Sustainability
Sustainability Committee
Responsible Stewardship
We commit to responsible stewardship of our natural environment, today and for future generations. Our Sustainability Committee inspires students, faculty, and staff to adopt sustainable practices by:
- Enhancing Curriculum: Integrating sustainability into courses.
- Eco-Friendly Operations: Promoting environmentally sensitive practices.
- Cost-Effective Solutions: Simplifying operations and saving money through sustainable practices.
We educate and inspire the COCC community towards a more sustainable future, encouraging thoughtful systems without imposing mandates.
We are working to uphold the 2023-27 Strategic plan vision, values and goals on sustainability. The President's Climate Leadership Commitment action team is developing a climate action plan and continuing to develop sustainability-focused curriculum.
Join us in creating a greener campus!
What's new in fall 2025
Sustainable Transportation
COCC President Dr. Greg Pereira's sustainable vision
This July, Greg Pereira became the new president of COCC. We are delighted to say
that he is deeply interested in sustainability initiatives. Some of his work at his
previous college include switching from plastic to compostable utensils and trays
in the dining hall, hosting swap meets for supplies and equipment between departments,
and working with the culinary department to create an urban garden that both chefs
and residents could enjoy. Dr. Pereira plans to support a strong sustainability department
and looks forward to the new ways we will become more sustainable. Read more from
an interview in our Profiles in Sustainability. Presently, Dr. Pereira has his sights on promoting the upcoming event Week Without
Driving.
A lot of students are coming to Bend for the first time this Fall and learning how
to get from place to place can be overwhelming. Get There Oregon is a program whose
mission is to make multimodal transportation options (such as biking, carpooling,
and transit) more accessible. They do this by providing information on alternative
transportation methods, support for workplaces such as COCC, and their free trip-planning
tool Get There Connect. Students and faculty can use the trip planner to determine how to commute while
saving energy and money. Faculty and staff can receive benefits for using alternative
modes of transportation (carpooling or even working remote counts!) so check out the
Get There Rewards program.
NEW! Donate your rewards to student scholarships!
COCC employees who enroll and used a commute option getting to and from work for 45 days (non-consecutive ok!) are eligible to receive a reward. Earn 1 point per day when you bike, walk, carpool, bus, telecommute, scoot, skate or compress your work week! Redeem the reward for a gift card or donate to the COCC Foundation for student scholarships! Contact HR to enroll!
Monday, September 29 - Sunday, October 5th, COCC is participating along with the city of Bend in Week Without Driving. The mission of Week Without Driving is to raise awareness for the third of the population of the US that can’t drive, and a call to address accessibility issues in transit for the community as a whole. To participate, avoid driving your car for this entire week. Use tools like the Get There Program to get from destination to destination. The goal is not perfection; it is to reflect on the major challenges posed by a car dependent infrastructure.
Join this movement to bring those challenges to light, to encourage the city council to continue improving non-car transportation and promote a more accessible future with less emissions.
Resources, Initiatives, and More
Explore Our Sustainability Efforts
Initiatives
