| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.69 |
| Liaison | Trevor Ledbetter |
| Submission Date | Jan. 6, 2025 |
University of Arizona
PRE-2: Points of Distinction
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Trevor
Ledbetter Director Office of Sustainability |
Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Launched in Fall 2020, the Compost Cats Bucket Program, offered through the University of Arizona Office of Sustainability Compost Cats Program, is now the largest residential food waste collection program in southern Arizona. The Bucket Program seeks to ease and improve the accessibility of composting for the University and Tucson communities. Participants receive a 2- or 5-gallon airtight bucket upon enrolling and begin collecting their food scraps at home. Participants can then drop off their collected food scraps at one of three drop-off locations during six drop-off time frames throughout the week. Our team then turns those food scraps into compost. During its pilot phase from August 2020 to August 2021, the Bucket Program recruited 98 participants and diverted nearly 12,000 pounds of food scraps from the landfill. In August 2021, we began to significantly scale up the program, offering monthly and year-long memberships to participate in the Program. As of January 2024, the Bucket Program counted over 600 participants and had diverted nearly 160,000 pounds of food scraps since August 2020.
Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Food & Dining
Waste
Optional Fields
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Second Point of Distinction
A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Founded in 1972, the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning (Cooper Center) is a campus that inspires participants to preserve the Sonoran Desert and live more lightly on the earth, offers extended programs in earth education, provides classes and workshops to help prepare teachers, interns, and graduate students in environmental learning, and encourages doctoral students to conduct research on outdoor learning and sustainable practices.
In 2008, Tucson Unified School District and the University of Arizona formed a partnership allowing the University to operate the Cooper Center's educational programs. Since then, the Cooper Center has provided classes and workshops for thousands of Tucson community members. The Cooper Center strives to increase ecological knowledge and form connections between people and nature. By providing half day, full day, and multi day or overnight camps for students in Southern Arizona, they are able to immerse students in hands-on, memorable learning experiences that teach sustainability.
During the 2021-2022 school year, the Cooper Center hosted 1,639 students (about half of what is usually expected due to pandemic-related closures). Additionally, the Cooper Center hosted three workshops for teachers including two in collaboration with Partners for Equitable Science Instruction (PESI) and one with Andrea Bennett Gutierrez on multi-literacy in education.
Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Public Engagement
Air & Climate
Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Third Point of Distinction
A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
In 2019, the University of Arizona partnered with our local electric utility provider, Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and signed a 20-year agreement to source 100% of the electricity we purchase for the Tucson campus from renewable resources. As of July 2021, this renewable energy initiative has reduced the University’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint by nearly one-third and eliminated 100% of the Tucson campus’ scope two GHG emissions.
Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Energy
Coordination & Planning
Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data was sourced from the following: Compost Cats - https://sustainability.arizona.edu/projects/compost-cats. Cooper Center - https://coopercenter.arizona.edu/. Office of Sustainability Large Scale Renewable Energy - https://sustainability.arizona.edu/projects/large-scale-renewable-energy. Office of Sustainability Annual Report - https://annualreport.sustainability.arizona.edu/#/ .
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.