St. John's University, New York
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

In February, six dormitories in the Residence Village competed in their annual Dashboard® Challenge to reduce electricity consumption. During the competition the University advertised and conducted outreach programs and training on energy consumption and its impact on the Earth, on the University and on students themselves. The energy systems of the residence village were set up for constant tracking and an online tool was made available to students to follow their efforts in real time. Dashboard® remains available online for residents to monitor their electricity use; participation in nation-wide competitions remains annual, with smaller competitions occurring frequently. Started five years ago, St. John's University participated for the first time in the national RecycleMania competetion to reduce waste and increase recycling. Advertising and outreach was provided to students regarding the benefits of recyling and the consequences of not doing so. Students participated in 'dumpster dives' to monitor recyling around campus, especially that of the staff and administrative departments. Participation in Recyclemania is now an annual tradition.

St. John’s students also took part in the Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN), a nationwide college competition introduced five years ago to reduce campus water and energy consumption. For every kilowatt hour of energy saved by the nine Queens campus residence buildings during the contest period, April 10–30, 10 cents were set aside as a donation to the St. John’s Bread and Life Soup Kitchen. Through the combined efforts of students living on campus, residence halls were able to reduce energy consumption by 8.1 percent, resulting in a $2,800 contribution. “Our focus remains the same as always,” Thomas Goldsmith, director of environmental and energy conservation, observed. “That is, to find meaningful ways of linking conservation with service—a vital part of the University’s Vincentian mission.” St. John's results and rankings in past Recyclemania events can be found at http://www.stjohns.edu/campuses/sustainability/student-involvement under the "RecycleMania" tab.

Organized by the Earth Club, Tau Omega Chi–Toxicology Club, Office of Sustainability, Office of Campus Activities, and Student Government, Inc., the event, part of Spring Week 2015, featured sustainability food and gift vendors; educational games like Sustainability Jenga (in which players remove pieces containing rainforest facts from a stack of blocks, trying not to topple them); and a rain forest animal exhibit including an armadillo, a coatimundi raccoon, and a kookabut bird. “I felt that having animals on-site would help students remember what they learned here,” said Sara Asgar ‘15C, an environmental studies major and president of Earth Club. Popular Earth Fest attractions included a “smoothie bike” that powered a blender when pedaled. “It’s awesome to be able to use the energy in my body to create something that’s healthy and great-tasting,” said Colby Mrowka ’15CPS, a criminal justice major.

More than 900 students attended SJU’s 2015 Earth Fest celebration at the Taffner Field House on April 21, 2015.

*Faculty was in attendance for the O2 composting initiative during October's Sustainability Day in 2014. http://www.stjohns.edu/campuses/sustainability/campus-sustainability-day