SUSTAINABILITY EVENTS TASK FORCE ANNUAL SUMMARY
Academic Year ’15-‘16

UVA Sustainability Day 2015

The Sustainability Events Task Force spent September through November putting together UVA Sustainability Day. The day included the Global Sustainability Student Poster Competition and a “Hoos Talking Green” Panel and Reception and took place on Thursday, November 12th. The poster competition ran smoothly in partnership with Phoebe Crisman, and many of the presenting students stayed for the panel discussion.

The theme for Hoos Talking Green this year was “Unconventional Stories: Discovering Sustainability in Diverse Disciplines”. The panel discussion lasted 1.5 hours, with each speaker using “7-14-28” format. Speakers were as follows:

  • Matthew Burtner – McIntire Department of Music
  • Paul Freedman – Department of Politics
  • Aynne Kokas – Department of Media Studies
  • Matthew Slaats – The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative
  • Eric Walter – Black Bear Composting Company

After the panel discussion, there was a reception in the adjacent room. Few people were able to stay for very long and we had a lot of food leftover. Overall, the event went quite well, and many attendees emailed afterward to say how much they enjoyed the variety of speakers.

Earth Week 2016 by the Numbers (from May 17th Blog Post)

As the Class of 2016 wraps up their time here at UVA, we at the Office for Sustainability have the opportunity to reflect on some of this year’s biggest successes. This year, we had an absolutely amazing Earth Week, and we have many collaborators, event planners, and other sustainability champions to thank for all the fun we had this April. Here’s a look at some of the big-picture numbers as well as more details that highlight what was truly special about Earth Week 2016:

*INFOGRAPHIC ON LAST PAGE*

This year, the theme of Earth Week was “Experience Sustainability.” This meant we wanted to do more than just talk about global challenges and possible solutions – we wanted participants to be able to get their hands dirty creating positive changeon Grounds, in the community, and globally. Between April 17th and 23rd, there were 14 eventsthat directly taught attendees how to be a part of the solution. For example:

  • Hundreds of seedlingswere planted throughout the week to help people eat hyper-local herbs and veggies.
  • 1300 cubic feet of e-waste was collected and diverted from the landfill at the two-day Tech Takeback event hosted by University ITS.
  • 223 crowdfunding dollars were raised at Green Grounds’ SustainaPitch Night to help support a student-led green building project.

For the 2016 Earth Week Expo, tablers were tasked with sharing their missions in an interactive format. There were 23 different activities and workshops set up all across the Newcomb Ballroom, including DIY recycled jewelry, compost bins, and repurposed office supplies. One particularly popular table was run by ecoGrounds, who did 50+ pourovers with fair trade coffee while talking to sippers about responsible product sourcing. Also featured at the Expo were 30 student poster projects from Phoebe Crisman’s Global Sustainability class. One of these projects even became an Earth Day event – the Sustainability Labyrinth group used 152 feet of cardboard walls to guide visitors through a maze of waste and recycling fun facts.

Those who attended Earth Week events this year may have noticed some emerging trends. 9 events had a focus on sustainable food systems, including the UVA Community Garden’s Big Spring Thing, the Produce Party, Hunger Alliance Dinner, and Farm to Fork event at O’Hill Dining Hall. Of the events serving food, 8 were “zero waste”, meaning that little or no materials were sent to the landfill. Also of note: 6 events focused on energy and/or climate change. There was a ribbon cutting for a solar-charging table installed near Lile-Maupin residence hall, an installation in Campbell Hall that translated California water data into sound and movement, a talk with climate advocate and BOV-member Kevin Fay, and much more.

The most critical part of making Earth Week a success here at UVA has always been partnerships all across Grounds and beyond. The Office for Sustainability is just one piece of the puzzle – none of the events would be possible without the 7 particularly strong partnerships that make up the Sustainability Events Task Force. We owe HUGE thanks torepresentatives from the Sustainability Advocates, Student Council Sustainability Committee, UVA Dining, Madison House, Parking & Transportation, UVA Community Relations, and the City of Charlottesville who all meet every two weeks beginning in December just to coordinate logistics and promotion for Earth Week events! Plus, we owe another special shout-out to UVA Dining for donating delicious food year-after-year for many of our key events like the SustainaBanquet and the Earth Week Expo. This year, we also initiated more than 10 exciting new partnerships which resulted in some impressive numbers of their own:

  • The Clothing Swap hosted with the LGBTQ Center resulted in100+ tiesgenerously donated byDean Groves and 60+ happy swappers.
  • “Back to Nature” Earth Day Yoga with the Contemplative Sciences Center resulted in 4 sun & 4 moon salutationswhich beautifully wrapped up a busy week on a very relaxing note.
  • The volunteer event with Madison House and the Rivanna Trails Foundation resulted in the reopening of 200 feet of the Rivanna Trails systemin a stretch near Leonard Sandridge Road, behind the Darden School.

Looking ahead, there are many exciting sustainability initiatives in the works for the coming years. In fact, there are 23 goals110 strategic actionsoutlined in UVA’s first ever comprehensive Sustainability Plan which was announced on Earth Day of this year! We hope to get even more people involved as sustainability efforts continue to expand and strengthen at UVA and beyond. You can stay up to date on progress by joining the SustainaNewsletter and visiting