Leaders of the sustainability efforts at Chico State are preparing for an open house and a series of workshops geared toward celebrating achievements and generating ideas from the public on how to reach university goals.

Campus Sustainability Day will take place at the Bell Memorial Union auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 23, and is co-hosted by the Institute for Sustainable Development, the Associated Students Sustainability Program and Facilities Management and Services.

The festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with an open house. According to Fletcher Alexander, Campus Sustainability Coordinator, there will be close to 40 displays highlighting campus sustainability programs and practices.

“Even if you’re somewhat familiar with what is happening with campus sustainability, you’re going to find things there that you didn’t know were going on,” Alexander said.

Participants can take pictures in the Food Day photo booth, make a smoothie with a bike-powered blender or win various raffle prizes. Among the raffle prizes are a night at the Adventure Outings yurt in Lassen National Forest, local lunches and bike tune-ups.

The planning workshop portion of the event is a new feature this year, and will begin at 1 p.m. in the BMU auditorium with an introduction.

The Campus Sustainability Committee has been working to develop long-term sustainability plans, with a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by the year 2030. Five affiliate committees will be running workshops to get feedback on recently crafted vision statements and to generate ideas from the public on how to reach long-term goals.

The five workshops will focus on the following areas:

• Energy, Water & the Built Environment

• Waste & Recycling

• Food Systems

• Transportation

• Education & the Environment

Following the introduction, the workshops will convene in separate rooms, and participants will break into small groups to brainstorm and prioritize ideas. The ideas generated will be considered by the campus’ sustainability committees as they work on defining the path for Chico State’s efforts in the future.

Bill Hall can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.