| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 59.21 |
| Liaison | Elaine Durr |
| Submission Date | Feb. 11, 2022 |
Elon University
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Kelly
Harer Associate Director of Sustainability for Education and Outreach Office of Sustainability |
Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at students and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Has the institution held a sustainability-related outreach campaign during the previous three years that was directed at employees and yielded measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability?:
Name of the campaign:
A brief description of the campaign:
Campus Sustainability Week (CSW) takes place in the fall and is an opportunity for Elon students, faculty and staff to come together to examine sustainable habits, particularly as they relate to energy use, and inspire positive sustainable change throughout the Elon community. It is also an opportunity to learn about and celebrate Elon University's current sustainable practices.
A key feature of CSW is an individual competition for students, faculty and staff based on event attendance and completing a CSW questionnaire. The questionnaire asks students, faculty, and staff to identify opportunities for themselves to reduce their energy consumption, such as unplugging items not in use or washing clothes in cold water.
Several events, designed to be educational and promote sustainable behavior change, are held during CSW. For example, the Landfill on the Lawn event provides students, faculty, and staff with a visual representation of all the recyclables and compostables put in the landfill bins on campus. The clothing swap pop-up provides information about the social and environmental issues of fast fashion while encouraging students, faculty, and staff to bring their old items to swap for something new (to them).
CSW, including the events and competition, is promoted via social media, emails, flyers, yard signs, word of mouth, and Today at Elon.
Today at Elon: https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2021/10/04/elon-to-celebrate-campus-sustainability-week-2/
More information: https://www.elon.edu/u/fa/sustainability/get-involved/live-sustainably/
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
During the fall 2021 competition, the CSW questionnaire was completed by 482 students and 33 faculty/staff.
Survey results indicated that students, faculty and staff are very likely to turn off lights when they leave the room, use natural light when possible, and wash their clothes in cold water. They are less likely to use LED light bulbs instead of traditional incandescent bulbs, and not very likely to unplug items when not in use. When asked to list actions taken to reduce energy consumption, students, faculty and staff often listed actions such as turning off lights, taking shorter showers, and using reusable items such as bags, utensils, and water bottles.
During the week, 14 events were hosted with over 150 people participating.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Earth Week takes place in April and is an opportunity for Elon students, faculty and staff to examine their own habits as they relate to sustainability. A key feature of the week is an individual competition for students, faculty and staff based on event attendance and completing an Earth Week questionnaire. The questionnaire asks students, faculty, and staff to identify opportunities for themselves to reduce their own waste. Several events, designed to be educational and promote sustainable behavior change, are held during Earth Week. In 2021, the documentary showing of “Kiss the Ground” highlighted the importance of regenerative agriculture in helping reduce the impacts of climate change, and the event “Planting Seeds of Knowledge” educated students on the importance of composting and encouraged them to compost on their own (via Elon’s systems).
Earth Week, including the events and competition, is promoted via social media, emails, flyers, yard signs, word of mouth, and Today at Elon.
Today at Elon: https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2021/04/08/elon-to-celebrate-earth-week-2021/
More information: https://www.elon.edu/u/fa/sustainability/get-involved/live-sustainably/
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
During the spring 2021 competition, the Earth Week questionnaire was completed by 282 students and 56 faculty/staff. Survey results indicated that students, faculty and staff are very likely to recycle paper, plastic, glass, and metal; use reusable bags; and use reusable utensils, but were not as likely to learn where to recycle "unusual" items such as batteries, writing utensils, and thin plastics on campus. When asked to list reusables they would be interested in using, students, faculty and staff indicated items such as beeswax wraps and reusable sandwich bags.
During the week, 13 events were hosted with over 120 people participating.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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