conference

from November 4-6th. Katherine will

be a co-presenter and panelist at two

Friday sessions called “Green Funds

on Campus: How to Start One on

Your Campus” and “Green Funds on

Campus: Best Practices and Lessons

Learned.” She will be joined by Robyn

TGIF Invited to Sustainability Conference

TGIF Project Spotlight: The Greening Operations (GO!) Team

2010-2011 TGIF Goals

GO! Team Trash Talking

As a result of the 2010 TGIF Grants Cycle, the Greening Operations (GO!) Team, a subset of Building Sustain-ability @ Cal, was awarded a

grant of $8,800. GO! Team is com-posed of seventeen students and two student coordinators, Anna Szendrenyi and Elizabeth Vissers. The mission of GO! Team is to reach out to campus buildings, groups, and events and offer an array of sustainability services. These services include energy, wa-ter, and waste audits for buildings and “trash-talking” at campus events. GO! Team is embarking on a new project with Facilities Ser-vices to conduct office energy au-dits and provide consultation on improving energy efficiency and reducing energy use. “Trash-talking” involves GO! Team mem-bers attending campus events, standing by waste, recycling, and compost bins, and educating the

event attendees on “how things work”. “Trash-talking” fits in with GO! Team’s edu-cational outreach plan. Another major action of GO! Team is to offer campus building residents building oc-cupancy surveys that ask questions such as “How many hours a day do you leave the lights on?” or “How

Actively seek out or shape projects

for TGIF funding

Diversify the project applicants and

project applications

Put out two newsletters per semes-

ter

Collaborate on campus sustainabil-

ity events with other campus

groups

Create one tradition involving

TGIF and the city of Berkeley

Increase the average total award

amount to $300,000

Hold a sustainable art show

Present at two conferences

Have five TGIF projects com-

pleted by June 1st

Establish a more rigorous and

detailed budget reporting sys-

tem

Design a new website and new

publicity materials

Page 3 The Green In it ia t ive Fund Vo lume 1, I ssue 1

November 19, 2010, 11am: Strawberry Creek Ivy Pull

January 24, 2011 at 9am: Deadline for Early Abstract Submission

February 14, 2011 at 9am: Deadline for All Abstract Submissions

April 1, 2011 at 5pm: Deadline for Grant Submissions

May: Announcement of Grantees and New Grantee Training

Important TGIF Dates!

long do you leave your lap-top on?” to gauge residents’ living habits and levels of sustainable behavior. GO! Team also offers a “Sustainability Plan of Ac-tion” to student groups who are looking to become more sustainable. GO! Team meets with an interested stu-dent group and provides consultation and a plan on how the group can “green” its practices. (PAGE 5)

summer. Joanna learned a great deal about how Todai’s Campus Sustainability Project conducted carbon inventories and was able to provide some sustainability consultation based on her own experiences from UC Berkeley. Joanna and fellow awardee Irene Seliverstov kept a joint detailed blog of their fellowships at the University of Tokyo and Cambridge Uni-versity, respectively.

Joanna’s personal goal for the 2010-2011 aca-demic year is to balance her academic work and the fulfillment of the Greening Kroeber TGIF Grant. Joanna and the Greening Kroe-ber Team try to make educational impacts in Kroeber surrounding the themes of “Campus Sustainability”, “Purchasing Art Supplies”, and “Water”. Joanna would also like to implement “guerilla” marketing tactics, such as tying candy and “thank you’s” to bicycles during March 2011 for the theme “Transportation”, for incentives and education around sustain-able behavior. TGIF is proud to be funding Greening Kroeber and to have Joanna Young as a project lead. If you would like to learn more about Joanna and Greening Kroeber, please visit the project website.

The pie graphs show 1/5 of one

night’s worth of trash from Eshleman

Hall, a sample taken on April 22, 2010.

61% could have been diverted from the trash through current recycling programs

78.4% could have been diverted with the introduction of composting

Total weight trashed: ~277.5 lbs

Potential weight diverted: ~255 lbs

Page 4 The Green In it ia t ive Fund Vo lume 1, I ssue 1

Eshleman Hall Goes Green!

the connection between the Office and the students because the po-sition allows her to learn about the new environmental student groups that are created each semester and help plug them into cam-pus sustainability. “I think the Office hiring students for marketing is an effective way to reach the vast student population as it can be harder for faculty and staff to do so,” Joanna shared. Through her work, she assists in building collaborative relationships amongst cam-pus sustainability leaders. One of Joanna’s greatest accomplishments since beginning her education at UC Berkeley was being accepted for a 2010 Sustainability Fellowship through the International Alliance of Research Universities. The Fellowship took her to the University of Tokyo (Todai) for a six-week long internship during this past

Joanna Young (continued)

Our space is located at

2440 Bancroft Way in a

UC-owned building. Our

student-drawn plans and

city permits have been

approved and in the next

two weeks we will finish

setting up all of our equip-

ment, stocking and label-

ing our first inventory or-

der, and posting educa-

tional information on the

walls. When we open No-

vember 15th, we will pro-

vide the campus and local

community delicious, sus-

tainable foods, self-serve

fair trade organic coffee

and tea, and locally-

produced baked goods,

sandwiches and salads.

On October 22nd, mem-

The Berkeley Student Food Collec-

tive’s grand opening is November

15th! We have been working very

hard over the summer and fall to

prepare for the grand opening of

our cooperatively-run grocery store.

Berkeley Student Food Collective by Bree O’Keane

GO! Team (continued)

GO! Team is currently assisting the Berkeley Project in cutting back on Styrofoam at BP events and will also be assisting with composting and recycling during breakfast at the 2010 Berkeley Project Day on November 6th. More recently, GO! Team assisted with a kick-off event at the Inter-national House. The team helped IH acquire composting and GO! Team members were attending all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for two weeks in October to pro-vide hands-on composting educa-tion for diners. GO! Team has also been working behind the scenes in the kitchen, training din-ing staff on items than can and cannot be composted.

Thus far, GO! Team’s “biggest tri-umph” of this semester occurred during the UCLA Game weekend at the Fan Zone. Seven GO! Team members were stationed strategically through the Fan Zone and at the Me-morial Stadium gates for four hours. The team collected fans’ recyclables and educated fans about diverting their waste. Thanks to the efforts of the GO! Team, 45% of waste was recycled and diverted from the land-fill. GO! Team is striving towards a goal of composting and zero waste at all UC Berkeley football games by 2012.

A possible future project for GO! Team includes collaborating with Building Sustainability @ Cal and STeam on a “Sustainability Educa-tion” film project. Like the manda-tory Alcohol EDU film for fresh-

men, GO! Team hopes this film can be used to educate incoming Berkeley stu-dents about sustainable lifestyles and cam-pus projects. The film would provide a foundation for students interested in get-ting involved with campus sustainability.

If you are interested in learning more about GO! Team or in contacting them for their services, please visit the website.

Page 5 The Green In it ia t ive Fund Vo lume 1, I ssue 1

bers from the Food Collective spoke at an event,

"Navigating Food Choices in Today's Economy,"

with Narsai David and Marion Nestle. Our Edu-

cation Committee has hosted a Community Action

Workshop on sustainable foods and a film screen-

ing of "Fresh" on Upper Sproul.

Our Second Annual Harvest Fundraising Gala will

be held November 20th at the David Brower Cen-

ter ( t ickets can be purchased at

http://berkeleystudentfoodcollective.org/gala)

The funds from TGIF have been pivotal in the

progress of the Berkeley Student Food Collective.

This grant has allowed us to secure a storefront for

the next year, complete our build-out process, and

purchase our inventory and equipment. Visit us at

2440 Bancroft Way later this month to celebrate

this successful project of TGIF!

Visit BSFC’s website for more info.

The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) is a grant-making

fund for sustainability projects on UC Berkeley's cam-

pus. About $250,000 per year are available for grants;

students, faculty, and staff are eligible to submit pro-

ject proposals. Projects will be selected for funding by

an annually appointed Grant-Making Committee con-

sisting of students, faculty, and staff, in which stu-

dents have the majority vote.

TGIF is funded by a $5 per semester student fee, be-

ginning in fall 2007 and persisting for 10 years. The

fee referendum was approved by the student body

during the April 2007 ASUC elections. It received final

approval by the Chancellor and Regents during the

summer. In Fall 2010, the fee was raised to $5.50 as

required by the referendum.

Katherine Walsh University of California, Berkeley

Grants Coordinator 400 Eshleman Hall #4500

kwalsh@berkeley.edu Berkeley, CA 94720-4500

510-643-2992 tgif-info@berkeley.edu

We’re on the web!

http://asuc.berkeley.edu/tgif

Twitter @TGIF_UCB

Facebook Page “The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF)”

ton for the position and has im-

mensely enjoyed her first month as

Coordinator. Highlights have in-

cluded meeting with TGIF grant

recipients and attending the MCC

Open House. Katherine brings cam-

pus sustainability experience from

Boston College and youth education

experience from her time with the

Appalachia Volunteers and as a high

school Special Education Instruc-

tional Assistant. Katherine is look-

ing forward to the 2011 TGIF

grants cycle and helping the UC

Berkeley community increase cam-

pus sustainability.

In June 2010, Nicole Leung stepped

down as TGIF Coordinator to pur-

sue a master’s degree in public pol-

icy at prestigious Carnegie Mellon

University. Nicole is credited as be-

ing the driving force behind the

growth and success of TGIF since

its inception in 2007. The UC

Berkeley Campus will greatly miss

Nicole and her unwavering dedica-

tion, but wishes her the best of luck

with her graduate education.

On September 7, 2010, the ASUC

Auxiliary hired Katherine Walsh as

the new TGIF Coordinator. Kathe-

rine moved to Berkeley from Bos-

TGIF Hires New Coordinator

Nicole Leung

Katherine Walsh

2010-2011 TGIF Committee VOTING MEMBERS NON-VOTING MEMBERS

Administration: Greg Haet Committee on Student Fees: Neel Iyer

ASUC: Elizabeth Heredia Ex-Officio: Judy Chess

Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability: Courtney McDonald Office of Sustainability: Lisa McNeilly

Facilities Services: Sara Shirazi TGIF: Katherine Walsh

Faculty: TBD

Graduate Assembly: Damian Bickett

Student-at-Large Rep: Varun Pande