This post was updated Nov. 13 at 7:20 p.m.
Green in the Blue and Gold is a series created by Angelina Alkhouri, an Opinion columnist and a third-year human biology and society student. She will write about sustainability pitfalls at UCLA and the greater Los Angeles community, along with the consequences of choosing to ignore them. She will propose ways to strengthen commitments to sustainability as students and as a university. Bruins who have interest in or experience with the topic are welcome to submit op-eds or letters to the editor to be published as part of this series to represent the many facets of campus sustainability.
It’s tempting to go all out when buying technology, textbooks, notebooks and stationary supplies. But the cost of fresh school supplies can have an impact beyond the price tag.
Choosing digital or physical study tools doesn’t produce a large environmental footprint in isolation. However, as a student body, our choices can generate great pollution.
Students should practice sustainability individually, but it must be stressed heavily in policies at UCLA as well.
Some students prefer physical materials for the associated ownership and learning benefits of handwriting notes.
“Physical books are a stronger reminder … of what you’ve read or learned – you can go back to them more readily,” said Stephanie Pincetl, a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
I have personally built my own library of books at my house, and I do see value in physical notes. I also try to limit my screen time by taking pen-on-paper notes. But many students prefer a digital approach.
“I prefer writing my notes as opposed to typing,” said Bethel Kitaw, a fourth-year psychology student. “The only reason why I don’t is just because it’s such a hassle carrying so much books. That’s why I prefer online books over physical books because in high school, they used to make us carry everything, and it was so awful.”
Bruin Learn and e-texts are far more convenient than carrying heavy, worn-out textbooks. With the switch to Bruin One Access in Fall 2024, UCLA grants students a flat rate for all course materials, encouraging the use of e-texts.
“In the 2024–2025 academic year, Bruin One Access saved UCLA students over $3.6 million on course materials. Bruin One Access enhances sustainability by providing approximately 85% of course materials in digital format and only 15% in print,” an ASUCLA spokesperson from the UCLA Store Textbooks division wrote in an emailed statement.
Despite these improvements to digital access, UCLA can still do more. One suggestion is to limit printed exam materials like blue books.
“During the 2024–2025 academic year, the UCLA Store sold 23,558 blue books, with an additional 1,598 sold so far this quarter,” the ASUCLA spokesperson wrote in the emailed statement.
This high volume undermines broader sustainability efforts. UCLA should encourage instructors to adopt more digital assessment tools to limit blue book usage.
Digital waste is also excessive. Departments handle recycling of staff computers differently. In the humanities department, HumTech replaces faculty computers every four years.
“That’s because the manufacturers of the computers will not support the software,” Pincetl said. “Universities should do something about that because that’s an enormous amount of waste, and it’s very costly for us.”
While it says on the HumTech webpage that computers are recycled, sustainability should start with reduction.
This means using tech for as long as it can last before passing it on. Department policies should be standardized to prioritize reducing beyond computers, in all aspects of waste.
With policies that emphasize reduction and reusing, UCLA can take direct accountability and avoid a bystander effect. It is the university’s job to bear the burden to continuously update and expand digital access the way it successfully has with Bruin One Access. It is necessary that our entire community is committed to ensure sustainability is a priority.
Overconsumption is a serious issue; students shouldn’t excuse it just because it happens on a university campus.
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