SMC Garden lemon tree
With rising temperatures, harsher storms and increasing droughts, reducing climate
change is not only important for our future but is also creating businesses and job
opportunities. Santa Monica College is at the forefront of training students for this rapidly growing field.
SMC’s Earth Sciences Department offers three noncredit certificates through its Sustainability Systems and Technology program that can be pursued online by California residents at no cost.
“We’re the only community college offering free sustainability certificates,” according
to Victoria Charles, who designed the certificates in collaboration with fellow SMC faculty member Jon Huls. The two faculty members each have environmental expertise along with entrepreneurial
experience. Jon started the Sustainable Environmental Management Company while Victoria co-founded BlueSphere Partners. Both are consulting firms that help public agencies and private companies reduce
their carbon footprints.
“We were asked by SMC’s Noncredit Program if we’d be interested in developing sustainability courses, and I responded by asking
how many they wanted,” Victoria says. Upon hearing the answer “as many as you want,”
she recalls going “on this rampage of coming up with topics and finding instructors”
with an emphasis on meeting industry needs and preparing students for in-demand jobs.
In addition to Victoria and Jon, anthropologist Gillian Grebler and water conservation expert Kim O’Cain share their sustainability knowledge with students.
Victoria has collaborated with Dr. Cassie Rockwell on expanding SMC's for-credit sustainability offerings in the college's Business Department, in which she also teaches. Beyond being good for the planet, sustainability makes
economic sense, Victoria adds.
Getting the Word Out
The free, noncredit certificates currently offered are: Sustainability Assistant, instilling the skills to work in outreach and policy; Sustainability in Organics Aide, covering recycling practices to stop food waste; and Sustainability Services Technician, grounding students in the principles of environmental assessments and clean technologies.
Madison Eichberg pursued both the Sustainability Services Technician and the Sustainability in Organics
Aide certificates “because I wanted to learn how technology and organics play a role
in sustainable development,” she says. “The sustainability certificates I earned have
been a wealth of knowledge. These courses helped me incorporate zero-waste processes
at home, transition to a career in environmentalism and inspire others to pick up
sustainable habits. I feel so grateful for how much this program changed my life.”
“California has been very progressive in passing environmental laws over the past
several years,” Victoria notes. The most sweeping of these is Senate Bill 1383, aimed at cutting the landfill disposal of organic waste by 75 percent by 2025. This
includes substances such as food scraps, yard trimmings and paper products, which
account for half of what ends up in dumps — and cause 20 percent of the state’s methane,
a pollutant 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
“A lot of people think we don’t have to worry because organic materials biodegrade
and dissolve,” Victoria says. “But that process generates methane.”
It also creates opportunity as waste companies strive to fulfill the new mandates.
“Waste haulers must now add organics to their other recycling services, so they need
to find qualified professionals who can go out to businesses and into communities,
raising awareness about the law and showing them how to sort their organics.”
Increasing awareness is also important, Victoria adds, because “in the very near future,
businesses will be fined tremendous amounts if they’re not separating their organics
from other waste.”
Success in the Circular Economy
SMC’s sustainability courses are meeting the needs of a new, circular economy that
works to eliminate waste and pollution by reusing products so they are kept in circulation
for as long as possible. “Ideally, nothing is discarded,” Victoria says, and achieving
that is giving rise to an innovative industry. “You’re creating new technologies and
infrastructures that need skilled people.”
Each certificate begins with the same course: Fundamentals in Sustainability, which takes six weeks to complete. “This really sets people up for the other courses,”
Victoria notes. “The first two weeks focus on the environmental part of sustainability,
the next two on the social aspects, and the last two address business and sustainability.”
Since each certificate requires three courses, sharing the fundamentals class makes
it easier for students to earn more than one. But while they may be offered as a noncredit
option, the courses are just as rigorous as any offered at SMC.
In addition to benefiting from the knowledge of instructors, students also enjoy the
perspectives of a wide range of guest lecturers. Speakers in various courses have
included experts in food foraging and corporate as well as nonprofit leaders. One
guest, Natalie Flores, is an SMC sustainability graduate herself. She used what she learned in the Recycling and Resource Management Program to launch Nourish LA, which has diverted millions of pounds of healthy food from landfills to people in
need.
“So not only are people getting jobs with these certificates, but they’re also starting
their own businesses,” Victoria observes.
In doing so, Natalie is one of a number of program alumna using their SMC-instilled
knowledge to address another goal of SB 1383 — helping ease food insecurity by rescuing
at least 20 percent of the perfectly good food that currently gets thrown out.
Sustainable Futures
SMC welcomes a wide range of students from different backgrounds and professions into
the program. But they all share the goal of helping achieve a more sustainable future.
They will also be working in an industry that will continue to grow as more communities
everywhere understand the urgency of effective climate policies. And students completing
the certificates can also receive job-hunting help in the sustainability field.
“Sustainability is ultimately about efficiency,” Victoria says. “I like to compare
it to computers. When I was in college, we didn’t have them, but now they’ve infiltrated
every part of our lives. Today, if you’re in business without a computer system, you’re
probably going to be obsolete. Sustainability is the same thing. It has to be embedded
in every aspect of business and our society. We’re not going to be able to thrive
without it.”
Madison concurs: “One of my favorite takeaways from the program was when I learned
that every job has an environmental impact. Whether or not you are pursuing a career
in sustainability, these courses will teach you how you can make your workplace more
socially and environmentally conscious. I was amazed to learn how much of an impact
I can make as a single individual.”
For more information, please visit smc.edu/noncredit.
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SMC in Focus Volume IX, Issue 2
A Surreal, Wild Ride
New York Times bestselling author of “The House in the Pines” Ana Reyes told the NYT Book Review her SMC Emeritus students kept her going. A can’t-miss interview with the author—about writing, SMC, and her debut experience.Read Article
Garden Party
Part of SMC’s commitment to sustainability, the Organic Learning Garden teaches students to grow their own food while enabling them to commune with nature. It is back and blooming! Read Article
Spikers Reunion Digs Deep into History
The Corsairs were once at the summit of men’s volleyball—SMC is the only junior college to ever win a men’s volleyball national championship. It took a dedicated coach to dig deep, and connect the present with the storied past. Read Article
Free and Clear
SMC’s pioneering sustainability program, which includes free noncredit certificates, opens up career opportunities in advancing a sustainable environment—and SMC is the only community college to offer these free sustainability certificates. Read Article
Bragging Rights
Theatre Arts’ dept. chair serves as Hindi language consultant for “Secret Garden.” A photography prof. is named to a prestigious list. Communications & Media Studies dept. is named a Model program. Read Article
Sowing Malibu’s Field of Dreams
The Malibu Campus is finally bearing its first fruit. Spring’s bounty consists of 26 course offerings, ranging from marine biology to vocal yoga, serving more than 450 students. An exclusive interview with the campus’s associate dean on what’s ahead. Read Article