University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
ER-2: Student Sustainability Outreach Campaign

Energy Conservation efforts: An energy conservation competition was held each semester in the 2010-2011 academic year at the University’s 24 residence halls. The fall contest theme was “Think. Act. Save. Conserve.” For the competition, students created promotional posters for all residence halls. In addition, the Residential Advisors were provided with quick fact posters about energy and the related economic and environmental impact. E-mails were sent out weekly to residents that provided simple examples of how to save both energy and water. Two graduate students held an informational presentation to the Resident Hall Advisors Association on water conservation methods. The winning residence hall’s occupants won a biodegradable travel coffee mug. In the Spring semester, the Energy Conservation Corps members educated students about the easy ways they can reduce their energy consumption on campus and they also conducted a light bulb swap, replacing incandescent light bulbs with the more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. An e-waste recycling opportunity was also provided. RecycleMania: In 2010 and 2011, the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay campus participated in RecycleMania in the benchmark category and waste minimization. This national program encourages campus to actively promote the reduction of solid waste and improvement of recycling. Working with Waste Management, Inc., our waste hauler, volume measurements were recorded from all dumpsters as they were emptied. These volumes were converted to weights based on standardized weights for the specific wastestreams.

Both the Energy Conservation competitions and Recyclemania raised awareness and increased compliance with goals. In RecycleMania, on average over a four week period, we reduced the waste sent to the landfill by 915 lbs/week and increased our recycling by 522 lbs/week.