Office of Sustainability

The Brandeis Sustainability Fund receives approximately $50,000 per year in student fees; unallocated funds rollover to the next fiscal year. The highest amount ever awarded for a single project is $90,000, in 2018  for the Shapiro Campus Center LED lighting project. The BSF committee can choose to fund projects below or above requested levels.

Yes! Events related to sustainability are part of the scope of the sustainability fund.

Contact the Senate Sustainability Committee and/or Mary Fischer at the Office of Sustainability to get help finding others to help with your idea.

Yes, the Brandeis Sustainability Fund is open to any group with at least one undergraduate student.

Each semester, a board comprising an equal number of faculty/staff and students reviews and discusses the proposals according to a set of criteria set forth on a scoring matrix.

• Integrating Climate Change Topics into the Curriculum Faculty Workshops: In preparation for the Year of Climate Action, BSF funded up to $14,000 to hold a series of workshops for faculty across disciplines focused on ways to integrate sustainability/climate change into their courses. The first workshop was held in January 2022. 
• Compostable Cutlery, Bowls, and Plates for Midnight Buffet: This project provided $700 to the Student Union for compostable products to be used during the Midnight Buffet event.

• Project Pollinator Expansion: Building on the success of our first pollinator garden located at the Science parking lot hill, this project was awarded $6,300 to both expand the existing pollinator garden and plant a new garden outside the Rose Art Museum. The garden was planted in collaboration with the Rose Art Museum, Prof. Colleen Hitchcock, Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, and Chair, Environmental Studies Program, and the Lemberg Children's Center Environmental Action Force (LEAF) program. The garden was planted by the LEAF interns from Waltham High School. The gardens will continue to be used as part of Biol23 Ecology and Biol17 Conservation Biology for biodiversity studies. 
• Compost Bags for Student Rooms: To support students who want to compost waste created in their rooms and suites, Brandeis Sustainability Ambassadors handed out free compost bags. 

• Brandeis Clubs Stop Being Trashy: An initiative by Students for Environmental Action to provide student clubs access to an inventory of free compostable items as well as compost bins for use at their club events.
• Sustainability Education Grants: Award $500 grants to faculty members to incorporate education and materials that focus on issues of climate change and sustainability within their specific course topic.
• Green Waltham Project: An initiative by the Heller Environmental Justice Working Group to plant more trees on campus and in the surrounding community. In cooperation with facilities administration, the group identified space for nearly 20 trees to be planted on campus, and planted several trees.
• Water Coolers for Café Areas: In cooperation with Sodexo and procurement and business services, install rented water coolers at Einstein’s, Starbucks, Domenic’s, Dunkin' and the science and Mandel cafés, thereby eliminating the need for these vendors to sell bottled water.
• INaturalist Kits for the City Nature Challenge. In cooperation with the environmental studies and biology departments, purchase and assemble kits comprising clip-on phone camera lenses, petri dishes and butterfly nets for students participating in iNaturalist's City Nature Challenge.
• High-Efficiency Irrigation System at the Lemberg Children’s Center. Install a high-efficiency drip irrigation system at The Lemberg Children’s Center, with a goal of reducing outdoor water consumption by half.
• Field Supplies for ENVS 2a. Purchase field notebooks and hand lenses for use by students enrolled in Fundamentals of Environmental Challenges to identify dozens of species of local trees and study the changing of the seasons in Sachar Woods.

• Compostable Springfest: Purchase compostable cups and plates for the university's annual music festival.
• Cupanion: Provide reusable water bottles to the incoming class of 2023.
• Save Ohno: Sponsor the third annual Save Ohno competition, a computer platform that tracks real-time actions in energy-saving and sustainability performance.
• Stickers: Distribute stickers promoting tap water and reusable water bottles to members of the Brandeis community.
• Water Fountains: Install more water bottle filling stations around campus, with priority given to freshman and sophomore residence halls.

• Brandeis Earth Day: A full day of activities designed to focus the entire campus on ways to put Brandeis at the forefront of the sustainability movement.
• Charles River Grad Housing Energy Efficiency: Install and test energy-efficient technology designed by Telkonet in the Charles River Apartments.
• Food for Thought: Provide students with reusable green boxes for use at Sub Connection in Upper Usdan dining hall.
• Green Move-Out: Implement a program that encourages students to recycle and donate furniture and other possessions as they vacate their residence hall room at the end of the year.
• Green Space: Create a space for students to study in the presence of greenery and growing plant life.
• Heller Composting: Institute a successful composting program at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management in support of its mission of social change and core value of environmental sustainability.
• People Towels:Distribute free, high-quality, eco-friendly hand towels from the company People Towels, and promoting sustainable hand-drying practices through flyers featuring our mascot, Petey the Towel Owl.
• Plant Power: Provide training to the Sodexo chef in the preparation of quality vegan food options for campus dining halls.
• Save Ohno: Sponsor the second annual Save Ohno competition, a computer platform that tracks real-time actions in energy-saving and sustainability performance.
• Winterizing and Sustaining the Rooftop Farm: Install sturdier cold frames over part of the Brandeis Rooftop Community Farm atop Gerstenzang Science Library.
•  Zero Waste Events Pilot: Purchase waste bins and hire staff to facilitate waste diversion at catered campus events.

• Athletes Going Green: Raise sustainability awareness among student-athletes by placing a recycling bin, compost bin and educational flyers in each athletic team's locker room.
• Eat What You Take: Create signage encouraging sustainable food consumption for display in campus dining halls, and collect food waste every day for a week to measure results.
• Flip the Switch: Develop a mobile app that shows energy waste in empty campus rooms where lights were left on.
• Greener Dorms: Purchase five-minute shower timers and cold water laundry detergent for use in residence halls to reduce campus water and electricity usage.
• Greening the Festival of the Arts: Print advertising materials for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts on recycled content, in support of this year's theme of sustainability.
• No Misturns, Only Cisterns: Fix the turbine battery circuit that powers the current cistern in Mandel Center for the Humanities.
• Solar-Powered Picnic Tables: Install solar-powered picnic tables in frequently used outdoor spaces, beginning with the Fellow Garden area.
• Water Filler Expansion Project: Expand upon the Save-A-Latte program by promoting the use of reusable water fillers on campus.
  

• Project Pollinator: Restored field habitat by planting native plants near the Shapiro Science Center to support native insect populations.
• Save-a-Latte: Distribute free, custom-made, reusable coffee mugs to students.