Sustainability at Carolina doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Partnership and collaboration among Schools, departments, and student organizations push efforts forward. As the hub for campus sustainability, Sustainable Carolina is pleased to announce the release of its 2022 Sustainability Report, which highlights campus success stories during the 2021-2022 academic year.
The release of the report marks the beginning of Carolina’s celebration of Campus Sustainability Month, which the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education hosts every October. There’s no better time to release a report celebrating Carolina’s accomplishments than during the month celebrating sustainability in higher education! Throughout October, a social media campaign will highlight the stories within the report.
A Complete Approach to Sustainability
The first three pages of the report details the University’s environmental footprint. Specifically, this section examines campus operations in respect to greenhouse gases, water, and waste.
The climate section explains how Carolina uses the Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP®) to track climate commitments and goals, along with our emissions trends. The section also calls attention to our partnership with HanesBrands and progress of the Champion Sustainability Fund, a new green revolving fund on campus.
The water section of the report examines our 2022 Water Plan, and how partnerships and collaborations within the community contribute to the goals outlines in the plan. Finally, the waste section highlights the work by UNC Office of Waste Reduction and Recycling, Carolina Dining Services, and Carolina Housing.
Additional sections highlight student leadership, research and innovation, curricula, experiential education, community engagement, and communications:
- Student Leadership
- Carolina Thrift
- CompostMates
- Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee (RESPC)
- Meantime Coffee Co.
- Residence Hall Association (RHA)
- Research & Innovation:
- North Carolina Collaboratory
- Carolina Drone Lab (CARDNL)
- Data-Driven EnviroLab
- Innovate Carolina
- Looking Forward Program
- UNC Institute for the Environment’s Environmental Justice Programs
- UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
- Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability
- Center for Hybrid Approaches in Solar Energy to Liquid Fuels (CHASE)
- UNC Center for Galápagos Studies
- Curriculum
- IDEAs in Action; Environment
- Ecology and Energy Program (E³P)
- UNC Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences (EMES)
- UNC Department of Applied Physical Sciences (APSE)
- UNC School of Data Science and Society
- Beekeeping School
- Experiential Learning
- EcoStudio
- UNC Institute for the Environment Field Sites
- Community Engagement
- Center for Public Engagement with Science
- Orange County
- Town of Chapel Hill
- UNC Transportation and Parking
- Outdoor Education Center
- Morehead in Motion
- Carolina Tree Heritage
- North Carolina Botanical Garden
As this Sustainability Report is released, we’ve already started gathering information and visuals for next year’s report. If your community organization, University department, or student organization has something you think should be highlighted, please send the information to sustainable@unc.edu.