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Sustainability in Campus Operations
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A commitment to sustainability
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The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is among the country’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to the 2022 edition of the Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.
The Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Sustainability and Climate Action, the Student Office of Sustainability, the Barron County Sustainability Committee, UWEC Facilities, and sustainability-minded staff and faculty from across campus provide guidance and support in this work.
Progress, plans and reports:
UW-Eau Claire formed a group of experienced and knowledgeable participants to help foster collaborations for the purpose of increasing awareness of sustainability concepts throughout the campus community and educating/engaging students, faculty, staff and community members. This committee evolved out of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sustainability and Climate Action, which put forward the following recommendations in 2021.
Overarching Goal: To position UW-Eau Claire and UW-Eau Claire Barron County as regional leaders in sustainability and climate action education, engagement, and programming.
UW-Eau Claire's 2025 Strategic Plan affirms our commitment to supporting sustainable campuses and climate action.
The University plans to advance our commitment to the value of stewardship and sustainability by:
In 2017 Chancellor James Schmidt convened a campus Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee (CAPAC) to identify meaningful and actionable emissions reduction strategies. The committee included representatives from administration, academic departments, housing, facilities, and student government (see Appendix for full list of members). The committee was charged with determining the year in which the University is to achieve carbon neutrality and the carbon emission reduction strategies needed to meet the goal of carbon neutrality.
Please find the results of this work in Climate Action Plan 2018.
At UWEC we strive to be a sustainable university. For this reason we engage in the following actions to keep our campus eco-friendly:
Composting has the potential to significantly alter the amount a waste we throw into our local landfills. Blugold Catering is proud to use compostable plates, cups and dinnerware whenever possible.
Blugold Catering tries to source locally grown food whenever possible and financially feasible. Due to the shorter growing season in Wisconsin and Minnesota, the majority of locally grown food is available in the late summer through early fall. We use Bix Produce from the Twin Cities for a majority of our local produce.
After a Trayless Tuesdays program during 2008–09, Blugold Dining went completely trayless in 2009. Going trayless has reduced food waste by more than 50 percent, and has saved on natural resources needed to wash the more than 6,000 trays a day that had been customarily used.
Currently, on average, 21-25% of food served by Sodexo is plant based, which reduces carbon emissions tied to the production of meat. Sodexo has committed to providing 33% plant based diets by 2024 and 42% plant based options by 2025 in all college campuses in North America.
Additionally, our new Ecolab Apex dishwashing system, combines technology and products designed to save water and energy, minimizes the impact of waste products on the environment, and has a built-in method of measuring results.
Learn more about sustainability initiatives from Blugold Dining
UWEC SDG data for Impact Ranking
Launched in 2019, this pioneering initiative looks to recognize universities across the world for their social and economic impact based on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the last 4 years, it has grown to cover 1,524 institutions from 110 countries and regions across six continents as universities around the world help to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Impact Rankings provide a measure of the extent to which universities are having a positive social and economic impact on the planet; from climate action and gender equality, to good health and wellbeing. It is the first university ranking to use this criteria, rather than traditional metrics, such as reputation and research prestige.