| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 69.24 |
| Liaison | Rob Andrejewski |
| Submission Date | March 4, 2022 |
University of Richmond
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Kelsey
Fastabend Sustainability Program Coordinator Office for Sustainability |
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:
Campus Race 2 Zero Waste (CR2ZW), formerly RecycleMania, is a nationwide competition between universities and colleges to reduce waste and improve campus recycling rates. The Rethink Waste team manages the 8-week event. As a campus-wide campaign, CR2ZW includes the entire student body, faculty, and staff. Beginning each February, the competition lasts for eight weeks. Every week, competing universities and colleges are ranked within their respective states and athletic confereences in the division they have chosen to compete. During the competition, the Rethink Waste Reps hold outreach events, such as an e-waste recycling event for the campus community, a clothing swap, and a film screening. The events are accompanied by students tabling, recycling pledges, digital flyers for events, posters about the competition, prizes for participating students and staff and recycling facts shared on social media and in the office's newsletter.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
During the 2020 RecycleMania campaign, 65 people volunteered at the RecycleMania Basketball Game and 74% of waste from the game was diverted from the landfill. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred during the middle of this campaign, so E-waste Collection and Clothing Swap events were cancelled. We have not been able to hold Rethink Waste Athletics events since Spring 2020 due to restrictions around the pandemic.
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Every year, the Office for Sustainability partners with the Office of International Education to host a week-long sustainability challenge, called the Ecochallenge, during International Education Week. The challenge is themed around sustainability innovations, facts, and issues from a specific country and participants complete challenges via an online platform hosted by the Northwest Earth Institute. Denmark, South Africa, East Asia, India, and Chile have each been a focus during previous challenges. The Office for Sustainability designs all of the outreach and content for these campaigns, and selects the sustainability facts and challenges that participants will have access to. The Ecochallenge involves a daily informational newsletter to participants, promotional digital flyers, special events, a dedicated webpage, and social media posts. The top three individual winners and top team receive a prize at the end of the competition.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Between 200 and 300 staff, faculty, and students participate each year. Participants' behavior changes have saved over 8,800 gallons of water, kept 1,400 single-use items out of the landfill, yielded 149 hours spent outdoors, and resulted in 210 hours learning about sustainability during the previous five challenges.
A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Rethink Waste is the University's campaign to reach a 75% waste diversion rate by 2025. The Rethink Waste campaign involves a campus-wide bin and signage system, a dedicated web page, tabling and trainings throughout the year, posts on social media, digital flyers, informational posters, and special zero-waste events throughout the year. The University tracks waste diversion rates in detail each month as part of this campaign. A dedicated Rethink Waste office who oversees this campaign began in Fall 2021. From November 2020 through January 2022, the program captured approximately 120 tons of food waste for compost.
The University's One Book, One Richmond program selected "All We Can Save" as the One Book for the 2021-22 academic year. "All We Can Save" is a collection of essays by 60 womxn writers advocating for climate justice. Programming for One Book have included group discussions and speaker events.
The Sustainable Solutions Challenge (SSC) is an initiative sponsored by the Robins School of Business. Every spring, students are invited to propose potential solutions for sustainability-related issues on campus. Each challenge examines benefits to sustainability, relevant stakeholders, and financial components. Prior challenges have considered solutions for single-use plastic disposables and compost program participation.
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.