Rice University’s Campus Services and Sustainability recently was recognized by Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) with its Beautify Texas Award in the Outstanding Program of the Year category. The department was honored for its “Give a Hoot! Donate Your Loot!” move-out collection campaign coordinated by the Office of Sustainability and Housing and Dining.
The award recognizes contributions by civic organizations and city, county and state government departments that support the KTB mission through a specific, continual program.
“Rice University, in partnership with Green City Recycler, exemplifies the mission of KTB by actively engaging the university community in sustainability efforts,” said Kristianna Bowles, associate director for sustainability, in the application packet. “This initiative not only inspires students, faculty and staff to participate in keeping their environment clean and beautiful but also empowers them to make a tangible impact.”
The inspiration for the “Give a Hoot! Donate Your Loot!” campaign was born in fall 2022’s Environmental Issues: Rice Into the Future course taught by Richard Johnson, the university’s senior executive director for sustainability and professor in the practice of environmental studies in sociology. A group of undergraduates in Johnson’s course — Adrienne Bradley, Viviana Contreras, Yea Won Lee, Ellie Schweiker and Destinie Sharp — came up with the idea to make recycling during move-out hassle-free for students as part of a semester-long group project.
From there, the students worked with then-director of grounds Darrell Bunch from Facilities Engineering and Planning as well as then-interim associate vice president of housing and dining David McDonald throughout the fall and spring. They also enlisted the help of Bowles, then an employee of Texas A&M University who had worked on similar projects in College Station.
As an end result, undergraduates at all of Rice’s residential colleges were able to place unwanted clothing, shoes, linens and other textile-based items in large bins provided to each college by Green City Recycler during each move-out season.
Since spring 2023, the campaign has diverted more than 27,000 pounds of durable goods from landfills, contributing to a cleaner, more sustainable community.
To win the award, the project was measured in four categories: mission, impact, collaboration and innovation.
Bowles said she is proud of the measurable results in each category, but she is equally proud of the student participation to keep the program running and the life lessons they will carry from their experiences.
Sharp, who was a freshman when the project began, described how the initiative made an impact in her life.
“Through this experience I learned that real change starts from an idea,” Sharp said. “What started as a passion project ended up creating a significant impact on the fight to reduce waste accumulated during move-out. Through the success of the project, I have been encouraged by my peers and their receptiveness to help the Rice community become even a little more sustainable than it was three years ago.”
Bradley, a senior and Boniuk Institute undergraduate scholar, spoke of the skills she learned through these hands-on sustainability projects.
“I gained really important experience in knowing how to develop and implement a major project from start to finish,” Bradley said. “I feel a lot more confident in my leadership abilities and knowledge of effective sustainability strategies.”
This award continues the department’s ongoing relationship with KTB. Last year, KTB bestowed the sustainability campaign the local version of the award.
To learn more about the Office of Sustainability, visit sustainability.rice.edu.