March 5, 2001
UCSC students help launch sustainable business initiative
By Jennifer McNulty
Four UCSC students have played a major role in the launching of an initiative to
recognize businesses that are developing sustainable practices.
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| The Sustainable Business Institute promotes business practices that are good for both the environment and the economy. |
SBI promotes business practices that are good for the environment and the economy. This year's forum features a scheduled speech by California Governor Gray Davis, who has been invited to address the challenge of balancing the environmental and economic issues of the electric power market.
The SBI Seal of Sustainability acknowledges practices that "in some way enhance ecosystem health or reduce resource consumption while meeting the broader expectations of society," said Jessica Fullmer, founder and executive director of SBI.
"The goal is to encourage businesses to meet today's global, economic, environmental, and social needs without compromising the opportunity for future generations to meet their needs," she said. "The Seal of Sustainability is a program designed to encourage and applaud businesses that meet the challenge."
The UCSC student interns--Becky Zito, Lev Melodyev, Natasha Sitarz, and Eszter Tompos--helped develop the criteria for the seal, and they reviewed the first round of business applications. The first recipients of the seal are General Motors, Puroast Coffee Co., Inc., of Woodland, Calif., and Novozymes Biotech of Davis, Calif. GM is being recognized for its commitment to sustainability throughout the life cycle of its products, from design to disposal; Puroast has developed a coffee-roasting method that uses sawdust instead of fossil fuels; and Novozymes, for its development of environmentally responsible technologies in the bioindustrial enzyme industry.
"We couldn't have done this without the help of these great students, who brought their own informed visions of sustainability to the table and helped us craft a high-impact program," said Fullmer. "They are thorough, analytical, energetic, and a joy to work with."
The SBI interns were placed through field-study programs within the UCSC Environmental Studies and Economics Departments. UCSC has a strong track record of helping local organizations and businesses by providing eager and talented undergraduate interns. "Field placements like this are a win-win situation, because the students gain so much from the hands-on experience, and organizations and businesses benefit from the infusion of talent," said Caroline Berger, internship coordinator for environmental studies.
Leading the UCSC contingent at SBI is Zito, a senior majoring in environmental studies with a minor in Earth sciences. Zito said her experience as a soils lab assistant for IT Corporation in San Jose, Calif., increased her concern about resource conservation and protection, and she is eager to help businesses learn about and implement sustainable practices. Her senior thesis documents the development and implementation of the SBI seal.
Other student interns at SBI include Melodyev, Sitarz, and Tompos. Melodyev, a senior with a combined major in environmental studies and economics and a second major in legal studies, has focused his academic career on the study of multidisciplinary solutions to environmental and social problems. Eager to develop market-based solutions to environmental problems, Melodyev researched criteria by which SBI should evaluate the effectiveness of environmental management systems, and he explored the economic benefits of sustainable business practices. He also examined corporate ethics standards surrounding sustainability issues.
Sitarz, an exchange student from New Zealand, is studying at UCSC this year on her path to earning a degree in resource and environmental planning. Her studies focus on sustainable development, global environmental issues, and environmental policy and law. At SBI, Sitarz and Tompos conducted company research and reviewed applications.
Tompos is a senior majoring in global economics. Her interests include environmental economic policy and developmental economics. Raised in Hungary, she is writing a thesis about environmental economic policy in Hungary.
In addition, a fifth undergraduate, Jennifer Bowen, who is also majoring in environmental studies, is earning academic credit for her work helping to organize the forum.
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