Ecolympics 2023

When Jan 29, 2023 12:00 AM to
Mar 25, 2023 11:55 PM
Where University-wide
Contact Name
Contact Phone 502-852-8575
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Ecolympics 2023January 29th to March 25th
Two fun sustainability competitions to get you engaged in saving our one green planet!

Post your sustainable actions and tag @UofLSustainable  or submit them through our online form to win the Grand Prize, or one of eight fabulous weekly prize baskets!

Campus Race To Zero Waste! - January 29 - March 25, 2023
Campus Race to Zero Waste logoA friendly annual competition among North American universities. During this 8 week period, UofL will compete to reduce waste, increase recycling & composting, and raise conservation awareness across all three campuses! Keep up with the Cards progress at the Campus Race website.

  • REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE! Help the Cards to victory by avoiding disposables (bring your own mug, bottle, plate, etc.), donating useful stuff to the UofL Free Store instead of throwing it away, and fully utilizing UofL’s amazingly easy, single-stream recycling system that lets you recycle everything in the same bin, everywhere on campus: all types of plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, and glass! 2023 CR2ZW Participant BadgeDetails on what you can recycle at UofL here.
  • COMPOST! We will be collecting food wastes for composting from The Ville Grill, SAC Marketplace, and other campus dining locations and adding those numbers to UofL's organics recycling totals. You can also compost your food scraps and soiled paper products in the compost bins at the Garden Commons and the Urban & Public Affairs Horticulture Zone. If it came from a plant, we want to compost it: fruit & vegetable wastes/peels/rinds/seeds, baked goods, grains, tea bags, coffee grounds/filters, and all kinds of soiled paper products (tissues, towels, napkins, plates, cups, etc.).
  • eWaste RecyclingRECYCLE E-WASTE! Don't send your old electronics to the landfill! We will have special collection points set up in the following locations Feb. 15 - March 15:
         BAB     (1st floor lobby)
         SAC     (3rd Floor, beside W310 Student Affairs Office)
         Duthie Center at Speed School of Engineering     (1st Floor Student Study Area, SE corner)
         HSC Kornhauser Library     (1st floor lobby behind elevators)
    Stop by any time to drop off any of the following types of electronics for recycling: all computers, monitors, televisions, printers, copiers, scanners, servers, networking equipment, fax machines, telephones and cellphones, RAM/memory, hard drives, battery backups, and peripherals such as keyboards, mice, speakers, AC adapters, and mixed computer cables/wires. Separate bins will also be available for recycling of any type of battery, lamps/bulbs, or ink/toner cartridges. We are partnering with UofL's eSports Club to help you Trash the competition, not the planet! Full details here.

Residence Hall Drawdown! - February 6-26, 2023
Live on campus? Win with conservation! Inspired by Project Drawdown, UofL residence halls will compete among each other to see who can reduce electricity use the most over three weeks. The winning hall will earn a pizza party, sponsored by RHA! All you have to do is stop wasting energy! Turn off lights/TVs/computers; unplug anything you're not actively using; skip the elevator for the stairs; close windows tightly; wait until you have a full load to do laundry & wash with cold water; dry clothes on a rack/line; take shorter showers or shower with solar power at the SRC; etc.

  • Keep track of each hall's progress with UofL's Building Dashboard, where you can see how much electricity your hall is using and learn how you can conserve! Halls in the competition include:
  1. Bettie Johnson Hall
  2. Billy Minardi Hall
  3. Community Park (real-time data!)
  4. Kurz Hall (real-time data!)
  5. Louisville Hall (real-time data!)
  6. Unitas Hall (real-time data!)
  7. University Tower Apartments (UTA)
  8. Belknap Village North
  9. Belknap Village South

Win Me - Ecolympics 2023 Grand Prize BikePrizes:

  • Weekly prizes: At the end of each of the eight weeks of Ecolympics 2023, one person who has shared their sustainable action(s) will receive a themed gift basket!
  • Grand Prize: One impressive Cardinal who takes the most sustainable actions during Ecolympics 2023 will take home our grand prize - a Specialized Crossroads hybrid bicycle perfect for urban exploring!
  • Post your sustainable actions and tag @UofLSustainable or submit them through our online form throughout February & March to be entered into the competition! New winners will be picked each week! Enter as often as you can!

 

RESULTS:

Win Me - Ecolympics 2023 Grand Prize BikeCaroline Ferro wins Ecolympics 2023 (UofL Sustainability News, March 28, 2023)

Campus Race to Zero Waste logoUofL finishes in the top 10 of the 2023 Campus Race To Zero Waste (UofL Sustainability News, May 16, 2023)

  • In the Diversion category, UofL finished 9th out of 91 schools with a diversion rate of 59.815%.
  •  In the Food Waste organics category, UofL finished 22nd out of 82 schools with 68.24 points.
  •  In the Per Capita Classic, UofL finished 55th out of 107 schools with a recycling rate of 6.994 lbs/person.
  • In the E-waste category, UofL finished 25th out of 157 schools by collecting 1838 lbs. of e-waste for recycling (or 0.07 lbs/person)
  •  In terms of Waste Minimization, UofL finished in the middle of the pack with 19.55 lbs/person of total waste generated.