Sustainability

At UNC Charlotte, Styrofoam turns into gold. It’s not literal gold. The recycling team has an innovative way to condense ceiling-high Styrofoam to the size of a shoebox, which saves space, time and money. 

Every piece of Styrofoam on campus, most of which comes from the thousands of excited students moving into the dorms with their decorations, lamps and new appliances. The mini-fridge and lava lamp go in, and the Styrofoam packaging always comes out. 

Multiply that by 100 and the result is 900 pounds of Styrofoam with nowhere to call home. 

UNC Charlotte was recognized recently by Times Higher Education for its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

UNC Charlotte has earned a STARS Silver rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association of Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. 

STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration and innovation and leadership. 

Maggie Sobaszek ’16, ’18 is an assessment coordinator in the Office of Sustainability and is responsible for evaluations and reports relating to campus sustainability. Recently, she helped finish STARS, a self-reporting assessment for higher education institutions to measure their sustainability performance. Learn more about Sobaszek in this Q&A.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

Mark Mistretta is a second-year junior majoring in biology and interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in health and medical humanities. He founded UNC Charlotte’s Plants for People student organization and was nominated by the University for a 2023 Sustain Charlotte Award. Learn more about Mistretta and his sustainability work in this Q&A. Why did you choose UNC Charlotte?

If you Googled “beautiful streams,” you’d find a plethora of cinematic, artistic shots of water gracefully flowing over the rocks. If you Googled “Toby Creek,” you may find something completely different. 

Streams aren’t meant to just be beautiful for a quick social media picture. They play a key role in the environment. Toby Creek, located in the University area, is a valuable asset to UNC Charlotte and the surrounding community. However, it’s been long overdue for improvements. 

UNC Charlotte loses an average of three football fields of trees per day, through storm damage, disease or construction.

Trees are important to the environment and absorb greenhouse gasses, help improve mental health, house wildlife and cool urban areas in addition to making the campus and city look better.

UNC Charlotte loses an average of three football fields of trees per day, through storm damage, disease or construction.

Trees are important to the environment and absorb greenhouse gasses, help improve mental health, house wildlife and cool urban areas in addition to making the campus and city look better.

UNC Charlotte again is on Princeton Review’s “Guide to Green Colleges,” an annual publication that recognizes academic institutions’ sustainability-related policies, practices and programs. The University is one of 455 colleges included in the 2023 edition.

This year’s Campus Sustainability Week is Oct. 2-8. This annual observance engages the University community in sustainable practices on campus through events and volunteer opportunities.