While most work completed each fiscal year by Pomona College’s Sustainability Office goes undetected—by design—to the larger College community, a handful of projects are in plain sight if you know where to look.
The 2026 SAVE: Sustainable Action, Visible Effects Annual Report captures a year of reductions, upgrades, events and coursework aimed at making progress toward the College’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
As one of three student interns who gathered and analyzed data across nearly every aspect of campus operations this summer, Sthefany Fukagawa ’27 found fascinating the strides being made behind the scenes to make Pomona increasingly sustainable.
“Sustainability affects everyone,” says Fukagawa, an economics major from Japan. “It doesn’t choose who it’s going to impact. As a student, you might not hear what Pomona’s doing in the background to be more sustainable, so it was very interesting to have access to that work.”
In one year, Pomona saw a 10% reduction in energy use thanks in large part to continued Building Management System (BMS) optimization.
Approximately $2.47 million was invested in energy efficiency projects in 2026, including building control upgrades at Alexander Hall and Smith Campus Center and mechanical equipment replacements at Gibson, Seaver Theatre and Seaver Commons.
Smith Campus Center alone saw a “massive” 25% energy reduction in one year, says Trenton Leslie, assistant director of energy management. “It’s encouraging to see the results of some of those invisible projects.”
“A lot of the low-hanging fruit amounted to big savings,” he adds.
The $2.47 million also supported solar panel upgrades at Dialynas and Sontag residence halls, Lincoln and Edmunds academic halls and the J.C. Cowart Information Technology Building. Pomona’s solar production nearly doubled as a result, says Alexis Reyes, director of sustainability and energy management. The College’s old solar panels were taken apart for recycling.
Elsewhere on campus, LED conversions were completed at Pearsons Hall, Cowart and two parking structures.
“Hopefully people don’t really feel these changes,” Reyes adds. “We’re just using our energy a lot more efficiently.”
Another area of emphasis, food sustainability, saw Pomona take both noticeable and inconspicuous steps toward its 2030 goals.
About 34% of the College’s food purchases were sustainable in 2026, a 7% increase from the previous year. Additionally, Dining Services signed onto the Forward Food Pledge, which commits Pomona and the other 5Cs to source at least half of its dining hall protein from plant-based sources by 2030.
Such a change should significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions on red meat purchases, says Nikhil Schneider, assistant director of sustainability.
Elsewhere in food sustainability, Pomona last year transitioned to one-inch smaller plates in the dining halls, a subtle change that encourages people to fill their plates more mindfully.
“Composting is great, but it’s the second worst thing you can do with food, besides throwing it in the trash,” Schneider says. “We’re encouraging people to generate less food waste to begin with.”
As far as waste in general, approximately 574 tons were reused, recycled, composted or avoided entirely, a 4% increase from the previous year. Pomona hosted its first zero-waste Commencement since 2019, with Dining Services receiving the reusable cups distributed at the event for its to-go program.
Additional noticeable initiatives last year occurred around buildings and outdoor venues, a challenging area to make yearly strides as far as sustainability, Reyes says, but a category that generates a lot of student engagement.
Reyes credits student advocacy for Pomona’s growing collection of California native plants. Approximately 53% of the College’s plant purchases last year were native, a 40% increase from 2025.
Along the same lines, a highly successful plant project initiated by students involved the centerpieces at Alumni Weekend.
In place of vases with cut flowers, Sagehens assembled potted plants with California natives from Claremont’s California Botanic Garden. Each centerpiece included a sign explaining what the plant was and the pollinator it supports.
Students subsequently worked with grounds staff members to plant the centerpieces around campus. Dozens were planted on the east side of the Center for Athletics, Recreation and Wellness.
“If you walk by them now,” Reyes says, “they’re completely flourishing.”
As much as Pomona does every year to boost sustainability, challenges are inevitable.
Replacing certain equipment can get costly, and longer and more intense seasons affect energy use. When preferred vendors don’t have something available, the College buys what’s available from another.
Such unpredictability in certain areas means trends are easier to track across several years than they are yearly, say sustainability staff members.
But every SAVE Report generates encouraging results, and rising student involvement in key categories demonstrates Pomona’s collaborative approach to sustainability.
“Students have a varying interest in how to practice sustainability themselves or on campus,” Fukagawa says. “It could be something as simple as replacing the lights in their dorms to turn off automatically, but it’s these slight things that make a big difference when a lot of people do them.”