College Spotlight: Green Mountain College’s Sustainable Orientation

One Vermont college is going far above and beyond in their efforts to green up their campus, and it shows in their ‘sustainable orientation’, a weekend for new students to get educated on carbon emissions and other aspects of sustainability. Green Mountain College’s sustainable orientation will take place between August 28th and September 1st. Initiated by the office of student life and sustainability coordinator Jesse Pyles, the college’s orientation weekend will include all of the following:

• Fewer mailings. Offices have reduced the amount of paper by sending bulk mailings and directing students to the website for information.
• Local programming. “In the past we had outside consultants develop programs on drug and alcohol use and safety,” says Ouimette. “To decrease the amount of travel created by orientation, we’re now doing these workshops in-house by orientation leaders.”
• Reused utensils. “Students are encouraged to bring their own utensils and travel mug to use during orientation,” she says. There will be stations set up for students to wash their silverware with environmentally friendly dish soap. Biodegradable utensils will be available for family and friends visiting during orientation.
• Green decorations. Instead of balloons-which are not biodegradable-the campus decorates with flowers grown on the college farm. Other decorations and necessary signage will be done on reusable sandwich board.
• Local dinners. On “Sustainable Sunday,” students will dine on breakfast provided by the college farm and local providers. “Logistically, it’s near impossible to have four days of local meals,” explains Ouimette, “but we want to show students about the improvements we’ve made in greening our food service.”
• Camp-Out Night. Students will assess the energy saved in one night of camping on campus. GreenMAP, the College’s outdoor adventure program, will also educate new students about nationally developed “leave no trace” principles, especially with regard to setting up tents and using the nearby Poultney River.
• Green Student Orientation Leaders (student orientation leaders specifically assigned to sustainability efforts and education) will lead several colorful “Ecostunts”-activities and demonstrations designed to illustrate sustainability themes.

“It’s important for the College to introduce incoming students to what it’s like to be sustainable as soon as they first set foot on campus,” says Christina Ouimette, a senior at GMC and student coordinator for orientation. “It’s a huge part of our community, our mission, and how we learn here.”

Green Mountain College is Vermont’s environmental liberal arts college, tucked away in the countryside in the Valley of Vermont. The core of Green Mountain College is its environmental liberal arts (ELA) curriculum, which all Green Mountain students complete. It combines the skills and content of a liberal arts course with a focus on the environment.

Green Mountain College was the first college in the United States to be named EPA Energy Star Showcase Campus after their campus-wide effort to retrofit light fixtures. They’ve also been awarded with the Campus Sustainability Leadership Award by the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for their ‘outstanding commitment to environmental sustainability in their governance and administration, curriculum and research, operations, campus culture and community outreach. Green Mountain College was also included on Grist.org’s Top 15 Green Colleges and Universities.

Some of the green initiatives that have been put in place on the Green Mountain College campus include a commitment to carbon neutrality, 50% of its electricity from local dairy farms through the Cow Power Program, participation in the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System) program, a plug-in hybrid study, a sustainable agriculture project, a robust recycling program and much more.

Learn more at the Green Mountain College website.

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