About Sustainability 2.0
Sustainability now
Today, UC San Diego’s Sustainability 2.0 initiative transforms current research into new possibilities that skyrocket beyond imagination. Just some of what we’re up to:
- Zero waste by 2020
- Sea breeze research
- Biodegradable tableware
- Solar power and cloud crystals
A pace-setting past
UCSD and Scripps Institution of Oceanography set the pace for climate awareness beginning in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, UCSD researcher Charles Keeling provided the first proof ever that CO2 levels in our atmosphere were rising. His famous Keeling Curve is now an icon that symbolizes people’s impact on our planet.
A present full of possibilities
Researchers at UCSD and Scripps have expanded their early investigations into today’s studies of Asian brown cloud pollution, how climate change threatens water supply, and how sea water can help cool buildings. Modern pioneers such as Steve Kay, Kim Prather, and Byron Washom are making breathtaking breakthroughs in every aspect of sustainability.
An ever-greener future
With a daily population of over 45,000 faculty, staff, students, and affiliates, UC San Diego is as large and complex as a city. This is the perfect place to transform research ideas into real solutions within a working community. Every day, we:
- Invite partners to invest in a whole-campus laboratory that’s led sustainability success for more than 50 years
- Equip brilliant researchers and teachers in a vibrant environment with an unmatched level of system support and student commitment
- Create green jobs that will give our students employable futures on a healthier planet