The Surfrider Foundation’s University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Student Club is excited to announce that three of the campus dining halls – De La Guerra, Carrillo, and Portola – have all been officially recognized as Ocean Friendly Restaurants! This milestone represents a major step forward in sustainable dining on campus and highlights the power of student-led environmental advocacy.
Mary Holtam, Co-President of the Surfrider UCSB Student Club, shared, “I am so excited to have our dining halls join Surfrider's Ocean Friendly Restaurant program to help our campus reflect the values of its students. As a university that prides itself on its sustainable practices and focus on environmental education, it is vital that our dining services align with this!”
Student club leaders were inspired to pursue this initiative after learning that UCSB Campus Dining had already implemented many sustainability measures. Working closely with dining staff, the student club team helped align these practices with the Ocean Friendly Restaurant (OFR) criteria and bring visibility to the efforts already underway.
These three dining halls all have reusable systems, saving money by incorporating reusable plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware. Students just need to bring their dishes to a revolving dish rack once they are done dining. They also feature drink stations as an alternative to beverages in single-use plastic bottles. Because of these sustainable choices, the three dining halls are collectively serving between 300-900 plastic-free meals a day! Plus, on top of water conservation, energy efficiency, and pollution mitigation efforts, they also source their seafood following the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines. They even celebrated Sustainable Seafood Day by hosting educational tasting tables with sustainable samples from the sea. The campus also makes considerable efforts to reduce food waste, first through their recovery program, which sends excess food to local pantries, and then composting 100% of food scraps from both meal preparation and the students’ uneaten leftovers.
"It is important to highlight that our composting program is both student- and campus-driven and that it naturally aligns with Surfrider's mission,” said Stella Cosgrove, Ocean Friendly Restaurant Chair of Surfrider UCSB Student Club. “That shared priority made collaboration easier and meaningful. For other schools looking for advice, it can be helpful to know that success often comes from finding common goals with other organizations and building partnerships around them.”
Their Co-President also had words of advice for other campuses. “As a student, you have the power to speak up to your university about what you believe in,” Mary Holtram said. “Your campus dining halls may already be following many of the OFR criteria, so informing them of the program is the first step. Once they are aware of the program, you can organize student support to help your dining halls adopt more sustainable practices."
The club’s second Co-President, Heath Albert, shared, “As a student, I am proud to study at a university pushing forward sustainability practices in a time when the broader political climate may discourage it. Bravery from UC Santa Barbara encourages the student body and its internal communities to demonstrate that same courage in retaining and promoting their values. I know first-hand that wins like these motivate the IV Surfrider crew to continue our strong advocacy efforts, and that each success story builds momentum for even greater progress.”
Recognition from the Ocean Friendly Restaurant program represents a powerful shift in how we think about dining on college campuses. By adopting Ocean Friendly practices, these dining halls are not only reducing waste and protecting marine life, but also inspiring students and staff to make more sustainable choices every day. Promoting this style of dining helps build a culture that values our environment and recognizes that small changes in what we eat and how we eat it, can create big waves of positive impact.
UCSB's Isla Vista Surfrider Club is one of Surfrider’s longest-running student clubs. This group photo is from one of the stops on the recent Love Your Beach tour. Photo Credit: Arianna Meei at Daily Nexus