Green College Spotlight: Duke University

Since 2005, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina has had an official environmental policy that pledges commitment to environmental research and education, eco-friendly campus operations as well as environmental stewardship in the community. But even long before then, Duke has been working toward sustainability on campus in everything from energy to waste management.

Students are, of course, at the center of Duke’s commitment to go green. They’ve been taking the lead in creating and carrying out green projects on and off campus for years now, and student groups focusing on environmental issues proliferate. Undergraduate, graduate, law, business, engineering and medical students all have their own groups that work on environmental change including the Environmental Alliance, the Duke University Greening Initiative and the Home Depot Smart House.

Among Duke’s sustainable initiatives on campus are seven LEED certified buildings, green dining services, wetland restoration, green ‘conservation zones’, an ambitious recycling program and stringent water conservation efforts. Students, faculty and staff make an effort to get around by bus, ridesharing, vanpooling and bicycles. And, Duke’s award-winning energy efficiency and conservation work encompasses strategies like using Energy Star appliances, providing as many as 900 CFLs to incoming freshmen each year, retrofitting the campus steam plants and starting a ‘Green Power Challenge’ that urge Duke community members to sponsor wind power at $25 each.

Duke University isn’t just making its own campus more sustainable and spreading green ideas to the community – it’s training the environmental leaders of the future. Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment offers doctoral, masters and undergraduate degrees in areas like environmental science, environmental management, forestry, and earth and ocean science. A number of sustainability courses are also available to students majoring in other subjects.

Nicholas Dean Bill Chameides writes a blog called ‘The Green Grok’ that discusses causes and potential remedies for environmental change, covering topics like ocean acidification and U.S. renewable energy standards. It’s a great read even for non-Duke students.

There are so many ways that students, faculty and staff at Duke can get involved to work toward not just a greener campus but a greener world, and for that, they deserve some major props. Thanks, Duke, for all that you do!

Link [Duke Sustainability]

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