Conservation Corner: How USC Upstate is promoting sustainability on campus
In Spring 2023, USC Upstate began tracking, managing, and sharing information about sustainability efforts through the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS).
A program of AASHE, The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, STARS is a comprehensive sustainability rating system for universities that addresses the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. With more than 900 participants in 40 countries, AASHE’s STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership.
Throughout the past year, USC Upstate has made strides in each of these areas. Phase 1 of our sustainability initiatives launched numerous projects. The Engage Green program, led by Dr. Dave Marlow, provided an ecology boot camp for instructors to design service-learning projects for their courses. The partnership with Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE) has provided more than 700 hours of service learning to more than 230 students through engagement at the Upper Chinquapin Greenway.
The Sustainable Upstate certificate for faculty and staff launched as a five-session overview of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and practical, sustainable lifestyle recommendations to encourage actions that reduce human impact on the planet. Since April 2023, more than 40 USC Upstate employees have completed the certificate to become Green Ambassadors.
Also, more than 25 events held on campus have been certified as Green Events through the application of reduce, reuse, recycle principles.
USC Upstate also serves as a dropoff location for plastic film and packaging as part of the NexTrex Recycling Challenge, diverting plastic waste from landfills. The collection of 1,000 pounds of plastic bags, stretchy film, bubble wrap, and other polyethylene items, earns USC Upstate a Trex bench, which is made from that polyethylene film. The first bench was placed at the USC Upstate Pollinator Habitat, located along East Campus Boulevard. Collection for a second bench has begun.
In January 2023, USC Upstate became the second certified Bee Campus in South Carolina through a program of the Xerces Society. USC Upstate has committed to creating and enhancing pollinator habitats on campus by increasing the abundance of native plants and providing nest sites. In partnership with KeepOneSpartanburg Beautiful, organizations and members of the community can certify their gardens as Pollinator Habitats.
Phase 2 of the sustainability initiatives includes ongoing recycling competitions and additional community outreach. USC Upstate's Library is hosting a new exhibit: "Real People, Real Climate, Real Changes,'' developed by the National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center for Science Education. The exhibit shares the science of climate change and how it impacts people's lives. It is on view in the first-floor cafe area through Feb. 28. USC Upstate is the only South Carolina stop for this important, informative exhibit.
The campus community has prioritized reducing food waste and is the third university to join the Free Food Alert program. USC Upstate students, faculty, and staff with a USC Upstate email address can sign up for a Free Food Alert account to receive email and mobile smartphone push notifications when free food is available on campus following events.
USC Upstate also will participate in the 2024 Campus Race to Zero Waste (CR2ZW). The campus will report weekly weights of recycled paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum Jan. 28-March 23. In collaboration with athletics, there will be a “Go Green” baseball tailgate and game in February.
During the CR2ZW challenge, a special 30-day Electronics Recycling challenge will collect e-waste for proper disposal. A community e-waste collection day will be held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 17 at the USC Upstate Smith Farmhouse.
A Spring Cleaning Day will be held in March, encouraging the reuse and recycling of materials and a campus litter sweep. The second USC Upstate Earth Day activities will occur on April 16.
For more information about sustainability at USC Upstate, visit https://uscupstate.edu/about/community/bee-campus-usa/ and follow us on Facebook @USCUpstateSustainability.
Amanda Karls is USC Upstate's director of institutional effectiveness and compliance.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Conservation Corner: Initiatives are helping USC Upstate 'go green'
