| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 63.01 |
| Liaison | Holli Fajack |
| Submission Date | May 9, 2024 |
California State University, Long Beach
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Holli
Fajack Sustainability Manager Office of Sustainability, Beach Building Services |
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indicates that no data was submitted for this field
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?:
Yes
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?:
Yes
Name of the campaign:
Trash Talkers
A brief description of the campaign:
Trash Talkers is an educational campaign that aims to educate CSULB students about the importance of proper waste disposal practices.
Led by the Sustain U student educators, Trash Talkers is a program that leverages sustainability-focused activities that allow students to actively engage and learn about responsible waste management.
Centered primarily around tabling events at the University Student Union (USU), the Trash Talkers program is designed to make waste disposal concepts easily understood and relatable. The Sustain U team guides fellow students through the experience of sorting diverse types of waste, understanding the consequences of improper disposal, and discovering ways to reduce waste production.
The campaign and messaging of Trash Talkers are also shared through the Sustain U website, Associated Students, Inc. social media posts, and signage placed throughout the USU.
For more info on the Trash Talkers campaign, visit https://www.asicsulb.org/corporate/enjoy/event-calendar/7191
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
During the 2022-23 academic year, the Trash Talkers campaign helped CSULB shift towards a more sustainable campus culture with 12 tabling events reaching 171 attendees.
Sustain U's daily waste audits found less contamination in recycling and organics bins in the vicinity of the tabling events.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Waste Not
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Waste Not is CSULB’s campus-wide waste reduction and diversion program and campaign that aims to help the university achieve its goal of becoming a zero-waste campus (90% diversion rate) by 2030. Founded on the principle of “waste not, want not,” the program promotes policies and programs that reduce wasteful practices on campus while simultaneously diverting more material from landfills by expanding infrastructure for diverting recyclable and organic waste from the waste stream. Using the Zero Waste Hierarchy, the program not only aims to encourage better recycling practices, but also to encourage individuals to rethink, reduce, and reuse materials to help minimize waste production in the first place.
Since its formal introduction in the spring of 2018, 62 buildings have been converted to follow the zero-waste program, including Residential Dining. Program implementation entails the installation of new recycling bins inside and outside buildings, a comprehensive communications and outreach plan, and student and staff training. Trainings are provided to building occupants before bin installations and regular check-ins are conducted with custodial staff to identify areas for improvement. Outreach materials created to support the campaign include an animated orientation video, informational pamphlets, large A-frame signs, and bin signage. The Office of Sustainability also works with service-learning students to help implement and improve the zero-waste program throughout campus.
For more information, visit www.csulb.edu/wastenot
For the program overview video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H51UdgaQKl8&feature=emb_title
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Waste Not has allowed CSULB to move closer to achieving its climate neutrality goals by revolutionizing the way our campus community thinks about waste, recycling, and disposal.
To date, this program has accomplished the following:
• Conducted 10 Custodial Staff Training
• Hosted over 24 Building Occupants/Staff Training
• Engaged and worked with more than 20 service-learning students from diverse courses since the program's inception
• Waste Not Roadshow presentations have reached approximately 90 employees
• Deployed more than 650 zero waste bins (i.e. hallway, breakroom, central) bins deployed
• Deployed more than 6,000 desk-side, trash mini-bins
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
The Dining Hall Food Waste Reduction Challenge aimed to raise awareness about the issue of food waste in the dining halls to reduce the amount of edible food that gets disposed of by students.
With consistent outreach efforts over October 2023 (Sustainability Month), the Office of Sustainability conducted 35 tabling events in the dining halls, educating approximately 700 students on the climate impacts of food waste.
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Reporting Period: AY 2023-24
Kimberly Cruz, Special Projects & Initiatives Coordinator ASI
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.