Southern Oregon University
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

SOU's Recycling Program hosts the annual residence hall move-out waste diversion event. Each year during residence hall move-outs tons of recyclable and reusable items are dumped in the trash and trucked to the landfill. During SOU's annual move-out collection event, collection stations are staged in campus residence halls to collect move-out waste from students before they reach the dumpster. Signage and social media raise awareness about diverting these goods from landfills. These items are then donated to Southern Oregon Goodwill, contributing to the creation of jobs and career development opportunities for underprivileged individuals in our community. The campaign seeks to educate students on how to divert their waste from the landfill by recycling and donating reusable items to organizations such as Goodwill while reducing overall move-out waste.

SOU launched the annual move-out waste diversion event in 2013. Reuse at move out in June 2021 diverted 4,081 lbs of goods from landfills, an increase of 15% from the previous year. The campaign was adapted for COVID-19 so that all staff and students were kept safe and items were still able to be collected and diverted.

Every February SOU participates in the Governor's State Employee Food Drive where the Student Sustainability Team runs a campaign, engaging employees to learn about and contribute toward ending student hunger. This effort contributes toward fostering a civically-engaged campus community where employees take action toward reducing student food insecurity. Affordability is an issue of economic sustainability, and employees work together to try to raise food and funds in support of the SOU Student Food Pantry.

Combined financial contributions and non-perishable food donations by weight are calculated as a total "number of meals donated." The last three years of the food drive have seen a significant upward trend of donations from SOU employees: 2019 total meals equivalent was 8,023, the 2020 meals equivalent donated was 15,747, and the 2021 total meals equivalent donated was 23,082.

SOU has participated in the April/Earth Month Eco challenge every year since 2019, where 20-50 people have joined the SOU team to challenge themselves and log changes in behavior toward more sustainable actions. SOU also encourages participation in the Oregon Get There Challenge and Go By Bike Week, both in partnership with Rogue Valley Transportation District where employees and students log trips to earn points and prizes. The Student Sustainability Team also hosts a quarterly outreach campaign called the "Bus Pass Push Week" where extensive tabling and other forms of outreach are conducted to encourage students and employees to sign up for their SOU bus pass.