Sustainability at PCC Sylvania
At PCC, we approach sustainability holistically, employing multiple practices, developing programs, and creating infrastructure to tackle challenging issues. Our sustainability challenges require working across PCC’s operations and within academic areas. Students at PCC have the opportunity to take sustainability coursework in many disciplines including Environmental Studies, Geology, Biotechnology and many other STEM fields as well as in our Career and Technology programs like Renewable Energy Technology and Environmental Landscape Management.
We use our campus as a living laboratory and take opportunities to engage students in crafting collaborative solutions that have an impact on their day to day surroundings. Recurring major themes are education, climate equity, habitat restoration, air and water quality, active transportation, social justice, environmental racism, energy conservation, food justice, and materials management. PCC has many other resources that support students learning sustainability outside of the classroom including our many Learning Gardens , the Sylvania Environmental Center , the Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center , and virtual resources such as the Student Sustainability Hub and library guides on Climate Change .
PCC's Sylvania Campus features an abundance of flora, including thousands of trees.
Learning Garden
The Sylvania Learning Garden is a cooperative campus space dedicated to organic gardening. The garden serves as a “Living Laboratory” to allow individuals and groups to teach and learn through organic gardening. In 2010 the garden was a site for the Village Building Convergence, a natural building festival, and the garden now hosts a hand-made cob bench covered by an eco-roof. The garden is currently developing a rainwater catchment system and new vermiculture facilities. Students, clubs, faculty, and staff are invited to become involved in the garden. For more information about the Sylvania Learning Garden – contact center coordinator, Peter Ritson.
Worm Villa
Worm Villa
The Sylvania Learning Garden has a number of very significant structures using natural-building techniques. Two note-worthy community-building projects are the Salmon Bench, built in 2010, and the Worm Villa, built in 2012. Both were part of City Repair's Village Building Project and were funded by a PCC National Science Foundation grant. Led by world-class master builders and PCC student interns, 100s of volunteers spent 1000s of hours designing and building these beautiful and unique structures. Made of cob (clay, sand, and straw), cord word, stones, wine bottle windows, a natural roof, artistic features, colored glaze and more, these epic structures offer countless lessons in natural building design, styles, and construction.
Pollinator Habitat
This area has been planted with pollinator-friendly flowers and is protected from pesticides to provide valuable habitat for bees and other pollinators. To learn how you can help to bring back the pollinators, please visit www.xerces.org.
Raingarden
Rain Gardens are a practical way of handling rainwater that runs off of building rooftops and hard surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete. Currently, PCC Sylvania has two rain gardens and more are planned.
One garden is on the north end of campus near the soccer field's north goalpost that is intended to catch water coming off the roof covering the Salmon Cobb Bench in the Learning Garden. The other is on the south end of campus where the sideway that passes the bus stops intersects with G Street, and is intended to catch water from the surrounding area.
Straw Bale House
This Straw Bale House was built to explore the feasibility of using straw bale construction in the wet climates of the Pacific Northwest.
Stormwater Detention
EV Charging Stations
EV charging stations at the Sylvania campus support sustainable commuting and improve the accessibility of EV's for renters who cannot recharge their vehicles at home.
Automotive Technology EV Program
This charging station is used by the AT department
The Portland Community College Automotive Service Technology program offers students flexibility, cutting-edge knowledge, and automotive industry best practices including training on hybrid and electric vehicles.
Pesticide Free Zone
Flow-through planters: There are flow-through planters located at the kiln yard next the Communication Technology Building, and as well as the storage building next to the Automotive and Metals Building. The planters are structures or containers often placed on impervious surfaces, such as the concrete next to buildings; they capture stormwater, which slowly infiltrates down through the soil, collects in a perforated pipe and drains to a destination point or conveyance system.
Environmental Center
The Environmental Center serves as a community hub for Sylvania Campus and District sustainability initiatives including our beautiful Learning Garden. The E-Center is an active meeting place for committees organized around sustainability issues and student-led organizations. It offers updated resources on climate change, alternative transportation, energy conservation, and campus sustainability. The center also offers counseling for students interested in environmental careers.
Watershed Mural
Working with Green Initiative Funds, painter Ryan Pierce and a team of PCC art students collaborated over the summer of 2011 on a mural which directly addresses the surface runoff problem from the Sylvania infrastructure and its long-term effects on the Tualatin River watershed.
Title: Watershed Mural Artist: Ryan Pierce Medium: Acrylic on plywood panels, marine sealant Size: 8' x 16' Creation date: 2011 Campus: Sylvania Location: Exterior wall on the north side of the PAC Building
Monarch Waystation
Changing weather patterns affect the natural ranges of animals and plants. Although monarchs have not commonly been found in the Portland area, changing weather patterns may affect their future range. By planting milkweeds, we can provide habitat for monarch butterflies should they arrive here.
Bicycle Infrastructure
Sylvania supports cyclists with free bike lockers and work stands for bicycle repair.
Shuttles
Shuttles at PCC are available for free to students, staff and faculty with proof of ID. Shuttles run to all four campuses and to PSU. For more information about student shuttles, visit: https://www.pcc.edu/transportation/alternatives/shuttles/
Sustainable Campus-Wide Features
Recycling
Recycling containers just like this one are available across campus for you to dispose of your waste and recycling. PCC has over 600 classroom recycling bins, 42 outdoor recycling collection stations, 30 indoor recycling collection stations, and some 2,500 signs installed. Recycling correctly ensures reduced contamination in the recycling stream which lowers the risk of sending the whole recycling load to the landfill instead. To learn more about recycling and waste mitigation efforts at PCC, visit pcc.edu/recycling.
Water Filling Stations
Water filling stations provide access to filtered water and encourage waste reduction. Each water fill station has the capacity to prevent 24,000 16 oz single-use plastic bottles from being used and discarded each year.
Electric Hand Dryers
High speed hand dryers save energy over conventional paper towel dispensers, both reducing waste from paper towels and saving the college electricity.
