| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53.92 |
| Liaison | Mat Thijssen |
| Submission Date | Oct. 26, 2021 |
University of Waterloo
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Mat
Thijssen Sustainability Manager Sustainability Office |
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:
The University of Waterloo participates in local activities to encourage cycling as a convenient mode of transportation throughout June. The University hosts a month-long campaign for students, staff and faculty track their bike trips with a chance to win prizes, organizes a bike-to-work breakfast or lunch that brings out our campus Bike Centre student group, community organizations, bike shops, and other partners to provide information on cycling, and places “thank you for cycling” tags across bikes on campus. (https://uwaterloo.ca/sustainability/events/bike-month-2019-0)
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
Positive impacts of Bike Month from 2019 include over 1,000 students, faculty and staff engaged; 950 bikes were tagged with thank you notes on campus, 250 were in attendance at the Bike Lunch event, 40 attended a bike repair workshop, and 100 logged their trips for the month-long trip-logging challenge.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
In October 2019, Waterloo hosted a Zero Waste Week campaign to coincide with national Waste Reduction Week. The campaign featured several components to raise awareness about campus waste and encourage behaviour change to minimize waste. It was promoted strongly to Green Office departments, as well as faculty and students. (https://uwaterloo.ca/sustainability/events/zero-waste-week-2019)
- Zero Waste Challenge: The Sustainability Office challenged employees and students around campus to live ‘zero waste’ for one week. Participants were provided a 500mL mason jar and were asked to fit all of their garbage for one week into the jar, both to encourage waste reduction and to help participants visualize the waste they are producing.
- Sorting Challenge: The Sustainability Office hosted a sorting challenge at pop-up booths across campus, challenging participants to sort 30 common items into the right waste bins in 30 seconds.
- Waste Warrior Quiz: The Sustainability Office hosted a quiz to test knowledge of proper waste sorting and recycling practices. This was an opportunity to break common myths about many recyclable or non-recyclable products, and to point students and employees to resources on campus.
- Lunch & Learn: Custodial Services hosted a lunch & learn to provide an update on campus waste infrastructure and sorting rules to the campus community.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Over 400 participants took mason jars and reported back on their progress. In a follow-up survey, the majority of participants reported that they were able to stay within the 1-jar limit for the week and had a greater appreciation for how and where they produced waste. In addition, 200 participated at a sorting challenge pop-up booth and more than 250 completed the online quiz to learn more about recycling, composting, and waste management practices. Finally, more than 60 were in attendance for the lunch & learn from Custodial Services.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
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.