| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 56.22 |
| Liaison | Olivia Wiebe |
| Submission Date | Jan. 28, 2022 |
University of Idaho
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Olivia
Wiebe Sustainability Manager Office of the President |
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:
This peer to peer outreach campaign started in Fall of 2021 and utilized social media, interactive events, presentations and an instructional video to help increase the environmental literacy of campus to reduce contamination rates of campus recycling. Three student staff members collaborated on a video detailing proper recycling techniques that was widely spread through out campus through our weekly newsletter, faculty partners, and departmental social media pages. Student volunteers also served as educators near recycling bins at large campus events, such as the College of Natural Resources Barbeque and Palousafest.
One student staff position, the Recycling Event Coordinator, worked with campus departments and the ASUI to complete a Recycling Literacy survey and an interactive Recycling Fair in the Idaho Student Union Building. Lastly, a student Graphic Designer created a recycling guide for the university dorms.
The outreach marketing materials and video were shared on the university's Daily Register, a campus-wide email newsletter that is sent to all staff and faculty. A targeted presentation was made by the Sustainability Coordinator at Staff Council that addressed the state of the recycling program, how to recycle appropriately, and how employees of the university could help ensure the future success of the program.
The Go Recycle campaign is set to end in May 2022.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
The Go Recycle campaign is ongoing, and a strategic plan is in place to measure results. A graduate student at the university will aid the Sustainability Center in conducting one on-one interviews, focus groups, and surveys to determine whether the student population is responding positively to the campaign efforts and changing behaviors to improve recycling. The goal of the campaign is to increase the environmental literacy of the student population in an effort to reduce the contamination in campus recycling bins since contamination is one of the main hurdles to restoring a fully functioning recycling program at the university. Positive impacts of the campaign will also be measured on the operational end by tracking the contamination rates in a future pilot program.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
The Greek Energy Smart Reader project and competition served to address socially driven sustainability goals for the largest on-campus student group at the University of Idaho. Energy smart readers have an influence on daily household practices in sustainability and lower energy consumption, simply by breaking down which appliances are using the most energy on a daily basis. Competitions provide the incentive to act as an educational tool for large communities, especially in forming beneficial new habits. In 2021, the Greek Sustainability Council received a grant from the Sustainability Center and worked with members in the Fraternity and Sorority community on campus to install smart meters in UI Greek housing and to host a competition to see which house was able to best reduce their energy consumption in the month of April.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
-The smart meters have helped meet the goal to identify the habits that most influence a household’s energy consumption, and there was a notable dedication to monitoring the app in the houses where the meters were fully connected.
-Greek students also got to see what devices register as the highest energy users in the app, which surprised the participants. For example, some of the actions that are thought of as being the biggest culprits of over-using energy like leaving the lights on in a room are nowhere near as impactful as normal dryer use from a house full of college students over the course of a month.
-The potential for future competitions is promising: the Greek Sustainability Council members are enthusiastic about turning this into a tradition, and look forward to watching the challenge grow to new houses and generations of students.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Beth Hoots and Natalie Wiley, Greek Sustainability Council student members, provided more information on the Greek Energy Competition.
Go Recycle: Olivia Wiebe, Sustainability Center Coordinator; Department of Student Involvement
Beth Hoots and Natalie Wiley, Greek Sustainability Council student members, provided more information on the Greek Energy Competition.
Go Recycle: Olivia Wiebe, Sustainability Center Coordinator; Department of Student Involvement
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.