University of Houston
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Education and Research:
Engaging the campus community in sustainability is one the areas in which the University of Houston excels. The fall semester was focused on laying the groundwork for successful initiatives in the spring and the University of Houston publicly launched its green initiative by participating in RecycleMania for the first time in 2009. To build momentum, the GreenUH Department created theme weeks to focus on different aspects of sustainability. For instance, one week focused on Green Commuting and two Green Commuter Fairs were held on campus in partnership with the local transit authority – METRO. During the Green Commuter Fairs, more than 900 students, faculty and staff pledged to be Green Commuters and use preferable modes of transportation once during RecycleMania.
Another week during RecycleMania kicked off the university’s waste minimization efforts in which we introduced composting with the Garbage to Garden campaign and the Clean Plate Club where the residential community was encouraged to use portion control to make nutritional choices for their meals. Even though this was the university’s first participation in RecycleMania, UH finished 72nd in the nation, third in the state of Texas, and first in Conference USA, and recycled 249,328 pounds of recyclables due to the engagement of the campus in this effort. Also, 26 teams of faculty, staff, students and even entire colleges competed in an on-campus recycling competition during RecycleMania. Prizes were awarded on the last day of RecycleMania to the top three teams.
To continue to celebrate the university’s sustainability initiatives, UH had an Earth Day Carnival. Highlights from the day included test drives for students, faculty and staff in the university’s electric cars; an Eco-Mart; fun games and booths; a weather balloon launch; and planting and working in the university’s community garden. The university capped its Earth Day celebration by participating in the City of Houston’s Earth Day Forum, where students, faculty, staff, city officials and members of the community discussed sustainability issues affecting the city of Houston, the university and the community at large.
Students in “The Science and Policy of Climate Change,” a course in the university’s Earth and Atmospheric Sciences calculated the university’s carbon footprint in fall 2008 as part of a class project. Information from this carbon footprint calculation was used to develop the Campus Sustainability Task Force Visioning Plan, which the university is using to guide its sustainability efforts and reduce its carbon footprint.
Campus Operations:
The operational areas of the University of Houston exhibited great leadership in the areas of sustainability during academic year 2008-09. In Dining Services, the two dining halls on campus embraced tray-less dining beginning in the fall semester. Additionally, the Dining Services department campaigned to encourage students to dine in instead of opting for to-go containers – not only is this good for the environment, but eating in the dining halls is an important way to build community engagement. Dining Services also serves only Fair Trade Certified Coffee in the dining halls and added the option for catering clients to order Fair Trade Certified Coffee for their catered events on campus. Fair Trade Certified Coffee is available at all coffee locations on campus and the university will have three All-Fair Trade Certified Coffee retail locations by Fall 2009.
The UH Department of Parking and Transportation promotes green commuting with a strong partnership with the local transit authority, which enabled them to host two Green Commuter Fairs in Spring 2009. More than 900 students, faculty and staff signed the pledge to be green commuters at the fairs and 832 students obtained their discounted transit fare card at these events. To continue to promote the use of mass transit, Parking and Transportation worked to create better maps of the eight, local mass transit routes that service the campus. Parking and Transportation also added a free ride-sharing service on its web site and continued to promote the use of the campus shuttle – the Cougar Line - by putting the bus system on a timed schedule to increase ridership.
In the area of waste minimization, the University of Houston continued to improve on recycling and increased its recycling rate from 24 to 31 percent over last year. The University of Houston added outdoor recycling bins for aluminum cans and plastic bottles and ensured that all campus buildings have indoor recycling stations. The university’s Athletics Department joined in on sustainability – establishing a recycling program in the football stadium for football and professional soccer events. Recycled materials collected at these events include cardboard, plastic and aluminum.
The University of Houston also revisited key auxiliary contracts and asked these vendors to include language in the contracts addressing sustainability and their commitment to the university’s mission for sustainability. Vendors are currently drafting this language and it is anticipated that it will be included in contracts by Fall 2009.
Administration and Finance:
The University of Houston is also a sustainability leader in the area of administration and finance. This year, the Sustainability Task Force established a campus policy for sustainability. This policy defines sustainability for the campus, establishes the role and scope of the Sustainability Task Force, and illustrates the support of the Task Force from all levels of administration at the university. The Task Force commissioned the creation of Living Green at the University of Houston, a brochure for the university’s new employee and student orientations that showcase how to live green at the university.
In 2009, the university was very focused on engaging the community – both internal and external – in sustainability. Participation in RecycleMania and establishing outdoor recycling bins focused the university community on the Task Force mission. Throughout the year, many events were focused on educating the university about UH’s commitment to sustainability.
In academic year 2008-09, the university became a member of the Workers Rights Consortium, an independent labor rights monitoring organization. Other sustainability endeavors by the university include the list of endowment holdings available to the school community and the public. This information is available on a password-protected web site and shareholder voting records are made accessible to the public online, as per open record laws.
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