Category: "Sustainable Living"
Sustainability Focus Groups
June 16, 2019

By: TANJA SREBOTNJAK, Hixon Center Director During the spring the Hixon Center, with the help of CGU doctoral student Sara Hollar, conducted a series of focus groups on sustainability at Harvey Mudd College. The goal for the undertaking was to evaluate the work of the Hixon Center over the past 4+ years against people’s perceptions […]
Article on Life Cycle Costing published
May 2, 2019
BY: TANJA SREBOTNJAK, Hixon Center Director Hixon Center director, Tanja Srebotnjak, has published a piece on Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in Springer Nature’s Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. LCC is an evaluation method and decision-making tool that considers the total monetary costs (and benefits) related to a product’s life span such as a building or […]
Biomass-To-Energy Study
April 23, 2019
BY: TANJA SREBOTNJAK, Hixon Center Director Claremont McKenna College graduate, Lauren d’Souza (’18), was deeply interested in understanding the obstacles and opportunities faced by Native Americans when it comes to tribal economic development, sovereignty, and sustainable energy generation. Under the guidance of Prof. William Ascher (CMC) and Prof. Tanja Srebotnjak she studied the feasibility of […]
The Value of Getting Involved with Student Groups
February 25, 2019

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Sustainability Program Manager Are you involved with a student group at Mudd? If not, I hope I can convince you to change that with my story. It took me a long time to join a student group when I was an undergraduate student. At U.C. Berkeley, there were no shortage of student […]
Why Does Food Ever Become Waste?
February 12, 2019

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Sustainability Program Manager Amidst the busyness of everyday life, we often overlook the moments when we throw things away. The decision to dispose is a seemingly trivial moment, but at the same time it is a universal experience: we all use things, and at some point, those things become trash. Even food […]
Your Individual Choices Do Matter
March 6, 2018

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Acting Director of the Hixon Center Over the past two weeks, Harvey Mudd has been participating in the annual PowerDown competition. During this competition, we compare electricity consumption in our residence halls to that of the other Claremont Colleges to see which institution can most substantially reduce its consumption over two weeks […]
What’s at Stake: Reflections from a Few Hikes and a Road Trip
January 17, 2018

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Acting Director of the Hixon Center I didn’t grow up being a big fan of the outdoors. I never appreciated what the outdoors had to offer, to be honest. As a kid, I spent most of my time in my home, making occasional visits to the neighborhood park. After all, I hated […]
How to Have Yourself a Sustainable Thanksgiving
November 20, 2017

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Sustainability Program Manager Thanksgiving is the time of year when we all remind ourselves and each other what we are most grateful for. It’s a time to celebrate with our families and our friends, as well as to eat some great food! However, as with any special occasion, there are always opportunities […]
Overcoming Fatigue and Helplessness to Achieve Sustainability Goals
November 14, 2017

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Sustainability Program Manager This semester, the Hixon Center launched its “Eco-Engage” Sustainability Dialogue Series. Since the series began in September, students, faculty, and staff from across the Claremont Colleges have come together for film screenings, panel discussions, and workshops – cutting across environmental issues on all scales, from the global context of […]
How to Have Yourself a Sustainable Halloween!
October 30, 2017

By: LOUIS SPANIAS, Sustainability Program Manager For many of us, Halloween is our favorite holiday of the year. The haunted houses, the costumes, the candy – Halloween can be a welcome diversion from our daily and more serious occupations. After all, who doesn’t love dressing up, and who doesn’t love candy? We at the Hixon […]