University of Pittsburgh
IN-25: Innovation B

The BYO[Bag] (Bring Your Own Bag) program launched through Pitt Housing & Dining in 2014 after more than five years of student initiatives to reduce plastic bag use on campus including a campaign that collected and recycled more than 20,000 plastic bags from students. After the add/drop period at the beginning of each semester students are charged $0.25 for every plastic bag they use when shopping at dining locations on campus. This fee is completely avoidable – all you have to do is BYO[Bag]! The best part of the BYO[Bag] program is that 50% of the proceeds from the bag fee as well as 50% of the sales from the BYO[Bag] reusable bags will be donated to the Pitt Green Fund to support other student sustainability initiatives like BYO[Bag]. More information about the Pitt Green Fund can be found here: http://pittgreenfund.com/ Since the program began in 2014 the University has prevented more than 1,000,000 plastic bags from being used and has raised more than $3,700 for the Pitt Green Fund. In January 2017 the University Store on Fifth and the Pitt Shop adopted the BYO[Bag] policy. Following the success of the BYO[Bag] campaign, Dining Services has relaunched it's reusable mug program as BYO[Mug]. Students, faculty, staff, and visitors are encouraged to use a reusable mug to reduce disposable cup waste and reduce their environmental impact. Customers can save 25 cents on espresso beverages when they use a reusable mug or pay just 99 cents for brewed coffee (hot or iced).