| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.28 |
| Liaison | Michelle Seppala Gibbs |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2023 |
Hope College
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Michelle
Gibbs Director Office of Sustainability |
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:
In reponse to all of the disposable containers used during 2020 and 2021 due to health/safety measures from covid out students participated in two TREX plastic film recycling programs for colleges and univesities. "Trex® is proud to sponsor local recycling programs in universities and communities throughout the country. If your team can collect more than 500 pounds of plastic refuse in a six-month span (about 40,500 plastic bags), we will donate a high-performance composite bench to your school or community."
This was a hugley succesful program and both times we ran it we met our requirements well in advance. We have since received two benches made from their composite material. These are placed in locations around campus. https://nextrex.com/view/programs
During the months we were not participating in TREX we have continued to collect and have worked with our waste hauler on recycling this material.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
During the two collection drives we collected 1,856 pounds of plastic film. This has also allowed us to shine a light the issues surrounding single use items and especially single use plastic. This has since led us to host programs giving away reusable canvas bags and reusable utensils.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Changing our habits is the first way to change our carbon footprint. Hope College is dedicated to providing students with the education and resources they need to make an impact on the Earth personally as well as campus-wide. The Hope College Cupanion Initiative is one of the practical ways Hope plans to do this; this cup not only allows an individual to produce less waste, but it pairs with the Fill it Forward app, which allows for individuals to be further educated on their impact. With this app, and the Cupanion reusable to-go cups, students, faculty and staff are able to track pounds of waste, power, land space and emissions saved each time they reuse this cup. Individuals are not only able to reduce their personal use of single-use items, but are able to contribute to global water projects that are improving water. Every scan of your cup gives money towards these water projects—you can even watch your contribution grow every time you scan your cup!
Hope College is committed to three concepts when it comes to supporting our Earth and creating a more conscious campus: Reduce. Refill. Rethink. These three R’s define the entire purpose for the Hope College Cupanion Cup initiative. We are committed to reducing our single-use waste: this includes in our dining halls, campus housing and educational buildings. We are committed to refilling and saving the resources on this Earth, including land space, plastic use, waste and power usage. Refilling this cup is a tangible way that we get to do just that. We are committed to rethinking. The Hope College Cupanion Initiative is an effort to rethink exactly what it looks like to live sustainably. These cups allow students and faculty to rethink how they use single-use plastic items, rethink their impact on the Earth through the Fill it Forward app and ultimately rethink how to make small habit changes that can lead to influential changes of our current carbon footprint.
Article in the Hope College Anchor Campus Newspaper.
https://anchor.hope.edu/campusandbeyond/how-to-make-sustainable-living-your-cupanion/
This program is open to students, faculty, and staff.
We have provided cups to all new students through orientation during the fall of 2020, 2021, and 2022. During all of those years cups were given to new staff as well.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
The program launched in November 2020 to students, faculty, and staff and to date through the app we have tracked over 2,000 scanned reuses by our campus community. Through the app we can also track an approximate amount of waste diverted from the landfill as well as power, emissions, and land saved.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Our Hope Advovates for Sustainability (HAS) interns have also particpated in Campus Race to Zero Waste nearly every year (with the exception of COVID years). They've hosted collection events at basketball games and have also hosted two different residence hall competitions.
Our student shave also particpated in a number of TerraCycle collection events (pens/markers and snack/candy wrappers).
In the spring of 2022 our HAS interns also hosted a campus wide can collection/recycling event and they collected over 2,200 cans and took them to the store to redeem the $0.10 deposit. The funds raised were then donated to the organization "Plant With Purpose."
During Halloween of 2022 our HAS interns organized a candy wrapper collection event and they collected 2.30 pounds of candy wrappers and sent it to the "Trick or Trash" organizers.
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.