Sustainable Living

Pomona students give back by lessening what they take. From the dining halls to the residence halls, Pomona helps students live sustainably.

In the dining halls, we offer healthy food, locally sourced whenever possible. We got rid of trays to lessen food waste and encourage students to compost, which we use down on our Organic Farm. Students distribute leftover food to local homeless organizations.

You can check-out laundry racks and compost buckets for your dorm. Annually, dorms compete against one another and the other Claremont Colleges through a PowerDown competition to reduce energy use. Our Green Bikes program offers a limited amount of free bikes each year and will teach you to maintain your own bike.

Students participate in these efforts via our clubs and organizations– running Green Bikes, planting native gardens, working on environmental justice issues, and sweeping dorms for leftover items to resell, donate and ultimately save from landfills.

Each year in the fall, students can apply for a sustainability project to be funded through the President’s Sustainability Fund – a great way for students to lead long-lasting change on campus. Past projects include the drying rack program, residential composting, a 24-hour bicycle repair station, water bottle refill stations, and a mobile solar power station.

Sustainability is in our classrooms too. Through our Environmental Analysis program, students can explore a wide variety of issues, from the science side of things to environmental justice, history, or the built environment. Even if you’re not an EA major, one of these classes can fulfill your general education (we call them “breadth of study”) requirements.

Finally, Pomona as an institution has a deep commitment to sustainability. We’ve pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. All new buildings must meet LEED-Gold standards. We capture rainwater to return it to the aquifer, encourage alternative transportation, find ways to reduce energy use on campus, and replace landscapes with drought-resistant plants. Join the movement!