Tagged: Sustainability

As highlighted by The Office of Academic Affairs, Ohio State Energy Partners (OSEP) has announced the recipients of its 2023-24 philanthropic awards. The awards provide funding for proposals that align with Ohio States sustainability goals and support the continuation of successful initiatives or the development/implementation of new programs or research projects that continue the trajectory of meeting the goals. Facilities Operations Development (FOD) Zero Waste Manager, Mary Leciejewski, earned an OSEP award for Administration and Planning's Food Scrap Compost Expansion. 

The Ohio State University Columbus campus joined more than 3.4 million college students and staff across the country in the 2023 Campus Race to Zero Waste competition. During the competition, Buckeyes saved more than 1.9 million pounds of materials from being buried in a landfill. These materials will now get a second chance by being transformed into new products through recycling and composting.

The Lantern recently highlighted a collaboration between Facilities Operations and Development (FOD), the Sustainability Institute (SI) and Susan Melsop, professor of design, to prompt conversations about sustainability and campus composting. FOD and SI shared guidance and informational resources about composting and well as logistics coordination for the interactive wagon roll-out.

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From handmade seed paper to a student-designed fold-out magazine, Facilities Operations and Development (FOD) is partnering with a Design Activism course to get the word out about composting around campus. When Associate Professor of Design, Susan Melsop, approached FOD and the Sustainability Institute about working together on the Design Activism for Sustainability project, FOD Zero Waste Manager, Mary Leciejewski, was eager to lend a hand.

Updated: April 7, 2023
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The results are in from Facilities Operations and Development’s (FOD) two-phase waste characterization study on waste and recycling generated on Ohio State’s main campus.

Baseline data was collected in fall 2021 as part of phase one and multiple waste program enhancements were made to improve how materials were being managed on campus, including:

Ready, set, recycle! The Lantern featured Facilities Operations and Development (FOD) in an article on the university competing in The Campus Race to Zero Waste. The competition aims to encourage students, faculty and staff to recycle more, recycle right and compost. 

"If the faculty, staff and students were to put recyclables in the correct bin, Ohio State could increase its landfill diversion rate by 27 percent this year," Molly Kathleen, zero waste coordinator for Facilities Operations and Development, told The Lantern. 

Campus Race to Zero Waste has officially started! For the next eight weeks, Ohio State will be competing against other universities across the country to determine who has the highest landfill diversion rate! Students, faculty and staff are asked to participate by recycling more, recycling right and composting.

With more than 17,000 trees on the Columbus campus, green space and the overall tree canopy are important aspects of Ohio State’s landscape architecture. Facilities Operations and Development Landscape Services regularly plants trees to support sustainability and campus beautification. When a tree must be removed, multiple replacement trees often pop up as a result. Watch how FOD crews are rooted in sustainability and growing the next generation of campus shade.

The Ohio State University is excited to announce that it is a 2022 National Recycling Coalition Award (NRC) recipient! The annual awards program is designed to honor and recognize outstanding individuals, programs and organizations around the country, both for their sustainability-related achievements and to serve as a model and a resource for learning for NRC members.