Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 76.79
Liaison Mike Wilson
Submission Date Jan. 27, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Victoria
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution held at least one 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 at least one 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:
Green Labs Program

A brief description of the campaign, including how students and/or employees were engaged:

The Green Labs program is run in partnership between the Office of Campus Planning & Sustainability, Occupational Health, Safety and Environment, and Facilities Management. The on-going energy saving labs program focuses on fume hood usage and best practices. The broader Green Labs initiative, involving chemical substitution, lab glassware recycling, and Mercury thermometer replacement project is running across campus.

At the beginning of the school year, orientation presentations are given by Occupational Health, Safety and Environment staff on lab safety and sustainability. Throughout the year, staff from the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability visit the labs and give presentations on energy conservation, focusing on proper fume hood use and the related energy-saving opportunities associated with simple behaviour change.


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

The initial pilot study took place in 2013/14. Immediately following this, compliance was increased by 20% within a few months and substantial energy savings were observed from the monitoring system. This system allows identification and tracking of the usage for individual fume hoods on campus which allows the Sustainability Office to target specific labs. As this program has been implemented, energy savings continue to rise.


The website URL where information about the campaign is available:
Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Love-a-Mug Week

A brief description of the campaign, including how students and/or employees were engaged (2nd campaign):

Love-a-Mug Week takes place every October, usually on the 3rd week. It is organised by the Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability and utilises volunteers from the Residence Green Team. Throughout the week, the Green Team is accompanied by a re-usable mug mascot and gives out free coffee vouchers to the campus community in different locations if they have a visible re-usable mug with them. This rewards individuals for their sustainable behaviour and is also an effective engagement strategy to raise awareness to others about the impacts of disposable cups to UVic's waste stream.

During the week, 500 coffee vouchers are distributed throughout the campus community.

During the next semester in mid-February, this campaign happens again but under the name "Break-up with your paper cup."


A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):

Results are measured in two different ways. Firstly, a volunteer data collector observes and records re-usable mug usage before and after Love-a-Mug Week at similar time and location. Also, each outlet is instructed to collect all vouchers to track the amount of coffees that have been claimed.


The website URL where information about the campaign is available (2nd campaign):
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A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns, including measured positive impacts:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability has created or contributed to many outreach campaigns aimed at Staff, Students, and Faculty. These are two such campaigns for which significant effort was put into tracking the results.


The Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability has created or contributed to many outreach campaigns aimed at Staff, Students, and Faculty. These are two such campaigns for which significant effort was put into tracking the results.

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.