Valparaiso University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
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Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Yes
Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
A subset of the campus community or a sample that may not be representative of the entire community
Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples of the same population
A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:
The assessment was done in one of the first-year residence halls in 2023 by giving each room a small recycling bin to encourage them to practice better recycling habits.
A copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture:
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A sample of the questions related to sustainability culture or the website URL where the assessment tool is available:
How would you describe your recycling habits in your room BEFORE receiving your recycling bin?
How would you describe your recycling habits in your room NOW that you have a personal recycling bin?
Do you line your bin with a plastic bag or trash bag?
What percent of your waste (from your room) are you recycling?
Please review the recycling and trash guidelines attached below. How closely did you follow these? Is there any items that you have been sorting wrong? What were they? (This question is to help us know where to focus our efforts on educating about recycling the right items)
Has this program increased your awareness about recycling in your everyday life? (at home and around campus, not just in your room)
Do you know what happens to your recycling once you put it into the recycling bin? Briefly describe what you think the process is. Do you know why it's important to only recycle clean items that follow the recycling guidelines? (Please don't google this, we want to see how knowledgeable the average person is about the recycling process)
In the future, if we expand this program to other residence halls would you recommend any changes or have any suggestions?
How would you describe your recycling habits in your room NOW that you have a personal recycling bin?
Do you line your bin with a plastic bag or trash bag?
What percent of your waste (from your room) are you recycling?
Please review the recycling and trash guidelines attached below. How closely did you follow these? Is there any items that you have been sorting wrong? What were they? (This question is to help us know where to focus our efforts on educating about recycling the right items)
Has this program increased your awareness about recycling in your everyday life? (at home and around campus, not just in your room)
Do you know what happens to your recycling once you put it into the recycling bin? Briefly describe what you think the process is. Do you know why it's important to only recycle clean items that follow the recycling guidelines? (Please don't google this, we want to see how knowledgeable the average person is about the recycling process)
In the future, if we expand this program to other residence halls would you recommend any changes or have any suggestions?
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
Links to the surveys were sent to all of the students living on campus via the Residential Learning Coordinators for each residence.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Students were much more conscientious of their recycling habits once they had a recycling bin in their room. They separated their trash more and their complete dedication to the program went up from 12.5% to 62.5%. While a decent portion of the students did not recycle all the waste from their room, we still saw a significant improvement in their practices and awareness. They were open to having the new program implemented and agreed that it went well and they wouldn't add changes if the program continued in all the residence halls next year.
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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