Year in Review We returned to campus, living with and within the pandemic, cautiously optimistic, uncovering new views on a lighter campus footprint. Fiscal year 2021 illuminated the impacts of less commuting, reduced in-person classes, changing consumption, and the real value of an increased online presence. UWM's value of Transparent Decision Making depends on this revealing data. Yet it was emulating UWM's Caring and Compassionate values that pulled the team through this vacilating year. The recycling team braced themselves for what was or was not to come. Our "To-Go" culture amplified itself during the pandemic. Sanitary products and single use packaging showed up in increasing numbers in the waste streams. Campus printing was down but campus cleanouts were up, just like our front stoops. Also, a full year of the new internalized recycling hauling gave a stark view of what comes of more accurate information. UWM's diversion rate was 12% for FY21, much lower than previous years. The coming year will tell whether the decrease was due to better data collection or lack of non-campus recyclers due to COVID. Surplus saw similar ups and downs. With less community on campus, less incoming surplus went back to campus. Yet online sales increased, which revealed the values of online shopping.
and will be tracked to adapt commuting resources. The most revealing data comes from the energy report. Fiscal year 2021 saw the highest majority of online learning at UWM. Yet, with more than half of the UWM community learning & working from home, the energy reduction across campus was only 11 %. This data reveals how little our population impacts energy usage. The building systems and equipment are running, whether populated or not. Data like this helps direct programs and steers attention to our systems rather than individual behaviors. While this full pandemic year shows a lot of the "decrease" we like to see in sustainability, it also reveals an increase in engagement, albeit mostly online. The Climate Action Carbon & Resilience Planning went entirely online and saw hundreds of hours of participation from the active stakeholders. Our new Media Intern came onboard and dramatically increased the online presence and campaigns of the Office of Sustainability, including a new lnstagram account and the "Where to Throw" recycling campaign. Garden activity and "Panther Pail" composting increased. Our campus gardens supported hundreds of pounds of produce for the UWM Food Center and Pantry. We continued to nurture our fruits as well as each other, whether or not our conditions were ideal.
Decreases in commuting led to the biggest decrease yearover-year in campus emissions. During the Fall 2020 triennial Transportation Survey, UWM had a Kate M. Nelson majority of the community learning and working from Chief Sustainability Officer home. Fiftyseven percent reported no commute, while in years prior, less than 2% did not commute. While the data is clearly from extreme circumstances, trends like this continue
Recycling Annual Summary Waste & Recycling Total Avoided Cost Correcting Invoices Right-sizing container pickups Plastic Bag Avoided Fees (Due to Internal Pickups)
$69,901 $2,624 $55,910 $11,367
427,429 lbs
Avoided Landfill Waste Recycling Compost Paper Shredding Waste Oil Cardboard Mixed Paper
263,280 lbs 57,848 lbs 24,126 lbs 10,342 lbs 33,887 lbs 37,946 lbs
12%
Diversion Rate
434 MTCO2e
Avoided Emissions Recycling Compost Paper Shredding Waste Oil Cardboard Mixed Paper
286MTCO2e 75 MTCO2e
34MTCO2e
No data possible 39MTCO2e 60MTCO2e
Engagement The Office of Sustainability amassed more than 700 participant hours in FY21 from service learners, volunteers, internships, events, Carbon & Resilience Planning sessions, and classes. Laura Stevens (Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator) and Nina Hartwig (Compost Intern) oversaw 15 service learners who focused on campus compost and recycling initiatives. The Office of Sustainability also partnered with alumnus Danielle Bell of Native Roots LLC and August Ball of Cream City Conservation Corps to clean out and manage green infrastructure on campus. Lastly, over 90 campus staff, students, and faculty as well as community partners participated in Carbon & Resilience planning meetings throughout the year. Continuing engagement during a pandemic also
created new doors for our office; that being a heavier influence through our social media. Examples include information posts such as "Let's talk Panther Pails;' which encouraged people to join the our composting program while educating them. Other posts were on events like "Earth Week" where students, faculty, and staff could learn more from our office and the world of sustainability. The most important since gaining more traction on social media however is the "Where to Throw" campaign. This campaign was significant in educating our audience on what can and cannot be recycled. However, the goal of these posts is to open the world of sustainability to people that weren't familiar with it before or wanting to learn more than what they did.
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Above: Danielle Bell of Native Roots and August Ball of Cream City Conservation Corps weeding out the area surrounding Kenwood /RC
Above: all post made for the Office ofSustainability's lnstagram and facebook page. Click the links to stay up to date with postings and more!