Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 63.74
Liaison Lacey Raak
Submission Date Feb. 18, 2023

STARS v2.2

California State University, Monterey Bay
EN-5: Outreach Campaign

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Lacey Raak
Sustainability Director
Campus Planning and Development
"---" 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:
Earth Month Ecochallenge

A brief description of the campaign:
For the month of April 2021, we ran a campaign known as the EARTH MONTH ECOCHALLENGE: DRAWDOWN contest! Everyone on campus was invited to participate including students, staff and faculty as well as Alumni. The Ecochallenge contest is an engaging and fun program that seeks to encourage people to live a more eco-conscious and sustainable lifestyle - awarding points for a plethora of different actions you take. The CSU systemwide was invited to "compete" against each other to be the most "Eco" CSU Campus.

Earth Month Ecochallenge is a 30-day solutions-oriented challenge focused on reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Presented by Ecochallenge.org, the challenge explores solutions mapped, measured, and modeled by Project Drawdown in the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse climate change. The campaign ran from Thursday, April 01, 2021 to Friday, April 30, 2021. Participants joined in on this collective challenge with the CSUMB Eco Otters Team.

We partnered with the Basic Needs department to encourage participation in the challenge. Basic Needs offered a sustainable gift set as an incentive for students to participate.

https://www.instagram.com/csumb_oies/

A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign:
Collectively, we came in 2nd place across the CSU's systemwide with a total of 128 participants. Some of our collective impact included the following: totaling to 12,977 points, as a team 27 advocacy actions were completed, 1,759 pounds of CO2 were saved, 49 meals were locally sourced, 379 meatless or vegan meals were consumed, 720 gallons of water were saved, 63 public officials were contacted, 12 trees were planted, 900 minutes were spent outdoors, and much more! Not only did this make an impact for the month of April, but behavioral change was instilled through this challenge to encourage more everyday sustainable practices and behaviors.

if reporting an additional campaign, provide:

2nd campaign

Name of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Plastic Free July

A brief description of the campaign (2nd campaign):
In July 2021, our office hosted the Plastic Free July campaign in collaboration with the plastic-free Ecochallenge and @votesfortheplanet on Instagram. Plastic Free Ecochallenge is a month-long effort for all of us to shift away from our single-use plastic dependency and to care for our ecosystems. Presented by Ecochallenge.org, the challenge explores solutions mapped, measured, and modeled to lead to a zero plastic lifestyle. This campaign ran from Thursday, July 01, 2021 to July 31, 2021.

Participants joined in on this collective challenge with the CSUMB Eco Otters x Votes for the Planet team. Votes for the Planet is a non-profit organization which promotes meaningful climate action.

https://www.instagram.com/csumb_oies/

A brief description of the measured positive impact(s) of the campaign (2nd campaign):
Assisted people in identifying where they are still using their single-use plastics which allows us to focus efforts on removing single-use plastics there.

As a result of this campaign, 20 public officials and leaders were contacted, 300+ plastic items were diverted from the landfill, 10 donations were made, 4 community events were attended, and much more. Collectively the plastic free ecochallenge as a whole led to 27K+ plastic bottles and 23K+ plastic straws were diverted from the landfill. Additionally, 616 volunteer hours were completed and 127K+ minutes were spent by participants learning more about plastic-free living.

https://plasticfree.ecochallenge.org/

Optional Fields

A brief description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns:
In the month of August, prior to the return to campus, our office facilitated the Bike Back Campaign in collaboration with the Transportation Department at CSUMB. Bike back is an initiative to support a greener return to campus by encouraging biking as one of the primary modes of transportation to and from campus. Throughout the month, we shared a variety of resources to encourage and support biking back to campus. This campaign led to the creation of the transportation resource group on MyRaft-- a central location for students to keep updated with information regarding biking and other transportation resources on campus. Additionally, the campaign led to an increased demand for biking resources which led to more students using the Otter Cycle Center, a campus resource dedicated to providing bike resources and repairs for students. Because of this increased demand, the Student Advisory Fee Committee approved $12,000 to continue the subsidized bike rental program, each academic year-- this funding will go towards more bikes in the Otter Cycle Center rental fleet, thus increasing the amount of students we are able to serve each year.

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