A pilot program offering reusable containers for takeout food from University of Dayton dining services has begun at Marycrest Hall. The containers - which can be returned unwashed and using the honor system - are one way UD students can take part in a zero waste initiative.  “The typical reduce, reuse, recycle motto should be a hierarchy,” HSi graduate assistant Christopher Baldasare said. “Reducing is better than reusing, and reusing is better than recycling. Since the containers reduce the need to produce more recyclable containers, they are more sustainable. Recyclable containers still have to be constantly made and recycled. The reusable containers do not need to be constantly made or constantly recycled.”

A University of Dayton research paper on the cost of carbon neutrality at the University earned an Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2020 Sustainability Research Award. Graduate assistant Ryan Shea was the lead author of the paper - “A life-cycle cost analysis of transitioning to a fully-electrified, renewably powered, and carbon-neutral campus at the University of Dayton,” - with co-authors Hanley Sustainability Institute Executive Director Ben McCall, UD energy efficiency and renewable energy manager Matthew Worsham, engineering professor Andrew Chiasson and former UD engineering professor Kelly Kissock.

Hanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistants Lauren Wolford and Meg Maloney are leading the University of Dayton’s resilience assessment as part of UD’s Second Nature climate commitment to plan for climate resilience. They talked to 50-60 community stakeholders about resilience planning in and around Dayton. “Because of what we’re all currently living in, it was really easy to have these conversations specifically around the pandemic,” Wolford said. “It was inspiring to hear from different organizations.”

Zachary Piso, an assistant professor in philosophy, and Roger Reeb, a professor of psychology and former Roesch Chair in the Social Sciences, were both recently named Hanley Sustainability Institute affiliates. Both already are HSI sustainability scholars.

Hanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistant Jack Rees was part of a team that used temperature setbacks in most UD buildings this past summer to save energy. Along the way, he and UD energy efficiency and renewable energy manager Matthew Worsham learned things about the building systems that have made them more operate more efficiently.

City of Dayton Sustainability Manager Mark Charles prefers the term sustainability specialist when it comes to Meg Maloney, a Hanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistant who is working with the city. “She’s not just following me around,” Charles said. “She’s actually got her own responsibilities and activities. She helped me with the final touches on the overall sustainability strategy.”

Before University of Dayton students migrated back to campus during a pandemic, Hanley Sustainability Institute graduate assistant Christopher Baldasare saw the need for more composting. “With the emphasis on not going out, I expect more students to be cooking in their residences,” Baldasare said. “This will also give us a chance to pilot online composting education, which was planned in the spring to potentially expand the composting program by making it easier to reach all students that would want to participate.”