Cornell University
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

Cornell's university-wide sustainability engagement campaign encourages students, faculty and staff to engage in sustainable behavior change and reduce Cornell’s environmental footprint and build healthier communities. Each component of the campaigns is designed to motivate individuals and teams to take key sustainable actions to help achieve Cornell’s carbon neutrality goals and support diverse, inclusive environments. College and Unit Engagement Program •Semester themes highlight sustainability initiatives to undertake as a unit (e.g. energy and water) •Green Ambassadors o College/unit students, faculty and staff interested in community well-being and sustainability who are responsible for: o Fostering peer to peer education. o Reinforcing sustainable behavior throughout their workgroups that are publicized by the campaign. o Giving advice and promote campaign programs and initiatives within their units • Energy and waste themes are designed to support the goals of Cornell’s Climate Action Plan and motivate students, faculty and staff to integrate sustainability into their individual actions and operations. • Each theme has a set of actions, programs, initiatives, and/or games associated with them to increase community engagement and increase the likelihood that people will adopt the targeted behaviors. Green Labs and Offices Certification Programs Programs designed to promote sustainable practices in lab and office spaces. Each action under the Green Labs and Offices Certification programs will have points associated with them. Each lab or office participating in the program can commit to actions that are feasible for their workplace and earn points towards a certification renewable every 2 years. Cornell Building Dashboard • Internet-based display tool that tracks building energy performance through real-time metering. • Serves as an engagement tool for end users to learn about energy saving behaviors specific to their community. • Resource to host energy conservation competitions between buildings, colleges and/or units. Cornell Compost Managers / Sustainability Student Leaders: • CCMs and SSLs are student educators committed to creating a culture of sustainability at Cornell University. Students from diverse majors and backgrounds encourage sustainable behaviors throughout the Cornell community through fun activities and student organizations. Programs redeveloped in 2017, to be re-launched in 2018.

Over 2000 staff and faculty impacted by the College and Unit Engagement Program, which is growing every year: Engineering, Human Ecology, Infrastructure Properties and Planning, East Hill Office Complex, Libraries, Vet School (starting 2018) Green Office Certifications: 58 offices Green Lab Certifications: 17 labs 104 buildings and renewable sites on the Cornell Building Dashboard

Energy Smackdown Fall Energy competition to encourage students and staff to reduce their personal energy consumption (on and off campus) Recyclemania A nationwide competition to promote waste reduction activities in college communities, and and aims to generate the least amount of combined trash, recycling, and compost.

Over 1.4 million kWh of electricity avoided during the 2017 Winter Setback. National rankings during the 2017 Recyclemania competition improved in many categories over previous years. The 2017 RecycleMania Steering Committee had students from 10 different student orgs design and implement the campaign.

Freezer Challenge: 10 labs registered (5 on-campus, 5 off-campus including NYC). 2 labs completed challenge spreadsheet and are now estimate to be saving Cornell over $5000 annually in energy costs.

An additional outreach campaign was the Take Back the Tap effort to reduce bottled water use on campus. After several years of student effort a student, staff, and faculty task force was created by the president to develop an action plan. The plan is available at http://www.sustainablecampus.cornell.edu/initiatives/take-back-the-tap.