| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.81 |
| Liaison | Austin Eriksson |
| Submission Date | Nov. 29, 2021 |
California State University, Northridge
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
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:
CSUN's zero waste campaign raises awareness about the campus' zero waste goal, and the need for participation from all campus users. It highlights the environmental, social, and economic impacts of waste worldwide, and focuses on how CSUN's surroundings are directly affected by the waste habits of students and employees. The campaign educates people on how to reduce their own waste, as well as how to properly sort it into the provided three-stream bins. It also discusses how waste materials are handled on campus, and what happens to them after they are removed from the campus by CSUN's waste hauler. This campaign includes in-person presentations, videos, infographics, virtual presentations, and other media. Many of these materials were developed through a collaboration with CSUN's student marketing team, who learned a great deal about waste through the process.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
CSUN's zero waste campaign, along with its updated waste infrastructure, were rolled out shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, very little waste data is available such as weights and contamination rates of different waste streams. Once the campus is more fully repopulated, a survey will be distributed to gauge the campus' level of knowledge and support surrounding CSUN's zero waste goal. Feedback from in-person presentations leading up to the pandemic indicate that campus users generally care about reducing their waste, but find the sorting process confusing. Many people were happy to be pointed to an online waste sorting guide describing which materials go in each bin. Sustainability staff regularly receive questions via email from people wondering if certain items can be composted or recycled. This increased interest and engagement in waste sorting among campus members is a noticeable positive impact of CSUN's zero waste education efforts. With the addition of a new waste stream for organic waste, this campaign has also greatly increased awareness of composting among CSUN students, who were largely unaware of the process prior to CSUN's launch of contracted organics waste hauling.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
During the first months of remote work, CSUN's Institute for Sustainability launched a "Victory Garden" webinar series. This weekly webinar featured different gardening experts as they discussed a wide variety of organic growing practices for edible produce, fruit trees, pollinator-friendly plants, herbs, container gardening, and more. Attendees were invited to sign up to receive a seed packet in the mail, allowing them to start their own garden.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
CSUN's educational webinars were attended by over 500 attendees. This audience learned about sustainable food systems, how small-scale food production could be achieved at home in a sustainable way, and how to support pollinators by planting plants native to the area.
500 seed packets were also mailed out to attendees who were interested in starting their own garden at home.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
CSUN's Victory Garden Webinar Series can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5Pvatpm1_1142dMtVmsKrGeJRqw8XyAd
CSUN's zero waste education materials can be found here: https://www.csun.edu/zero-waste
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.