Scripps College illustrates itself to be an effortlessly sustainable institution. With extensive sustainability reports, a sustainability team, a composting program and the opportunity for students to provide feedback to administration on sustainability efforts, it’s easy for the college to take on the title.
The reality, however, is overwhelmingly disappointing.
Taking credit for all of the sustainability efforts made by students, Scripps’ administration is failing to support and give credit to the students that actually make Scripps into a more sustainable place.
According to Scripps’ 2021-2022 annual sustainability report, the largest origin of carbon emissions from the college is due to purchased electricity. This contributed to 48 percent of total emissions, which was about 5,850 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
It truly is astonishing how much carbon we emit even though the then-President of Scripps signed the Climate Leadership Carbon Commitment in 2019 — a signature that was long overdue after all four other Claremont Colleges signed.
Since this “commitment,” the college has failed to officially announce when it intends to attain carbon neutrality.
On an administrative level, Scripps promotes having a sustainability department devoted to implementing sustainability tactics on campus. This “team,” however, is made up of a single person with some sustainability interns, meaning that most of the sustainability measures on campus are achieved through unpaid student labor.
In reality, it’s student-run organizations like the Scripps Sustainabiliteam that have made most campus sustainability measures possible.
One such Scripps Sustainabiliteam initiative was a grass space survey that collected student opinion on preserving the different grass spaces that require a significant amount of water to maintain.
The results of the survey, which received 136 responses, revealed which grass spaces community members were willing to sacrifice in order to have a more sustainable campus.
As a campus covered in greenery, flowers and edible botanics, this survey was incredibly important for Scripps. The evergreen campus is an alluring factor that draws in students and brings in money, but it also requires a significant amount of water for upkeep.
In the span of a single year, the annual sustainability report describes Scripps using 44 million gallons of water for the campus’ 32 acres of land. The sustainability tab of the Scripps website claims that 90 percent of lawns on campus have been switched to “low water Bermuda bandera turf.”
According to Marin Plut SC ’25, the student at the center of student sustainability at Scripps, the turf still requires a significant amount of water since it’s a non-native plant.
In tandem with the grass survey, these initiatives are proof that the Sustainabiliteam is committed to finding solutions to minimize unused grass spaces — correlation administration has continuously ignored.
Clearly, there is a massive disconnect between the administration’s and the students’ sustainability priorities.
Yet another disconnect? Composting.
When I arrived at Scripps, I was happily surprised by the accessibility of composting on campus. Composting is a simple and resourceful method to reduce waste and extend the life of food waste, but it is significantly more difficult than just bringing your food scraps to the provided bins.
The Scripps website advertises that post-consumer food scraps are composted through Huerta del Valle and that between March 2023 and November 2023, Scripps diverted 35,000 pounds of food scraps to Huerta del Valle’s compost program.
According to Plut, Scripps’ partnership with Huerta del Valle ended in November.
What’s more, before it was severed, the partnership was facilitated and negotiated by students who, unsurprisingly, did not receive any credit.
Plut, who organized the original partnership between the college and Huerta del Valle, points out that the Scripps’ website’s false claim that compost still goes to Huerta del Valle is telling of the school’s priorities.
“The dining hall is so disconnected from the program that they don’t even know where it goes,” Plut said.
Administration does not prioritize climate action and is failing to even support students in their efforts to make change on campus.
The lack of funding that the Sustainabiliteam receives limits their ability to implement effective climate action. They need support, financially and otherwise, from administration — afterall, are we not “the future?”
Administration, you tell me.
Maya Malev SC ’27 is an EA major hoping to make the 5Cs a more sustainable place through environmental action and advocacy.
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