Environmental Health & Safety 2004-2009

Multi-colored hard hats

The Ohio Five Environmental Health & Safety officers were awarded two grants from the OhioEPA Office of Environmental Education. The first $50,000 grant, Pollution Prevention on the College Campus: A Consortial Approach to Education and Training, created a program in pollution prevention and materials management for faculty and staff in the science, art, and theater departments. The two-year project, beginning in June 2004 and ending in June 2006, involved updating appropriate environmental policies and procedures, initiating a coordinated training program for faculty, and increasing campus communication and dissemination of resources.

The second $50,000 grant program, A Collaborative College Environmental Management System Initiative, ran from January 2009 to June 2011. The request was based on a commitment to improve regulatory compliance while focusing on sustainability and environmental responsibility. The goal was to implement a two-year, proactive program in environmental management for campus teams that included creating inventories of campus environmental impacts, developing new auditing skills, and conducting on-site assessments of college operations.

In 2011, all recent OEEF grant programs were reviewed by an independent evaluator and both of the Ohio Five grants were recognized as Outstanding Project award winners (Office of Environmental Education, 2012).