Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.94
Liaison Jim Dees
Submission Date Dec. 5, 2023

STARS v2.2

Appalachian State University
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 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

1st campaign 

Name of the campaign:
Zero Waste Stadium

A brief description of the campaign:
App State has had the "Recycle at the Rock" program in place since 2008 and expanded to include the Green Yosef campaign in 2015. On game days, tailgaters are asked to utilize green recyclable bags to collect their bottles, cans and clean cardboard from their tailgating site. Once full, these are left behind and Appalachian State staff collect the bags from the tailgate lots to be recycled. Volunteers assist Office of Sustainability staff with the distribution of these bags and promotional material around the Green Yosef campaign such as stickers. In addition, is the zero waste efforts within the stadium which includes thoughtful purchasing, recycling, and composting in the stadium concourse, fieldhouse, chancellor suite, and sorting during stadium clean-up. The zero
waste stadium efforts are highlighted in the student educators program section.

A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
Education and outreach is one of the keys to the success of this campaign. Through this campaign, we have been able to utilize our volunteers to educate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members about the importance of waste reduction, recycling, and sustainable tailgating efforts. Not only do our game day volunteers have the opportunity to outreach while distributing the bags, but our student interns have the opportunity to outreach to many classes while recruiting for volunteers. There is also a massive training effort involved with our volunteers prior to game day as well. Before this campaign began, all the recycling from tailgating and the stadium was thrown away. During the 2019 football season, 9.12 tons of material was diverted from the landfill, and had hundreds of volunteers passed out thousands of recycling bags. In addition, we
have been able to reach an audience of thousands at every home game.

if reporting an additional campaign, provide:

2nd campaign

Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Carbon Neutral Commuter

A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
The goal of the program is to raise awareness about carbon pollution and provide a local opportunity to make an equal positive impact or offset in another environmental arena. We have quantified the amount of carbon emissions per the typical Appalachian State commuter. We then ask for a monetary donation to cover said amount, and purchase verified offsets with the donations.

Faculty, Staff and Students are given the opportunity to opt in to the program when they purchase their yearly parking pass. Bumper stickers are given to participants which help promote the program in the community. in addition, social media campaigns are implemented throughout the year as are posters, web-presence and through intern outreach efforts.

Link: https://sustain.appstate.edu/initiatives/commuter/

A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Since the inception of the CNC program in 2015, App State has offset 12,565 tons of carbon.

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
Don't Throw it Away (DTiA). This campaign encourages students living in on-campus dorms to donate used items. Most anything is accepted, from shower caddies, lamps, futons, clean carpets, clothes, and non-perishable food items! Volunteers collect items from designated drop-off zones and organize them for sale at "The BIG Sale" held on-campus at the beginning of every fall semester. The 2019 BIG sale raised over $31,000 which supported energy efficiency upgrades at Hospitality House of Boone, High Country Food Hub, Ashe County Sharing Center, and F.A.R.M Cafe.

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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