Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.80
Liaison Gioia Thompson
Submission Date March 2, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Vermont
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Caylin McCamp
Education & Outreach Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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?:
Yes

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?:
Yes

Name of the campaign:
EcoWare Everywhere!

A brief description of the campaign:

During the first half of the Fall 2017 semester, the UVM Eco-Reps carried out the EcoWare Everywhere! campaign to increase EcoWare memberships and uses of EcoWare by students and employees in retail dining locations. Through increased outreach and promotion, the campaign goal was to increase EcoWare memberships, uses of EcoWare at retail dining locations, and overall awareness about waste reduction in retail dining locations.

UVM implemented reusable EcoWare to-go containers in retail locations 2011. Data collected from the past 4 years has shown that EcoWare uses became concentrated in residential dining locations once the program was expanded there in 2015 and usage has fallen much lower in retail locations. Due to the volume of disposable containers used in retail locations, there is a significant opportunity for waste reduction if usage there increases.

Based on the residential location and its proximity to retail dining locations, each team was assigned anywhere from one to three dining locations to focus their outreach on, with a total of nine locations being addressed. Each team was responsible for tabling at these dining locations throughout a three-week period. On a community team level, Eco-Reps promoted EcoWare in specific locations by tabling and acknowledging existing members while simultaneously signing up new EcoWare members. Using the data from those locations for each week, the process and impact was recorded and compared with data from previous years. Along with tabling, the Eco-Reps designed stickers to be handed out and new signage for retail dining locations, reminding students and employees to use EcoWare and notifying them of the increased discount offered when using EcoWare.

In an effort of campus-wide outreach, the Eco-Reps ran an Instagram photo contest throughout the campaign. The contest sought to promote the program by encouraging people to submit photos of them using EcoWare and tagged with #sutsainableuvm. A $100 gift card to a campus retail dining location was the prize awarded for the best photo.
For more info: https://www.uvm.edu/sustain/eco-reps/news/ecoware-everywhere-campaign-results


A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:

The total amount of EcoWare uses in retail dining locations after the five week period was 2,209. In comparison to previous years, this figure is a 59.4% increase from 2016 and a 183.2% increase from 2015.


Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
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A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
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A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
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A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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