‘You ARE Sustainable Creighton’ Focus of New Canon Partnership
Canon USA, which has a long history of partnering with Creighton University to help support innovative programming and educational excellence, has teamed up with the University again – this time to advance campus sustainability efforts in a deeply personal way.
As part of this new collaboration, Creighton’s Office of Sustainability Programs, with input from Canon’s Change Management Team, is rolling out a new communications and marketing campaign this fall called “You ARE Sustainable Creighton.” It is aimed at empowering faculty, staff and students to see themselves as central to the University’s sustainability mission.
“We at Canon are incredibly proud of our long history of partnership with Creighton University and the opportunity to support innovative programming that drives educational excellence,” said Jason Johnson, program manager of Canon USA print and mail systems at Creighton.
“This collaboration on the 'You ARE Sustainable Creighton' campaign is a perfect example of how we align our corporate philosophy by actively supporting sustainability and education initiatives that empower the community to make a real-world difference.”
Accelerating Sustainable Creighton Goals
The partnership is helping accelerate the goals of the Sustainable Creighton Initiative, a comprehensive strategy launched by the University in 2022 that outlines 17 measurable goals around sustainability and is congruent with the University’s overarching strategic plan, Lighting the Way.
“As we celebrate Campus Sustainability Month, we’ve taken time to reflect on the valuable feedback received from our campus community over the past year — including April’s Earth Month survey,” said Andrew Baruth, PhD, director of Creighton’s Office of Sustainability Programs. “That input has helped us identify the most meaningful ways to engage students and employees in our sustainability efforts.
“Canon’s support has been instrumental in allowing us to focus on those key areas — enhancing visuals, refining programs and creating new opportunities for engagement that truly resonate with our community.”
The Canon partnership concentrates on key student and employee initiatives, along with providing support for student-led marketing and sustainability events.
Expanded Student Initiatives
Through the partnership, Creighton has expanded its Eco•Reps initiative, adding additional student leaders to its residence hall and campus programs.
Eco•Reps assigned to the residence halls work in teams with Creighton’s Inter-residence Hall Government to organize educational events, foster eco-friendly habits among peers and lead initiatives for waste diversion and energy conservation.
Campus Eco•Reps work on broader campus issues around waste reduction, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation and more, while educating and informing students on Sustainable Creighton Initiative goals.
“It was awesome to see people coming up with new ideas to get other students and organizations on campus involved in sustainability through Eco•Reps events,” said Izzy Shousha, a sophomore environmental studies major, who serves as the student leader of the Eco•Reps program.
During the 2024-2025 academic year, Eco•Reps hosted eight campus events, which included the collection of 600 pounds of used clothing — in partnership with the IRHG — and 1,000 pounds of compostable food.
With support from the Canon partnership, Creighton is also launching a Sustainable Creighton Ambassadors program, in which student organizations will receive a stipend directly into their operation or philanthropy funds for their direct support of sustainability efforts, such as composting.
Faculty and Staff Certificate Programs
In addition, the Canon partnership is supporting the expansion of sustainability certificate programs for faculty, staff and departments.
In 2023, Creighton launched the Creighton Sustainable Office Certificate program, in which campus offices and departments can earn certification by implementing sustainability practices in their workspace. To date, 31 offices have gained certification. (Faculty and staff can learn more about this program on this Office of Sustainability programs page.)
With support of the partnership, Creighton has launched a Sustainable Creighton Event Certification, to recognize offices and departments that incorporate sustainable practices into their campus events.
The Office of Sustainability Programs offers workshops to assist interested individuals and departments. A lunch and learn on planning sustainable events is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 15. Online training is also available, and faculty and staff can find more information in this helpful online guide.
Easy-to-use composting event kits also are available online. Over the past two years, Creighton has made significant strides in composting – diverting 31 tons of food waste and compostable dinnerware from the landfill. All dinnerware at Creighton is compostable (cups, plates, napkins, etc.), but the proper bins must be requested for events.
A Sustainable Creighton Lifelong Learning certificate is planned for the future for individuals interested in training and education on sustainable living.
