Impact Stories

PepsiCo and UC Berkeley partner on sustainability awareness

Roaring fans, touchdowns, tackles and sustainability… Wait, sustainability? In the exciting world of collegiate athletics, sustainability might not always be the foremost thought when thinking about sports, but Cal Zero Waste and Cal Athletics are teaming up to tackle this issue head-on.

Cal Day is a longtime Berkeley tradition that has served as the campus’s annual open house, welcoming over 40,000 prospective students, alumni, the surrounding community and fans of the university to UC Berkeley. This year, the event was dedicated solely towards admitted students and their families to see what UC Berkeley has to offer from academics to the feel of the campus community.

Bank of the West, the university’s official bank, has been a longtime sponsor of registered student organization (RSO) grants awarded through the LEAD (Leadership, Engagement, Advising, & Development) Center.

At first glance, it may seem like a strange sustainability initiative to increase the size of waste bins in the student dorms at UC Berkeley, but a successful pilot program has recently proven otherwise.

We’re “gonna soak up the sun…” No. We aren’t singing a remake of a popular summer song.

Between academics, career development and social activities, maintaining healthy habits as a college student is far from easy. What is most readily available around campus, while also being reasonably priced, typically tends to be unhealthy.

In FY21, we learned the true meaning of the word partnership. Despite the uncertainty of life on campus, our partners continued their support of UC Berkeley, demonstrating flexibility throughout changes brought on from the pandemic.

Moving is one of the most stressful and anxiety-inducing tasks as a college student. Each year, thousands of UC Berkeley students lease unfurnished apartments and houses, furnish them, and then find themselves questioning what to do with the furniture when moving out. This often results in students hastefully leaving furniture on the streets, cluttering the curbsides of Berkeley.

Most students at UC Berkeley have seen the Bank of the West branch on the first floor of the ASUC Student Union, flanked by green columns and edged with an impressive living wall.

FY20 was a time of change. Student groups, campus departments and university initiatives directed their focus to supporting opportunities of impact and change that would positively affect our campus, our culture and the world.

Plastic can be found in a majority of items individuals use daily. From snack bags and wrappers, to bottled beverages, straws and to-go containers.

Now, imagine trying to change the reliance on plastic at a college campus. That’s exactly what Nicole Haynes set out to do.

UC Berkeley has been heavily advocating for healthy food and beverage choices for all members of the campus community, made evident by University Health Service’s Food and Beverage Choices Policy.

The University of California Partnership Programs (UC Partnership Programs) and MetLife Auto & Home®, one of the nation’s leading personal lines insurance groups, today announced a multicampus program that provides personal auto, homeowners and renters insurance products to faculty, staff, alumni and students at the Berkeley, Davis and San Diego campuses.

Every year in August, thousands of incoming students arrive at the UC Berkeley campus, excited for new adventures, friendships and learnings. For these new students, Golden Bear Orientation (GBO) is the weeklong welcome experience that makes this possible and introduces students to the campus.

This year’s GBO will be special.