The College Planning Council approved a new plan today that looks to make City College a more sustainable school.

“It’s a cultural shift,” said Superintendent-President Lori Gaskin. “It’s simply how we live when we are here.”

The sustainability plan will focus on five major goals that hope to make campus-wide changes for a more eco-friendly college.

“That campus culture is really empowering,” said Dr. Kimberly Monda, president of the academic senate.

A major issue around campus is parking, and the first goal in the plan is to decrease single-occupancy vehicles driving to City College.

With a focus on alternative transportation like shuttle programs and carpools, the college wants to significantly reduce the amount of people driving themselves to school.

Along with cutting back on drivers, another of the main goals of the plan is to implement a 50 percent reduction in water consumption, as well as getting all buildings on campus an Energy Star rating of 75 or better.

Another major change will come in the form of food being provided at City College. The plan calls for cutting back on meat consumption, and would require the food service centers to offer at least two vegetarian options.

“By reducing your meat consumption, it will do more to support the environment than driving a hybrid car,” said Kenley Neufeld, dean of the Luria Library.

By using and buying less meat the college can make a major dent in its carbon footprint.

To tie all of these together, the plan will focus on how waste is handled at City College. The proposal aims to have zero net waste by 2025.

With a host of major cultural changes, City College looks to continue leading the way on environmental and ecological issues.