| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 81.96 |
| Liaison | Lindsey Lyons |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
Dickinson College
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Lindsey
Lyons Assistant Director Center for Sustainability Education |
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:
Dickinson's Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) hosts an annual online sustainability-focused behavior change challenge that pits Dickinson students/faculty/staff against each other in a behavior change challenge: EcoChallenge. Dickinson had 185 people join in EcoChallenge 2023. In conjunction, Dickinson organized a regional competition between local high schools, businesses and other institutions of higher education. Dickinson Green Devils were one of 13 teams in 2023, with over 558 overall participants from all the teams.
EcoChallenge is a fun and social way to take measurable action on sustainability issues. With a few weeks of commitment, learning and action added up to a lifetime of positive change for participants, Dickinson, and the planet! Each participant customized their actions to create meaningful, measurable change.
We selected this campaign platform as it is holistic, real-time, free and helps participants see the connections to social, environmental and economic challenges. EcoChallenge offers unique, customizable opportunities for engagement within our campus community and beyond.
This is an opportunity for Dickinson students, faculty, staff, alumni and families to make individual commitments, while working together a team. EcoChallenge also has real-time impact reporting and infographics to measure and quantify impact.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
As a sampling, 185 Dickinsonians joined in on EcoChallenge 2023, helping to cut more than 667 pounds of CO2 emissions. From April 3-21, 2023, students, faculty and staff who participated online in the competition-based higher-education sustainability program completed a multitude of waste, food and transportation challenges that resulted in the following outcomes for the Dickinson team (more with the collective regional challenge):
369 meatless or vegan meals consumed
13,499 minutes of exercise
201 plastic containers not sent to the landfill
3,318 gallons of water saved
79 locally sourced meals
These efforts translated into points, which allowed for competition between 13 different institutions of higher education/businesses and much greater results through the entire competition.
“The EcoChallenge fosters an opportunity for students on campus to challenge themselves to improve their personal behavior and understand the impact that an individual can have on sustainability," says Robin Okunowo ’21. "The challenge is only two weeks, but the impact on the environment lasts a lifetime.”
You can see the cumulative results from all 13 teams online here:
https://campus2023.ecochallenge.org/dashboards/impacts
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Dickinson is working to reduce its energy consumption and to transition away from fossil energy sources to renewable sources that are less harmful to the environment, the climate, and human health. We are committed to reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), which come overwhelmingly from our energy consumption. We reached our target to be a carbon neutral institution by reducing GHG emissions 25% from our 2008 level in 2020 and offset the other 75%. The EcoChallenge campaign complemented efforts at the institutional level and allowed Dickinson students, faculty and staff a chance to assess their own behaviors and play a role in the change and education. This campaign also allowed us to interact with community partners for positive change.
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.