What is SEEDS?
The Sustainability Employee Educators Developing Solutions (SEEDS) Program aims to create a cohort of employee peer educators who set an example for sustainability while they learn and educate their area of campus on sustainable initiatives and implementations. Participants encourage change and improvement within their peer groups on sustainability topics ranging from issues of waste, energy, transportation, purchasing, water, and environmental justice, among others. This program was a pilot for the 2022-2023 academic year, which merged an existing campus workplace sustainability auditing program (called the Green Workplace Assessment) with the concept of employee peer education in service of meeting STARS criteria for EN 7 Employee Peer Educators.
SEEDS team at the campus Biobin Spring 2023
How does one get involved?
Interested in becoming a peer educator? Fill out the employee application to get involved with the SEEDS program! Apply by August 14th, 2023, the start of the program will be the week of August 21st, 2023. With AY 2023-2024 representing the second year of this structured program at Cal Poly Humboldt, SEEDS seeks to train a cohort of employee peer educators to serve as leaders and point people for campus sustainability issues. Participants earn a one time $500 payment at completion of the program, a t-shirt, and will receive catered lunches in some of the program sessions. The required commitment for participants is to attend weekly 90 minute synchronous training sessions and complete roughly 1 hour of work asynchronously outside of meeting times weekly.
Stay updated with the SEEDS program by signing up for the Green Campus Newsletter and following the Green Campus Instagram for more information on the program.
How does SEEDS benefit Cal Poly Humboldt?
The SEEDS program targets sustainable education at the employee level to ensure sustainability on campus can be improved with new implementations. With the help of the SEEDS Coordinator, employees are able to assess areas of improvement within their own offices that they can help work towards making more sustainable.
Compared directly to the pre-existing GWA program, the SEEDS team was able to complete 8 successful cycles of department sustainability auditing in the 2022-2023 academic school year. This auditing process included site visits, data collection of office metrics, focused discussion, and solution implementation. The SEEDS program taught peer educators about sustainable best practices through topics such as waste, social and environmental justice, transportation, water, and energy.
Goals of the Program
The SEEDS program aims to improve sustainability through education at the employee level. The employee educators involved work closely with the Green Campus SEEDS Coordinator to assess a department’s level of sustainability and to plan for different ways to improve sustainability in the department. While this program works to improve sustainability on campus, it also aims to educate the employees involved to spread more awareness about sustainability-related topics and best practices.
