Green College Spotlight: Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin

Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin is a leader among American colleges in sustainability, and one need only take a tour of the campus to see why. Niles Barnes of AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) did just that, and photographed some of the many green aspects of the school, from solar panels and composting toilets to hybrid vehicles and wind turbines.  Even if you can’t take a tour in person, though, it’s easy to see that Northland puts environmental responsibility right at the top of their priorities.

Just take a look at Northland College’s ‘Environmental Commitment’ pages on the web, where their many green efforts are detailed.  The school’s cafeteria offers a wide range of vegetarian and vegan options, sustainably harvested seafood, and organic and fair-trade choices.  Food scraps are composted and used in the Mino-Aki community garden, where students learn about organic gardening.  Work-study students monitor campus waste and recycling, and chemistry students check area water quality. Students get free bus passes and access to free bicycles, the maintenance department uses electric vehicles and many faculty and staff live close to campus so they can walk to work.

Nowhere is Northland’s commitment to sustainability more apparent than in the vast eco-friendly features of buildings on campus. In fact, Northland College’s “green dorm” – the McLean Environmental Living and Learning Center – served as a prototype for Leadership and Energy in Environmental Design (LEED) standards.  Also on campus are two wind towers, four solar hot-water arrays, two photovoltaic arrays, geothermal heating and cooling, furniture made of recycled materials and an energy education lab made of straw bales.

Last year, Northland’s president, Karen Halbersleben, signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, which provides a framework and support for higher learning institutions to increase sustainability on campus, address global warming and neutralize greenhouse gas emissions.  Northland is currently measuring greenhouse gas emissions from field trips, sporting events, and college-related air travel to develop the best methods to offset this impact.

From the Northland College website:

At Northland College, sustainability is all about people. We believe that environmental change requires more than technical knowledge of renewable energy, ecosystems, and sustainable business practices; it demands an exploration of human nature—an exploration of ourselves. We focus on environmental leadership throughout the student experience at Northland. Our students participate in all levels of our campus life—from volunteering to enhance our “commons”, to work-study jobs that support our green features, to capstone projects that help our college innovate. Students are active in governance, strategic planning, and vision-setting. They are not just tomorrow’s environmental leaders; Northland students are creating a more sustainable future now.

Students at Northland College also find evidence of the school’s commitment to sustainability in their regular coursework. For example, an art class incorporates environmentally-friendly materials.  Curriculum related to sustainability includes Sustainable Business, Introduction to Environmental Studies, Sustainable Agriculture, a Physics course in Renewable Energy, and Natural Resources.

Northland College students work hard at sustainability in their free time, too.  Environmental organizations include the Environmental Council, which works to further Northland’s environmental dedication; Green Fire, which focuses on enhancing the health of the Chequamegon bioregion through activism, education and networking and Sunshine Community, which supports a number of green programs on campus like the Mino-Aki community garden and the Strawbale House.

In fact, there’s much more to Northland’s green commitments that we can’t even fit here! Check out the Northland College website for more!

Link [Northland College] + [AASHE]

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