2021 Survey
Thank you for your time completing the annual Sustainability Survey. Prize winners are Herrick Fernandes and Tristan Olly.
Conducting an annual survey helps us with national sustainability reporting efforts, understand our community better, inform future programming, and identify members of our community to highlight.
Consistent with the guidelines of STARS, we include questions on general sustainability literacy as well as BU-specific questions.
Answers to the 2021 Sustainability Literacy Assessment
Which of the following is the most used definition of sustainable development?
- Building a neighborhood that is both socio-demographically and economically diverse
- Giving universal access to education, health care and social services
- Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
- Setting aside resources for preservation
- Don’t know
Source: https://www.iisd.org/about-iisd/sustainable-development
Which of the following are among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals? Select all that apply.
- Good health and well being
- Climate action
- Quality education
- Clean water and sanitation
- All of the above
- Don’t know
Which of the following statements about the relationship between environmental issues and socioeconomic issues is true?
- Poorer people are disproportionately impacted by climate change because they are more likely to live in areas threatened by water scarcity, vector-borne disease and potential damage from storms and floods.
- Wealthier people are disproportionately impacted by climate change because they are more likely to own properties and business that can be negatively influenced by water scarcity, vector-borne disease, and potential damage from storms and floods.
- People of all socioeconomic classes are equally impacted by climate change, but for different reasons.
- Environmental issues and socioeconomic issues are unrelated.
- Don’t know
Put the following list of activities in order of their environmental impact from largest to smallest.
- Flying in a commercial airplane from Washington D.C. to China
- Producing one fast food quarter-pound hamburger
- Producing one fast food chicken sandwich
- Keeping a cell phone charger plugged into an electrical outlet for 12 hours
What is a “food desert”?
- Urban or rural areas without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.
- Area where food is not grown due to climate, therefore all food must be shipped in.
- Food that has been deemed unacceptable for human consumption.
- A large compost bin
- Don’t know
Which of the following statements about water is true?
- Water for personal use, such as washing dishes, doing laundry, and bathing, is the major user of water resources
- Globally, freshwater reserves (aquifers) are used faster than they are replenished
- Floods and severe weather will increase the availability of clean drinking water
- Because water is a free and abundant resource, it is not a major concern for most countries
- Don’t know