Case Studies
Introduction
AASHE’s case study library contains hundreds of detailed case studies on a wide variety of higher education sustainability initiatives from faculty development programs to whole campus energy retrofits to community partnerships. All case studies are entered in the annual AASHE Awards Program.
At a Glance
Total Resources
Organizations
Countries
U.S. States & Territories
Canadian Provinces
Bars in graphs can be clicked to view resources that align with a particular category. Because a resource may be listed under multiple topics and disciplines, graph data may include higher total counts than what is indicated in total resources above.
New Resources
Project Delta
- University of Texas at El Paso (TX)
- Engineers for a Sustainable World (CO)
Project Delta was created by ESW-UTEP to evaluate and enhance The University of Texas at El Paso's (UTEP's) current recycling system. This project is expected to be finalized by December …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Creating a Composting Culture at Colorado State University
- Colorado State University (CO)
As Colorado State University (CSU) students, many of us were drawn to this school because of its unique ability to institutionalize sustainability. However, during our time here, we have often …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Project Juarez
- University of Texas at El Paso (TX)
- Engineers for a Sustainable World (CO)
When our phones are no longer aesthetically pleasing, we tend to either disregard or throw away our phones. The question is why? Essentially, we are throwing away a small computer. …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Ditch the Disposables
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)
Ditch the Disposables is a WPI student-run campaign that was started in 2016 to reduce single-use plastic items at WPI. The project began with a reusable container program in the …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Plastic Entanglements: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
The exhibition, PLASTIC ENTANGLEMENTS: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials was on view at Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art from February 13, 2018 to June 17, 2018 with additional commissioned and NEA-funded …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Loyola University Chicago Biodiesel Program
- Loyola University Chicago (IL)
The Biodiesel Program, part of the Searle Center for Sustainability Innovations in Loyola’s Institute of Environmental Sustainability, saw its humble beginnings grow from an ingenious student idea to one that …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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The Nova Scotia Community College’s (NSCC) Waste Management Improvement Project
- Nova Scotia Community College (NS)
The project began with waste audits to establish a baseline of NSCC’s waste management practices and to try and improve them. From there it progressed into education efforts at each …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Stanford R&DE Student Housing Innovation in Cleaning
- Stanford University (CA)
Stanford’s R&DE Student Housing Operations (SHO) adopted a green cleaning standard that has reduced chemical usage in residences by over 90%. The system engineer's water by infusing it with ozone …
- Posted May 21, 2018
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Clean Plates at State: Michigan State University
- Michigan State University (MI)
Michigan State University is continually striving to build a sustainable culture on campus and in the Spartan community. Clean Plates at State helps students and members of our community understand …
- Posted May 18, 2018
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Campus-wide Zero Landfill Waste Policy Implementation & Outreach Program - Emory University
- Emory University (GA)
In January 2018, Emory University implemented a completely redesigned waste policy as a leap toward the goal of zero landfill waste (defined nationally as diverting 95% of waste from municipal …
- Posted May 18, 2018
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Southern Oregon University Dish Loan Program
- Southern Oregon University (OR)
Southern Oregon University's Ecology and Sustainability Resource Center launched a Dish Loan Program in fall 2017. The Dish Loan Program is a free alternative for campus clubs, organizations, and departments …
- Posted May 18, 2018
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Improving office recycling
- Raritan Valley Community College (NJ)
Every semester, the Environmental Science and Sustainability (ENVI201) class studies recycling on campus and comes up with ideas for improvements. Student Deidre Supple had the idea of improving recycling in …
- Posted May 18, 2018
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Food Lab Compost Project
- West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)
This project aims to reduce food waste produced by the West Chester University Food Lab. First, food scraps from the the Food Lab are collected in a sealed bin. Then, …
- Posted May 18, 2018
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Renewable Energy for Campus Facilites Services
- Black Hills State University (SD)
Demonstrating the effectiveness of the use of renewable energy at low costs in campus facilities services vehicles will help Black Hills State University reach its carbon and waste reduction goals. …
- Posted May 17, 2018
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Implementation of a Green Labs Program in Campus Laboratories
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (AL)
UAB Green Labs Program is an institution-wide, voluntary program designed to reduce the university’s carbon output while simultaneously reducing operation costs of research buildings. The program accomplishes its goals by …
- Posted May 11, 2018
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The Razorback Food Recovery
- University of Arkansas (AR)
Food recovery – the practice of preventing surplus foodstuffs from being dumped in the trash – takes numerous forms and provides a variety of social, economic, and environmental benefits. According …
- Posted May 11, 2018
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Adding Recycling into Individual Offices
- South Dakota State University (SD)
2017-2018 has been the year of recycling for South Dakota State University. We looked at recycling levels and determined there was room for improvement. It was determined that availability of …
- Posted May 8, 2018
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Composting for a Greener Campus: the Texas State University Bobcat Blend program
- Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)
Bobcat Blend is a faculty managed, student-run and grant-supported research and teaching-oriented waste management campus composting program at Texas State University. The goals of the organization are to teach students, …
- Posted May 2, 2018
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Progress toward 90% waste diversion goal
- Olds College (AB)
- Bow Valley College (AB)
Bow Valley College has come a long way in terms of waste management in the past four years. In 2014, our waste diversion rate was 19%. In 2018, our diversion …
- Posted April 25, 2018
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University of Vermont Eco-Reps "Curb Your Consumerism" Campaign
- University of Vermont (VT)
While the consumption of goods and services is a crucial component of modern economic systems, the culture of consumerism contributes to waste, resource depletion, pollution, and social and economic inequities. …
- Posted April 23, 2018
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Putting “Reduce” to Work: Getting Rid of Plastic Bags on Michigan State University’s Campus
- Michigan State University (MI)
In order to mitigate the effects of plastic bags on the environment and to fulfill Michigan State University's commitment to sustainability, we pioneered a two part initiative to reduce both …
- Posted March 19, 2018
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University of Vermont Eco-Reps Composting Campaign
- University of Vermont (VT)
At the University of Vermont (UVM), the Recycling and Waste Management program and the UVM Eco-Reps have identified a lack of understanding of composting within on-campus residential halls. Although composting …
- Posted March 5, 2018
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University of Vermont Eco-Reps "EcoWare, Everywhere!" Campaign
- University of Vermont (VT)
The University of Vermont (UVM) implemented reusable EcoWare to-go containers in retail locations 2011. Data collected from the past 4 years has shown that EcoWare uses became concentrated in residential …
- Posted March 5, 2018
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Engaging Chemeketa Community College through Collaborative Community Art with an International Focus
- Chemeketa Community College (OR)
For the 2017 Earth Day event, Chemeketa created a collaborative Earth Day Art Installation based on the story of Sadako Sasaki and the 1,000 paper cranes. Sustainability, the Associated Students …
- Posted March 5, 2018
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Recovery and Reuse; On-Campus and Off
- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
Many of the challenges sustainability seeks to address can be challenging to visualize. Moreover, the scale of these challenges can stifle the motivation to act before one even begins. These …
- Posted March 5, 2018
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Point Loma Nazarene University's Food Recovery Network
- Point Loma Nazarene University (CA)
Point Loma Nazarene University’s Food Recovery Network was started by a student as a means of reducing food waste on campus as well as supporting the local community. With the …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2018
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Creating a Healthy, Environmentally Responsible and Socially Just Campus Food System
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
Description In 2016, a year-long study release by the California State University (CSU) found that 24 percent of our system's 460,000 students were food insecure. To address this issue, and …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2018
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In-Vessel Composting Trials – Ingeo Compostable Products
- Arizona State University (AZ)
Arizona State University's University Sustainability Practices office partnered with a variety of ASU departments, NatureWorks, LLC, the City of Tempe, and DTEnvironmental to test the compostability of compostable serviceware using …
- Posted Feb. 15, 2018
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Branding our Waste: Creating College-Specific Recycling Signage through Collaboration
- Red River College Polytechnic (MB)
In an ongoing effort to improve the effectiveness of our waste and recycling programs, Red River College set about redesigning our hallway waste and recycling signage (Pitch In signs) in …
- Posted May 22, 2017
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Promoting Sustainability through Coordination of Campus-Wide Conservation Practices
- University of South Alabama (AL)
While the University of South Alabama (USA) has a long history of independent sustainability ventures, it is only in last 18 months that sustainability as a program has become a …
- Posted May 22, 2017
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Transforming Campus Food Service with Anytime Dining
- University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
The Department of Dining Services at University of Maryland (UMD) set a goal to change the student culture and experience on campus through the Anytime Dining residential dining program. The …
- Posted May 22, 2017
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Cowbell Cleanup
- Mississippi State University (MS)
Cowbell Cleanup is an initiative that was started by the Office of Sustainability on Mississippi State University's campus. The University faces a large influx of guests during home football games, …
- Posted May 19, 2017
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NC State University Achieves 95 Percent Diversion With Building Deconstruction
- North Carolina State University (NC)
Harrelson Hall, the first round classroom building constructed on a university campus, was deconstructed in 2016 and NC State University exceeded its waste diversion goal, diverting 95 percent of non-hazardous …
- Posted May 18, 2017
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Fix It Friday
- Illinois State University (IL)
Fix It Friday is a program in which fashion students set up sewing machines in various places within the Illinois State University campus and the surrounding Bloomington-Normal community and offer …
- Posted May 16, 2017
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Zero Waste Guide and the Good Food Festival Case Study
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
Throughout the semester, Joe Iosbaker, UIC's Recycling Coordinator and Office of Sustainability (OS) staff member, and Ula Renetskis, Office of Sustainability Intern and author, have been working with Bright Beat …
- Posted May 15, 2017
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Oregon State U Fully Transitions to Reusable Food To Go Containers
- Oregon State University (OR)
The "Eco2Go" food container program at Oregon State University (OSU) Housing & Dining Services (UHDS) has eliminated all but a few specialized uses of disposable take-out containers within dining services, …
- Posted May 15, 2017
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Simon Fraser University’s Zero Waste Initiative
- Simon Fraser University (BC)
SFU was one of the first universities to implement a standardized, 4-stream Zero Waste system (including composting) uniformly across all three of its campuses, each of which lies in a …
- Posted May 9, 2017
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Seattle University On-Site Composting Facility
- Seattle University (WA)
In 2002 Seattle University (SU) built a state-of-the-art, on-campus composting facility. The composting facility is a unique, sustainable, closed-loop system that processes pre-consumer food and yard waste that is produced …
- Posted April 20, 2017
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ReCycle Bikes
- Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TX)
ReCycle Bikes is a bike rental program designed to allow students, who demonstrate a need, access to free, eco-friendly transportation in exchange for sustainability project-related volunteer hours and peer-to-peer education. …
- Posted June 11, 2016
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UW Admissions Modernization and Paper Reduction
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
After years of planning, the University of Washington’s Admissions Office switched to paperless digital admissions process for most prospective students in 2015, with plans to expand it to all prospective …
- Posted June 11, 2016
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The Sustainable Office Program - SOP
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
The Sustainable Office Program (SOP) is designed to assess department offices all over campus and categorize each office into four levels of sustainability. The four levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, …
- Posted June 11, 2016
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Implementing Single Stream Recycling at Bryant University
- Bryant University (RI)
The problem is that students don’t understand what single stream recycling is, and as freshman students enter Bryant University they are taught to throw both their trash and recycling into …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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RIT FoodShare
- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
RIT FoodShare is an initiative on the RIT campus that has been established to address food insecurity and food waste. It is both a campus food pantry and a facebook …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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Integrated educational food garden and composting
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
Striving towards zero waste and with a close-the-loop philosophy, CSUN students are diverting over 35,000 pounds of pre-consumer waste/year and turning it back into food via an on campus compost …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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Composting for a Greener Campus: the Texas State University Bobcat Blend program
- Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)
Bobcat Blend is a faculty managed, student-run and grant-supported research and teaching-oriented waste management campus composting program at Texas State University. The goals of the organization are to teach students, …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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Zero Waste Game Day at Duke University
- Duke University (NC)
Leading up to the 2014 Duke Football season, a formal partnership was created between Duke Athletics, Duke Recycling, Duke Stores, and the Duke Sustainability Office in order to successfully achieve …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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UW–Madison Receipt Reduction Project
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
Over a span of two years, teams of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Wisconsin–Madison eliminated mandatory receipt printing at campus dining centers, restaurants, markets, and cafes. Within …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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Bagging the Disposable Plastic Bag
- Case Western Reserve University (OH)
- Bon Appétit Management Company
The Student Sustainability Council at Case Western Reserve University removed disposable plastic bags from campus dining locations and replaced them with reusable bags.
- Posted June 10, 2016
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Brown's- A California Cafe
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
This August, Cal Dining opened brown’s- a california café. By design, over 80% of the ingredients used are sourced locally from within 250 miles of the UC Berkeley campus and …
- Posted June 10, 2016
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