| Overall Rating | Platinum - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 88.31 |
| Liaison | James Gordon |
| Submission Date | May 31, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Thompson Rivers University
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
James
Gordon Environmental Programs and Research Coordinator TRU Office of Environment and Sustainability |
Has the institution held at least one 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 at least one 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, including how students and/or employees were engaged:
The TRU Sustainability Office ran the following campaign during the 2015-2016 school year: Turn Out The Lights... Pass it on!. The purpose of the campaign was to get students to save energy by turning out the lights in their classrooms when they were the last to leave it. To do this, students were asked to sign a pledge sheet stating they would do this, which was then posted in their classroom for all of their classmates to see. The theory is that making a pledge in a public sphere will increase the likelihood that the participant will follow through with their pledge and turn out the lights,
Student volunteers would do the following:
1. Obtain permission from instructor(s) to make a 5 minute speech at the beginning of class.
2. Make the speech, pass around the pledge sheet for all students to sign, and make campaign stickers available. There is also a section on the pledge sheet called “Let’s Talk Sustainability!” that allowed students to write general sustainability comments.
3. Ask for a volunteer from the class to make a speech in another class. If one is identified, then other campaign packages are given to them; this is the “Pass it on” part of the campaign.
4. Affix campaign poster and filled-in pledge sheet some place highly visible in the classroom at the end of the speech, ideally near the light switches.
5. At end of the campaign, collect pledge sheets and submit them to TRU Sustainability Office to be displayed on campus in a high traffic area, along with campaign results.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
• # of Participants who pledged to turn off lights when they’re the last to leave a classroom: 236
• # of classes involved in the campaign: 17
• # of volunteers involved in the campaign: 9
• # of “Let’s Talk Sustainability!” comments: 43
• # of TRU members who think this campaign is a good idea: Everyone!
The website URL where information about the campaign is available:
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign, including how students and/or employees were engaged (2nd campaign):
This is a community bike ride event to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research, and encourages fitness andcycling,. Riders could choose five distances to ride: 12 kms, 26 kms, 42, kms, 57 kms and 70 kms. At each distance there was a turn-around, and then riders headed back along the same route to the finish at Riverside Park in Kamloops, where participants enjoyed food, activities and prizes.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Nine riders from TRU--all employees--raised over $2700 to support Multiple Sclerosis research. In total, there were 148 Kamloops participants who raised over $40,600. Nationally, the event raised over $8,000,000! Participating in the event advances sustainability at TRU by having staff members lead by example, both regarding environmental sustainability (riding a bike) and social sustainability (supporting MS research).
The website URL where information about the campaign is available (2nd campaign):
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns, including measured positive impacts:
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.