| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83.12 |
| Liaison | Patrick McKee |
| Submission Date | Nov. 16, 2023 |
University of Connecticut
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Patrick
McKee Senior Sustainability Program Manager 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:
EcoMadness is a month-long energy and water conservation competition. Each participating building has a designated “EcoCaptain”, a student employed by Residential Life, who audits weekly recycling behavior in their respective dorm. Additionally, each participating building has its own meter which measures the amount of water (in gallons) and the amount of energy (in kilowatt-hours) per day. These numbers are divided by the number of students in the building so we can find the energy and water usage per capita in each dorm. The dorm standings are updated at least once a week during the competition so that everyone can keep track of the progress they are making. At the end of the month-long period, winners are announced based on who had the largest improvement in recycling behavior, energy conservation, and water conservation.
More information can be found on the Office of Sustainability website:
https://sustainability.uconn.edu/ecomadness/
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
A recent EcoMadness winner results summary: The dorm that won water use reduction reduced water by 24.2% during the competition. The dorm that won energy use reduction reduced energy use by 19%. The dorm that won recycling demonstrated 100% compliance with waste and recycling guidelines.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
The Green Office Certification Program is an ongoing outreach campaign which supports offices across campus in adopting sustainable everyday business practices. The Office of Sustainability aids offices on campus in becoming more sustainable through an online survey that assesses sustainable behavior. Once the OS receives the results from these surveys, we score them to determine how the office ranks competitively among other UConn offices and provide tailored suggestions for each office's improvement. Offices are also offered the chance to recertify and improve their score. 95 green offices have been certified as of January 2023. The OS also offers a virtual guide to sustainable offices on its website that is available to anyone. Through this initiative, employees on campus can learn more about sustainability in the office and work to improve their workspaces to decrease their environmental footprints. More information is available on the OS website: https://sustainability.uconn.edu/green-office-certification-program/
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
95 office spaces at UConn have received green office certification. Of these, 14 have received recertification at some point since the Green Office Certification program started in 2015. This means that approximately 15% of UConn offices that went through the certification process implemented significant changes to improve the sustainability of their spaces and then underwent the process for a second time. From this, we can conclude that the resources provided during the certification process help offices on campus improve their sustainability practices.
Office spaces are scored based on energy, indoor air quality, involvement, purchasing, transportation, waste reduction, water usage, and innovation. Each category contains questions that correspond to an amount of points, which are then tallied to give a final score. Of the office spaces that recertified through the program after receiving its resources and guidance, the average sustainability score increased by 15.4%.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Green Game Days are some of our largest outreach events on campus. Every year, for one football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball game, the Office of Sustainability partners with UConn Athletics/Athletics Marketing to promote environmental stewardship at sporting events, particularly with regards to recycling. Student volunteers work with interns from the Office of Sustainability to promote recycling through give-aways, signs, handouts and friendly reminders at Green Game Days. The Athletics Department announces the Green Game Day effort with loud speakers and uses the large center-screen to promote the cause as well.
Earth Day Spring Fling (EDSF) is our largest campus sustainability event where we invite eco-friendly vendors and campus groups to table in the center of campus. There is food, music, and plenty of awareness outreach. We also partner with Dining Services who provides local food options (including vegetarian and vegan meals) and uses reusable or compostable dishware to make EDSF a low waste event.
More information can be found here: https://ecohusky.uconn.edu/earth-day-spring-fling/
The Recycling Bags Program is a collaboration between the Office of Sustainability, Residential Life, and Facilities Operations to issue reusable cloth "recycling bags" to all first-year resident students to help them carry recyclables to central waste areas in their respective halls. Each bag features guidance on proper recycling guidelines and promotes the Office of Sustainability.
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.