Sustainability efforts continue on campus

USC student governments enact change alongside University policy.

(Katherine Zeng / Daily Trojan)

Co-Written with Maria Laguna. - Originally published by The Daily Trojan.

Students throwing orange peels into the multi-stream waste bins at Tutor Campus Center is just a surface-level glimpse into how USC practices sustainability. The University’s Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education gold sustainability rating is echoed on campus through its environmental framework, Assignment: Earth, and continued student advocacy. But the University and its students are still pushing for more.

The Environmental Student Assembly is one of USC’s largest student sustainability organizations. Falling under the Undergraduate Student Government, ESA is “committed to advocating for sustainability in the USC community,” according to its Instagram bio.

ESA runs several sustainability projects both on and off campus, such as a fossil fuel research campaign and neighborhood outreach initiatives, according to Mia Moore-Walker, the advocacy liaison for ESA and a sophomore majoring in biological sciences (ecology, evolution and environment). 

ast semester, ESA worked with the USG senate to pass a bill that encourages the University to be held accountable for its commitment to divesting from the fossil fuel industry. 

This year, ESA is working to create more green space on campus and to possibly send representatives to local schools and teach students about environmentalism. 

Jon-Marc Burgess is the co-director of ESA and is part of the Presidential Working Group on Sustainability. He works to ensure ESA has strong communication with the University to bring its projects to life. 

“We meet with PWG biweekly, and in those meetings, we have great discourses on what PWG is doing and what ESA is also doing. So we do have direct contact to some of the main enforcers of sustainability on campus,” said Burgess, a senior majoring in biological sciences. 

Veg Fest is one of ESA’s events that Burgess is helping execute. They’ve planned for six food trucks to come to USC’s campus to give out a free variety of plant-based cultural dishes to students on Dec. 4. 

“This is an opportunity for persons that are not aware of what the vegan and vegetarian food options are or what that diet entails,” Burgess said. 

ESA is looking to further its group’s impact on campus through outreach to students across USC. 

Natasha Wasim is a Ph.D. candidate in health behavior research, also working to improve sustainability on campus. She is vice president of advocacy of the Graduate Student Government and oversees the projects of GSG’s director of sustainability.

“I’ve seen a lot of shifts in our sustainability and our environmental impacts these last three to four years,” Wasim said. “A large strength of what we’ve been doing is coming together and connecting the really talented environmental sustainability experts on campus.”  

Wasim is working on new sustainability initiatives, such as a rental system for campus events, in which organizers can rent plates and cutlery that are reusable as opposed to purchasing disposable products. 

Alongside the GSG’s director of sustainability, Wasim is also working on implementing a texting system, similar to TrojansAlert, that notifies students of any excess food at events on campus. This way, students can take advantage of free food at campus events while reducing their food waste. 

Apart from institutional changes, Wasim suggested that students carry reusable containers, straws and cutlery, and make composting a regular part of their routines. 

“One area that always needs improvement when it comes to sustainability, especially on campuses, is building out better education and knowledge opportunities for students,” Wasim said. 

As part of its Assignment: Earth framework, USC has increasingly implemented sustainability education into its official course list with 129 undergraduate sustainability-focused courses offered in the 2025 academic year, while actively furthering interdisciplinary research, according to its Assignment: Earth dashboard.

Assignment: Earth, in place since April 2022, focuses on five domains: education, research, inclusion, operations and engagement. They are either currently being achieved or will be met within the next few years, according to the University’s Assignment: Earth dashboard. The framework aims to bring local neighborhoods into partnerships with the University to engage in joint decision-making processes by the 2028 fiscal year.

“We do have many more goals for the upcoming year, so we’re always looking for new ways to spread ESA’s influence, get our voice heard and get in more rooms,” Moore-Walker said.