Along with Bard College in New York, Humboldt is also one of the two first institutions of higher education certified in the entire U.S.
To Morgan King, Humboldt’s Climate Action Analyst, reducing the purchase and use of plastics on campus is just as important as graduating students with the skills and knowledge to be active agents of change in their own communities.
“At Cal Poly Humboldt, we are very concerned about the plastics pollution crisis and its impact on all life forms, including us humans,” says King. “While we can all take strides to reduce plastics in our own lives, we recognize that the focus really needs to be on eliminating the sources of plastic in the first place. Thanks to this program, we now have demonstrated commitment from our leadership and a pathway for achieving targeted reductions through changes in purchasing, policy, education, and engagement.”
Launched in 2022, the Plastics Reduction Partner program is the only certification program in the U.S. that recognizes colleges and universities for taking action to reduce the purchase and use of single-use plastics on campus. There are three levels of certification available: Bronze, Silver, and Green, and a comprehensive framework featuring four action areas, including building awareness, supporting behavior change, assessing and implementing operational change, and demonstrating institutional leadership.
To get the certification, King connected with faculty, staff, and students across campus working to educate about plastics and to integrate alternatives into day-to-day operations. This included Facilities Management installing reusable water bottle fillers across campus, Dining Services transitioning away from single-use plastics for grab-n-go food items, professors like Jeff Black (Wildlife Management) teaching his students about the impacts of ocean plastics and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, field trips and coastal clean-ups organized by student groups like WRRAP and Green Campus, and so much more.
Cal Poly Humboldt is on the path toward improving its Bronze level certification to a Silver, and then ultimately to the Green level of the Plastics Reduction Partner certification. “It is truly inspiring to see what we as an institution have accomplished,” says King, “but we still have a long way to go before we kick the plastics habit. Fortunately, our dedicated campus community recognizes the challenges and opportunities.”
About sustainability at Cal Poly Humboldt
From its curriculum and operations to investments, Humboldt has a longstanding commitment to sustainability. Humboldt has long been a premier institution offering robust experiences and training for students interested in sustainability, primarily driven by student activism and leadership. In 1987, Humboldt students created the Graduation Pledge of Social & Environmental Responsibility, which has become a tradition and been adopted by many universities across the nation. Sustainability topics and case studies are incorporated into hundreds of classes.
Humboldt was also the first public university in California to ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles on campus after students waged a successful campaign called Take Back the Tap. The Cal Poly Humboldt Foundation led their peers across the nation by divesting from fossil fuels after a successful student advocacy campaign in 2013.
Humboldt has been included in the Sierra Club’s top 100 sustainable schools since first being named a “Cool School” in 2018. Humboldt has been recognized twice by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for earning a STARS Gold rating. And the campus has set goals to earn a STARS Platinum rating, an elusive and exemplary status that no other CSU campus has yet to achieve.