UofL recognized in Top 10 Zero Waste Campuses & The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges
The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges
Having already appeared in the 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 editions, UofL is featured in the Princeton Review’s 2023 Guide to Green Colleges, released at the end of October 2022. In 2021, UofL received a nearly perfect Green Rating of 97 out of 99! This represented an increase in our rating of 88 in 2018 and 93 in 2017.
Top 10 Zero Waste Campuses
Also in late October, UofL was honored to again appear in the annual list of Top 10 Zero Waste Campuses released by the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN).
In 2022, PLAN ranked UofL #8 and, in 2021, UofL ranked #7 in PLAN’s first annual list of Top 10 Zero Waste Campuses in the U.S. The rankings were earned as a result of conducting a comprehensive Zero Waste Atlas Assessment in 2020 that was designed to help campuses assess and streamline campus systems for materials management.
The Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) gave UofL an overall Zero Waste score of 58.2% (864.5 out of a total possible 1600.5 points). This compares very favorably to the other campuses PLAN works with, which average between 40-50%. For Scope 1 surplus property and hard-to-recycle materials, UofL scored a 63.4% (427.75 + 24 additional credits out of a total possible 712 points). For Scope 2 food waste and single-use materials, UofL scored a 53.9% (437 +42.25 additional credits out of a total possible 888.5 points). This assessment laid the groundwork for the development of UofL's first Zero Waste Plan in 2021. Read the full PLAN Atlas Report here.
Left: Campus Free Store
Right: Students with a full head of celery found in a dumpster
- Scope 1: 63.4% – BRONZE
- Scope 2: 53.9%
University of Louisville
- The University of Louisville has had a Zero Waste Committee in place since 2013 that has led the campus through a number of strategic initiatives. UofL has implemented a “mini-bin” trash collection system in offices, and increased recycling and pre and post-consumer compost collection across campus. They also have a reusable to-go container program in the dining hall, a Food Recovery initiative that collects food weekly from multiple locations, and multiple educational and awareness raising campaigns like “Weigh the Waste” to encourage food waste reduction. The Student Activity Center on campus has the Cardinal Cupboard campus food pantry, and a student-run Free Store!
- In the Spring of 2021 UofL became the second campus to complete Stage 2 of the Atlas Zero Waste project and publicly published a Strategic Vision for Zero Waste. The vision includes a series of proposals to hire additional staff to improve materials management infrastructure on campus, expand the campus surplus property program and reusable to-go ware availability on campus, and establish a number of other key initiatives.
