The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus recently received an award that is the first of its kind! Fill It Forward(formerly Cupanion), is the program that our Choose, reUse, and WIN! initiative functions through. Fill It Forward has recently awarded us the Changemaker Award! You may be wondering, what does this award mean and how did our school earn it?
The Changemaker Award is received by a school or company participating in the Fill It Forward program that has diverted over 100,000 single-use bottles. This means that the University of Minnesota, which has participated in the program for 2 ½ years, has prevented the use of 100,000 disposable containers through the act of reusing! Here’s some interesting facts about what this means. The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus:
- Prevented 600 pounds of pollution
- Saved 17,100 pounds of emissions
- Saved 56,000 kilowatt hours of power
- Diverted 3,000 pounds of waste
So on behalf of the Choose, reUse & WIN! program, congratulations Gophers, and way to make a difference through the simple act of reuse! This award should act as inspiration for all of us moving forward. If we were able to divert 100,000 single-use bottles in 2 ½ years, how many more can we do in another 2 ½ years? We can always strive to reduce and reuse as much as possible to prevent items unnecessarily ending up in our waste stream. We encourage all of our students, faculty, and staff to keep working to make our campus as green as possible!
Never heard of the Choose, reUse, and WIN! program before? That’s okay, it’s never too late to join! Simply pick up one of our stickers, place on a reusable bottle or mug, and start scanning! Download the “Fill It Forward” app in the App Store to get started. You’ll earn points simply for refilling your water bottle on campus. Collecting points gets you prizes, so it’s a win-win. Learn more here and start reusing today!