| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.31 |
| Liaison | Rob Andrejewski |
| Submission Date | Dec. 23, 2024 |
University of Richmond
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Haley
Herrmann Sustainability Communications & Events 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?:
1st campaign
A brief description of the campaign:
Every year, the Office for Sustainability partners with the Office of International Education to host the University of Richmond Ecochallenge, a week-long sustainability challenge 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 Ecochallenge.org/Northwest Earth Institute. 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. Denmark, South Africa, East Asia, India, and Chile have each been a focus during previous challenges. The top three individual winners and the teams receive a prize at the end of the competition. In 2023, prizes were given at a December end-of-semester event that also featured a short speech by a faculty member on his new climate change book.
A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
In 2023, 237 faculty, staff, and students participated in the Ecochallenge. Participants' behavior changes have saved over 1,344 gallons of water, kept 617 single-use items out of the landfill, yielded 13,545 hours spent outdoors, and resulted in 89,221 hours learning about sustainability during the previous five challenges.
if reporting an additional campaign, provide:
2nd campaign
A brief description of the campaign (2nd 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 conferences 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 (2nd campaign):
During the 2024 GameDay Basketball Challenge, volunteers helped sort waste during and after the game to save 98% of all waste from going to the landfill, winning first place for this category in the Campus Race to Zero Waste competition. This success was due to coordination between multiple campus partners to reduce single-use landfill items at the concessions as well as a larger sorting event that occurred after the game. This ensured all materials that could be recycled or composted were sorted correctly.
Optional Fields
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 June 2024, the program captured approximately 382 tons (763,941 lbs.) of organic waste for compost.
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.