UWRF wins $5,000 sustainability award

UW-River Falls placed first in the Higher Education Kit Challenge, a statewide sustainability competition sponsored by the energy efficiency organization Focus on Energy. 11 Wisconsin colleges participated in the challenge, which was held from July 1 to Oct. 31, 2023. Focus on Energy presented UWRF with an award of $5,000 on Dec. 7, 2023.

“We were thrilled,” Sustainability Coordinator Mark Klapatch-Matias said.  “Knowing the hard work of everybody was amazing.” According to Focus on Energy’s website the competition was intended to both increase awareness and assess Wisconsin universities’ commitment to sustainability.

Staff and students in UWRF’s Sustainability Office were elated by their first-place victory, results which were delayed for a recount between UW-River Falls and UW-Oshkosh.

“I knew we were close,” Klapatch-Mathias said.  “[Focus on Energy] needed [River Falls and Oshkosh] to reconfirm our numbers of students and employees because it was so close.”

The second annual Kit Challenge had universities give away free sustainability kits to students and faculty at their respective campuses. These kits were stocked with a variety of different supplies aimed at sustainable living practices. 

“They had three different kits,” Klapatch-Mathias said.  “One of them was a focus on baths, one was a focus on showers, and one was a focus on comfort.” 

Some items included in the different kits were insulation tape, eco-friendly lightbulbs and nightlights, and high-efficiency showerheads. According to Focus on Energy, UW-River Falls gave away over 140 total kits over the duration of the challenge.

To raise awareness during the challenge, participation was conducted through a variety of different avenues, Klapatch-Mathias said. Some of those routes included events, as well as social media. “It was a grassroots effort of everybody trying to get the word out,” he said. “There were about 19 sustainability events [held] throughout the challenge.”

According to Klapatch-Mathias, the Sustainability Office hires between eight to twelve students and volunteers interested in a variety of different sustainability approaches.

“I have a phenomenal group of students,” Klapatch-Mathias said. “One [group] focuses on waste; one on water and energy efficiencies… there are a variety of things they focus on, but they all help with our events or our broader initiatives.”

The $5,000 award is yet to be utilized by the university, Klapatch-Mathias said, but the Sustainability Office is currently working in tandem with UWRF’s Facilities Management to find a project where it will be distributed. 

The challenge led to greater participation on campus, Klapatch-Mathias said, and it opened the door to many students recognizing and thinking about sustainability issues. “Some people, when you talk about sustainability, they only think about environmental things, or they might not have a direct connection or interest,” he said.  “But that’s why this program is unique and beneficial for us; it opens the door to have this conversation.”

Getting people to consider sustainability issues is a goal that Klapatch-Mathias has worked on throughout his 14-year career at UWRF, he said. After he started as a custodial supervisor, Klapatch-Mathias was introduced to sustainable waste management, which broadened his horizons and led to his eventual hire as the full-time Sustainability Coordinator.

Plans for the Sustainability Office are currently in the works, explained Klapatch-Mathias. One of these plans is the rewriting of the university’s climate action plan, which has not been revised since 2012, and working on the university’s STARS report, which is a framework for colleges to measure and assess sustainability performance.

“Anything that we can be doing to elevate our overall efforts and bring positive recognition to our university is a good thing,” Klapatch-Mathias said.