| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.81 |
| Liaison | Jennifer McLaughlin |
| Submission Date | May 26, 2023 |
South Dakota State University
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Jennifer
McLaughlin Sustainability Intern Facilities and Services |
"---"
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
1st campaign
Plastic Bag Reduction
A brief description of the campaign:
FY20 and FY21
Starting in 2019, our regional material recovery facility announced they would no longer accept plastic bags in the recycling bin. This included plastic bags used to collect other recycling items. All campus custodial services were notified. Students were educated in a variety of ways - including during CA training, newspaper ads, announcement on MyState, announcement on the SDSU website, weekly email to all students from Students' Association, social media, and large signs by the outdoor recycling dumpsters. A special "plastic bag only" bin was placed by recycling dumpsters. The Sustainability Specialist emptied this bin as necessary and took the bags to HyVee who included them in their plastic bag recycling program with Trex.
Starting in 2019, our regional material recovery facility announced they would no longer accept plastic bags in the recycling bin. This included plastic bags used to collect other recycling items. All campus custodial services were notified. Students were educated in a variety of ways - including during CA training, newspaper ads, announcement on MyState, announcement on the SDSU website, weekly email to all students from Students' Association, social media, and large signs by the outdoor recycling dumpsters. A special "plastic bag only" bin was placed by recycling dumpsters. The Sustainability Specialist emptied this bin as necessary and took the bags to HyVee who included them in their plastic bag recycling program with Trex.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
FY20
The SDSU recycling hauler tracked how many hours it took to pull plastic bags from the Residential Life recycling dumpsters. At the beginning of this journey they spent an average of 36 hours pulling out bags each month. After 6 months they were down to 10 hours.
FY21
The SDSU recycling hauler tracked how many hours it took to pull plastic bags from the Residential Life recycling dumpsters. The first recycling pick up of the semester took 15 hours to pull out all of the bags. The last pick up of the semester only took 7 hours.
The SDSU recycling hauler tracked how many hours it took to pull plastic bags from the Residential Life recycling dumpsters. At the beginning of this journey they spent an average of 36 hours pulling out bags each month. After 6 months they were down to 10 hours.
FY21
The SDSU recycling hauler tracked how many hours it took to pull plastic bags from the Residential Life recycling dumpsters. The first recycling pick up of the semester took 15 hours to pull out all of the bags. The last pick up of the semester only took 7 hours.
if reporting an additional campaign, provide:
2nd campaign
Campus Race to Zero Waste
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
FY21
SDSU participated in Campus Race to Zero Waste. Social media posts were shared featuring information about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle; ways SDSU has practiced reduction; and features of students practicing the 3Rs. encouraging students, faculty, and staff to recycle. An article about the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) was shared in the student newspaper.
FY22
SDSU participated in Campus Race to Zero Waste. A social media post was shared at the beginning of the competition and a trash/recycling display was hung in the Union.
SDSU participated in Campus Race to Zero Waste. Social media posts were shared featuring information about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle; ways SDSU has practiced reduction; and features of students practicing the 3Rs. encouraging students, faculty, and staff to recycle. An article about the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) was shared in the student newspaper.
FY22
SDSU participated in Campus Race to Zero Waste. A social media post was shared at the beginning of the competition and a trash/recycling display was hung in the Union.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
FY21
The average recycling rate for the first 2 weeks of the competition was 16%.The final 2 week's average was 28%.
FY22
The average recycling rate for the first 2 weeks of the competition was 16%.The final 2 week's average was 26%.
The average recycling rate for the first 2 weeks of the competition was 16%.The final 2 week's average was 28%.
FY22
The average recycling rate for the first 2 weeks of the competition was 16%.The final 2 week's average was 26%.
Optional Fields
Don't Dump! Donate! is a move-out donation collection program for students living in the residence halls. Students can donate a variety of items that are still in good, working condition, diverting them from the landfill and instead helping a handful of local non-profits. In FY21, this program diverted 2,340 lbs of items from the landfill. In FY22, 4,073 pounds of items were diverted.
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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