Two College Students Lead Crusade to Stop Herbicide Use on Campuses
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It all started back in 2017 when Mackenzie Feldman and Bridget Gustafson discovered to their dismay that the volleyball courts at UC Berkeley had been sprayed with herbicide linked to cancer and environmental harm.
The duo approached the powers that be and told them of their concerns and volunteered that the volleyball team would pull weeds around the courts if it meant the school would stop spraying the herbicides. Once agreed, the idea quickly took off on campus and now UC Berkeley manages 95 percent of its extensive grounds (over 1,100 acres) organically and without the use of inorganic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
With that initiative successfully implemented, Feldman and Gustafson decided to take their idea further afield and launched Re:wild Your Campus. It is a nonprofit that provides college students and groundskeepers with the resources they need to transform campuses into biodiverse spaces for pollinators, all without toxic chemicals.
To give their plans greater heft - with the help of experts, groundskeepers, students, and sustainability professionals - they went on to create the RYC Green Grounds Certification. This gives campuses the opportunity to proudly display their accreditation and set a positive example for other schools.
“It goes above and beyond reducing pesticide use to incentivize regenerative landcare practices that will increase biodiversity, reduce water use, improve soil health, and take campus sustainability efforts to the next level,” the nonprofit’s website explains.
Today, 15 college campuses are now Green Grounds Certified, and over 700 students and administrators had been trained to carry out rewilding projects on their own grounds.
