The Ecopolitan
Big Hopes on Campus
College campuses are often cities in themselves, with their own energy supplies, police forces and sense of community. And because they are institutions devoted to educating the next generation, they make excellent laboratories for testing promising new initiatives in many fields--including environmental innovation.
Sierra magazine recently offered its list of America's ten greenest campuses (sierraclub.org), which is full of bright ideas that you might consider in your hometown or campus.
Harvard
- Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio): One-third of food served on campus is produced locally, and student fees help support the local mass transit system (oberlin.edu).
- Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.): A $12 million loan fund bankrolls visionary eco-projects on campus (harvard.edu/).
- Warren Wilson College (Swannaoa, N.C.): The school's sustainably managed forest and farm provides a good share of food and lumber needs (warren-wilson.edu).
- University of California (10 campuses): UC has pledged to reduce waste to zero by 2020 (universityofcalifornia.edu).
- Duke University (Durham, N.C.): An expansion of the campus will include green buildings, an extensive network of bike trails and first-class public spaces (duke.edu).
- Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.): Home of the Step-It-Up protests demanding action on global warming, Middlebury is working to be carbon neutral by 2016 (middlebury.edu).
- Berea College (Berea, Ky.): An experimental Ecovillage houses students (berea.edu).
- Pennsylvania State University (24 campuses): Penn State is investing $10 million annually in retrofitting campus buildings for energy efficiency (psu.edu).
- Tufts University (Boston, Mass.): The school baseball field is covered in organic grass that is mowed by an electric tractor (tufts.edu).
- Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pa.): Student-designed green roofs cover several campus buildings (cmu.edu).
And Sierra did not even include five colleges with the environment at the core of their curriculum: Alaska Pacific College (Anchorage, Alaska, alaskapacific.edu), College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine, coa.edu), Northland College (Ashland, Wis., northland.edu), Green Mountain College (Poultney, Vt., greenmtn.edu) and Prescott College (Prescott, Ariz., prescott.edu).
For tips on living green whichever your campus, see:
Green Living 101: Getting Around
Green Living 101: Smart Eco-nomics
Green Living 101: Dorm Room Decorating