Office of Sustainability moving ahead with new initiatives

Pitt continues to work toward its sustainability goals, with several new or expanded initiatives from the Office of Sustainability.

First-year sustainability gift: All first-year students received a reusable BYO(Mug), reusable bamboo cutlery set, Choose to Reuse program information and information about how to access free 30-minute bike rides from ride-sharing company Healthy Ride.

Choose to Reuse program expansion: Every month, Pitt's Oakland campus uses nearly 225,000 single-use disposable to-go containers. The Choose to Reuse reusable container program offers customers the option to get their meal in a reusable container. Now, diners at the Schenley Cafe (William Pitt Union), Posvar Hall and Benedum Hall can get their meals in a green reusable container.

Composting: William Pitt Union, Barco Law and Benedum Hall have joined the Eureka Building in whole building collection of compostables. Forbes Tower, Mervis Hall, and O’Hara Student Center will join the list in September. There also will be new signage to show what should go in the recycle, compost and landfill containers.

Electric box trucks: Pitt now has four of these trucks for delivering a variety of items around campus.

Upcoming events

  • Sept. 18: Bike to Class Day, the first ever at Pitt. Learn more.

  • Sept. 20: Climate, Gender, and Sustainability Global Town Hall Meeting will focus on "From Local Activism to Global Reform." The two-day day event will re-imagine an agenda for global governance reform and re-configuring citizen activism for social justice, while considering climate, gender and sustainability.  Learn more & register. 

  • Oct. 16: Green Speakeasy: “Environmental Protection in the Trump Era: The Straining of Science, Economics and Legal Analysis” with Amy Wildermuth, dean of Pitt Law, and Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, associate professor at GSPIA.  Learn more & register.