College Students Travel, Learn, Give on Eco Surf Volunteer Trip

For college students who love travel, surfing, the environment and helping others, there’s nothing quite like the Eco Surf Volunteer effort. This program – which is truly in the spirit of one of our favorite green celebs and do-gooders, Jack Johnson – takes groups of students to historic beach town of Canoa, Ecuador for surfing, relaxing on the beach, learning about the local culture – and most importantly, helping school kids.

Eco Surf Volunteers – Canoa, Ecuador – Footage courtesy of Nicole Andersen & Sarah Han from Sam Bailey on Vimeo.

From Surfline.com:

To these students, the idea of merely visiting an international travel destination was not an option. These student’s desired a deeper sense of adventure, one that would immerse them completely in Ecuadorian life, the Spanish language, and the exotic South American beach culture.

As a participant with Eco Surf, each student-volunteer spent half their day working with local children by teaching English in an English Through Art program, helping in local medical clinics, and building new playground equipment from recycled and natural resources. The second half of their day was spent surfing with local Ecuadorian surf guides, all peers their own age. Volunteer team members not familiar with surfing were offered two hour surf lessons each day.

Additionally, Eco Surf donated three new laptop computers to the community, effectively establishing the first academic computer lab in the village.

Interested in going along next time? Future volunteer projects are scheduled for January 2-10, March 20-28, and July 31-August 9, 2010. For more information about Eco Surf Volunteers, visit www.EcoSurfVolunteers.org or email info@ecosurfvolunteers.org.

Link [EcoSurfVolunteers.org]

Green College Spotlight: University of New Hampshire

The University of New Hampshire is home to the oldest endowed sustainability program in higher education in the United States. Its sustainability efforts center around four key systems: the Biodiversity Education Initiative, the Climate Education Initiative, the Food & Society Initiative and the Culture & Sustainability Initiative. All four of these systems aim to unite the spirit of discovery with the challenge of sustainability.

UNH is a signatory of the Talloires Declaration, which commits the university to being world leaders in developing, creating, supporting and maintaining sustainability    . President Huddleston also signed the Presidents Climate Commitment. So far, UNH is going a great job lowering its carbon footprint – it fuels its cogeneration heat and power plant with landfill gas, significantly lowering energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Curious about all the different areas where sustainability has been implemented on campus? Check out UNH’s sustainability map, which is literally covered with little green dots indicating green projects and initiatives. You can click on each dot to learn more about each project, from transportation to the ‘Farm to School’ program. It really gives you an idea of just how serious the University of New Hampshire is about being green, helping to further the cause and spreading the message of sustainability to the community.

Some highlights of UNH’s sustainable efforts include its Climate Change Research Center, which studies the chemical and dynamic properties of the Earth’s atmosphere to better understand how our activities affect it as well as an Energy Task Force , made up of students, faculty and staff who guide UNH’s energy conservation and emissions reduction policies.

Students are heavily involved in sustainability at the University of New Hampshire. Among the student groups are ‘Ecological Advocates’, which promotes environmentally sustainable behaviors on campus. This group leads popular campaigns and competitions focused on waste reduction, recycling, food waste minimization, energy use, Earth Day and more.

The UNH campus is pedestrian- and bike-friendly, with a Cat Cycles bicycle program that allows students to sign out a bike and accessories for up to a week at a time. The campus itself is getting greener, too, having committed to seek LEED silver certification on all new construction projects.

Great job, UNH – we can’t wait to see all the new ways in which you continue to be a leader in college sustainability!

Link [UNH] + [Green College Report Card]

UC Berkeley Student Graduates with ‘Small Green World’ on Cap

One University of California at Berkeley student definitely stood out from the crowd at graduation this year, with a ‘small green world’ on his cap complete with a working solar panel.

Roland Saekow, a Product Design major, created this fun little diorama with grass paper, miniature trees, a working solar panel that drives the little wind turbine and a sun that can be made to rise by remote control.

Saekow was involved in several sustainable groups on campus and helped pass the Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) legislation on campus, which generates $200,000 annually for green projects at Berkeley. He was also the Waste Reduction Manager at his housing cooperative for four semesters and taught a course on the impact of waste on our past, present and future.

If this amazingly creative little cap is any indication, we’ll be seeing some awesome sustainable products from Saekow in the years to come!

Link [AP Community]

Green College Spotlight: University of Florida at Gainesville

The University of Florida is training the scientific, social, political, cultural and business leaders of the future, and it wants to be sure that they’re all going to go out into the world and make it a better place. That’s one of the reasons sustainability is such a big priority at this university of nearly 48,000 students in Gainesville.

UF’s guiding principles for sustainability cover a wide range of areas including teaching and research, energy conservation and climate change, land and resource management, waste reduction, transportation, stewardship and many more. The university’s commitment to becoming a model of sustainability has earned it a B+ on the College Sustainability Report Card and designation as a Campus Sustainability Leader.

In addition to signing the Presidents Climate Commitment, UF President Machen also set a goal of zero waste by 2015. UF lowers energy consumption through a variety of programs and initiatives including residence hall competitions and energy efficiency improvements on campus. The university is also holding its first carbon-neutral home football season this year.

All new construction on the UF campus must attain LEED silver certification, and two recent projects were awarded LEED gold – the newly renovated Library West and the Rinker School of Building Construction. A 2,600 square foot green roof was recently installed as part of a 32-building LEED-EB portfolio project.

Students, faculty and staff ride biodiesel-powered buses for free, and UF also has a car-sharing program. In the dining halls, students enjoy local dairy and produce from 70 Florida farms as well as cage-free eggs and shade-grown coffee. Both UF dining halls use reusable tableware and provide to-go containers made from 100% sugarcane.

With so many students, the University of Florida had its work cut out for it in becoming such a great example of sustainability on campus – but they’ve done an amazing job.

Link [UF Sustainability] + [Green College Report Card]

Green College Spotlight: Los Angeles Community College District

The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has emerged as the greenest of its kind, undertaking a vast number of green projects and initiatives including a number of LEED buildings, renewable energy production and green curricula.

LACCD has a sustainability policy that aims to increase energy efficiency and decrease greenhouse gas emissions and became one of the first community college districts in the state to join the California Climate Action Registry. By signing the CCAR agreement, LACCD pledge to publicly report its CO2 emissions and work with the Registry to increase awareness of greenhouse gas emissions issues.

One of the LA Community College District’s most impressive green projects is its $1.2 million megawatt photovoltaic farm at East LA College. Made up of 5,952 panels, the rooftop solar project provides shaded parking for over 500 vehicles and occupies 3 acres. It will generate 1.9 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, satisfying 45% of the college’s energy needs and reducing utility costs by $270,000 annually. Another photovoltaic farm has been installed at LA Mission College.

Eventually, LACCD hopes to take all nine of its campuses off the grid altogether. It is the first community college district in the nation that plans to generate all of its own electricity, which it would do via installation of additional photovoltaic farms with the goal of producing one megawatt per campus.

The Los Angeles Community College District has also developed a green curriculum to address the shortage of qualified workers to fill high-paying green collar jobs. LACCD also works to raise awareness on the benefits of sustainability among other California colleges, participating in the UC/CSU sustainability conferences and Green Build Conferences.

Not many community college districts have shown this much dedication and commitment to living and spreading the sustainable lifestyle. Other schools could learn a lot from LACCD!

Link [LACCD] + [AASHE]
Photo credit: LA Times

College Students Demand Higher Tuition to Pay for Green Projects

When college students rally in support of tuition changes, they’re usually looking for lower fees. But a growing number of college students are actually asking to pay more, as long as that extra money goes toward green projects on campus. Green Inc. reports that ‘green fees’ are on the rise, helping colleges and universities achieve sustainability goals like LEED-certified campus buildings and solar panel arrays.

Among the schools currently charging mandatory student fees for the explicit purchase of green projects are Evergreen State College, the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, Northland College and Appalachian State University.

From Green Inc., via The Huffington Post:

Portland State University is currently voting on whether to establish this kind of fee.

In some states like Florida and Texas, students at public universities have been foiled in their efforts to impose green fees. That is because any fee increase must be approved by the state legislature. The back-and-forth process can easily take four years, according to Trevor Lovell of ReEnergize Texas, a youth coalition pushing for measures to address climate change — by which time the student body will have (hopefully) turned over.

A bill backed by ReEnergize Texas is working its way through the Texas state legislature that would allow university students to impose green fees more easily.

With fees as low as $3 per semester, it’s easy to see why students would support the increases. We’re not talking about hundreds of dollars, here. Sure, college students are poor, but skip a few trips to the residence hall vending machine or one Starbucks mocha and you’ve got the cash to contribute. Even one dollar per student, when multiplied by the number of students enrolled, can be a huge boost to important green projects on campus.

Link [Green Inc.] via [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user agfazzone

Colleges Dump Cafeteria Trays to Cut Food & Water Waste

Cafeteria trays are becoming a thing of the past in colleges and universities across the country as administrators seek to cut costs incurred by wasted food and water. College students tend to have eyes bigger than their stomachs and pile tons of food onto their trays, throwing away much of it once they’re full. Then, there’s all the water required to wash the trays themselves.

From The New York Times:

The Sustainable Endowments Institute, a research organization that tracks environmental practices at the 300 colleges and universities with the largest endowments, said that 126 of them had curtailed use of trays, some of them banishing trays only from certain dining halls, and some introducing, for example, “trayless Tuesdays.” Such moves are often part of a larger push to embrace environmentalism that includes hiring sustainability coordinators, introducing solar panels, composting dining-hall waste and encouraging students to turn off lights with catchy sayings like “Do It in the Dark.”

“The trend has definitely taken off,” said Mark Orlowski, executive director of the institute, which this fall plans to add a question about trayless cafeterias to an annual survey that includes other dining-related topics like vegan entrees, biodegradable containers and community gardens. “It reduces not just waste, but energy and water consumption. Over all, it’s been very successful.”

So, how are students responding to it? As it turns out, many of them don’t mind at all, saying it makes the college dining hall feel more ‘homey’. It’s the faculty that has pushed back, with some schools – like Cornell – reporting that administrators received angry emails from professors about how “ridiculous” the policy is.

Despite the complaints from the dinosaurs, this is really a smart idea, considering how many thousands of times those trays would need to be washed every year. Think of all the water that could be saved over a period of a few years if even a fraction of America’s colleges and universities ditched the trays.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Oscar Durand for The New York Times

Green College Spotlight: Berea College

Berea College has been celebrated as one of America’s Greenest Colleges by The Daily Green, most notably for the college’s impressive EcoVillage residential complex. But, cool as the EcoVillage is, Berea’s sustainability initiatives go far beyond that. This small private college in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains of Berea, Kentucky has spent the last dozen years implementing green practices into daily life on campus.

President Larry D. Shin has signed the Presidents Climate Commitment, vowing to work toward carbon neutrality on campus. Thirteen full-time employees work on Berea’s sustainability initiatives – a big number for a college with just over 1,500 students. So far, Berea’s efforts in energy and climate have paid off. They set an admirably ambitious goal to cut emissions 65 percent by 2015 and recently upgraded its heating plant from coal to natural gas, reducing greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.

Among Berea’s fleet of vehicles are 3 hybrids and 13 small electric carts. Berea operates a 12-passenger van so students, who are discouraged from bringing cars on campus, can get from the college to local towns. Priority parking is given to carpoolers, and a student-run program called Berea Bikes fixes, rents and builds bicycles for students, faculty and staff to use.

Then, of course, there’s the college’s green crown jewel: The EcoVillage. This eco-friendly complex of 50 townhouse apartments and other buildings houses more than 120 people in sustainable style. EcoVillage has set a goal to reduce water use by 75 percent and waste by 50 percent. It features eco-friendly appliances, heavy insulation, solar panels, wind power, rainwater collectors and more. Within the complex is the partial straw-bale SENS (Sustainable and Environmental Studies) House, which acts as both a residence and learning facility for four students as well as a classroom for the rest of the college community. Students living in the EcoVillage enjoy a free car-sharing program.

Berea College runs its own campus farm, which provides the school with organic produce, beef and pork. Berea also purchases food from local sources including nine farms and two co-ops through a collaboration between dining services and the Local Food Initiative. Berea serves a number of fair trade products including coffee, and 90 percent of food waste is composted at the campus farm.

As you can see in the video above, students at Berea College are pumped about sustainability, and that’s incredibly important. Students can participate in the ‘Helping the Earth and Learning’ organization as well as a number of sustainability-related work study opportunities.

Great work, Berea!

Link [Berea College]

Is Your School America’s Greenest Campus?

Does your college or university have what it takes to be named America’s Greenest Campus? Non-profit organization SmartPower is challenging college students across the country to reduce the carbon footprints of their students, faculty and staff – and the winners will receive up to $20,000 to further green their campuses.

From Climate Culture:

Think your school is green? Well, now it’s time to walk the walk! You have until October 5 to get as many people affiliated with your school to reduce their carbon footprints as much as they can!

We’ll keep track of the number of people participating on your campus and how much they reduce in the leaderboard below. We’ll announce the two winners – the school with the most participants and the school with the most carbon reductions per participant – in October. Winning schools will be eligible for some awesome prizes!

* $5,000 to the school with the most participants (students, alumni, faculty, staff)
* $5,000 to the school with the largest percentage of carbon emissions reduced
* $10,000 to the winner of the SmartPower Energy Smart Ad Challenge

So far, George Mason University is in the lead, with the University of Maryland at College Park close behind – but you’ve still got plenty of time to catch up! Check out the America’s Greenest Campus website to sign up and get more details, and score footprint-reducing tips at ClimateCulture.com.

Link [Climate Culture] + [America’s Greenest Campus]

Thousands of Youth Energy Activists Prepare for PowerShift 2009

This week more than 10,000 activists will converge on Washington D.C. to hold our elected officials responsible for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through bold climate and clean energy policy. This historic national youth summit, which will take place between February 27th and March 2nd, aims to pressure our political leaders to act – and to provide young people with training, ideas, connections and opportunities to make things happen.

The PowerShift 2009 conference, organized by the Energy Action Coalition, will be held at the DC Convention Center and will include a career fair, workshops, keynote addresses and entertainment. Speakers will include Van Jones, Nancy Pelosi, James Hansen and Majora Carter and performers include The Roots and Santigold.

The Nation lists some of the young activists scheduled to attend:

*A busload of Indigenous youth from the US and Canada who have been active in sustainability initiatives on tribal campuses and in their communities.

*A group of 50 Washington-area public and private high school students who have been lobbying to get the Board of Education to commit to making Montgomery Co Public Schools energy self-sufficient by 2050.

*A group of sixty students from Kentucky who are lobbying for a statewide moratorium on mountaintop coal removal, passing sustainability measures on their campuses, and creating innovative clean energy corps program models.

It’s not too late to sign up – check out PowerShift09.org for more info.

Link [PowerShift 09]

Green College Spotlight: University of Vermont

The University of Vermont is located on a 451-acre campus in Burlington, which includes the historic University Green and the Dudley H. Davis Center, which was the first student center in the nation to receive LEED gold certification. This public research university, which has an enrollment of just over 10,000, is currently developing a proposal for the Lewis Foundation to transform the University into “a driving force that leads society by design to a sustainable and desirable future.”

UVM, as it’s often referred to by the abbreviation of its Latin name Universitas Viridis Montis, has an active environmental council and employs several full-time sustainability staff members including an environmental coordinator and a green building coordinator. President Fogel signed the Presidents Climate Commitment and in 2008, the President’s Commission on Sustainability was created to support the university’s efforts in sustainability. The University’s recent accomplishments earned it an A- on the 2009 College Sustainability Report Card.

UVM is committed to green building. President Fogel signed a green building policy in 2005 that requires all new buildings to be certified LEED silver or higher. The university has also implemented several measures to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings. Staff have been tracking emissions since 2002, and a clean energy fund financed by student fees uses $200,000 annually to fund renewable energy projects recommended by a committee made up mostly of students.

The University of Vermont is a member of the Farm-to-College program and the Vermont Fresh network. UVM purchases 30% of its food from Vermont-based companies and diverts about 35% of its solid waste through a recycling and composting program. Dining services offers biodegradable to-go packaging and turns kitchen waste into biofuel. A student-run farm grows organic produce both for the dining hall and for research, a local CSA and donating food for hunger relief.

UVM’s six shuttles run on biodiesel or compressed natural gas and several fleet vehicles are electric or hybrid. Students, faculty and staff at UVM are also encouraged to use public transit through a commuter incentive program that provides free bus passes. The UVM campus is also bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

Student involvement in sustainability iniatives and programs at UVM is also impressive. The Eco-Reps program employes more than 30 students to promote environmental stewardship on campus, and there are several student organizations that focus on sustainability. Students have driven some of the most successful green projects at UVM, including influencing university policy so that all copier paper is 100% recycled and chlorine-free.

It won’t take much to push the University of Vermont’s green report card score to an A or A+ for 2010. Great job, guys – keep the momentum going!

Link [University of Vermont]

Green College Spotlight: Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology has been steadily improving its sustainability efforts over the past few years, earning a ‘B’ on the 2009 College Sustainability Report Card – a grade higher than last year. Georgia Tech’s President signed the Presidents Climate Commitment and the Institute has incorporated sustainability into its mission statement and strategic plan. Georgia Tech hopes to prepare students to live and work in a world with environmental challenges, and they’re doing it both through daily life on campus and through education and research.

Georgia Tech has been recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as an Exemplary Green Campus for its ecology and sustainability education, interdisciplinary programs, supporting faculty and green personnel orientation, environmental goals, transportation programs, landscaping, energy efficiency and more. The Institute has also been lauded for its planting and managing of campus trees and for its water reclamation efforts.

The Institute has reduced energy use in existing buildings by 11% through energy-efficient retrofitting and has a 342 kilowatt photovoltaic system as well as a solar array on the aquatic center and a geothermal system. All new buildings will meet or exceed LEED silver standards, and one new structure – the Klaus Building – was LEED-gold certified in 2008. Six building and renovation projects are currently LEED-registered and six historic buildings were renovated to LEED silver standards.

Georgia Tech has a fleet of electric vehicles that make up 14% of the total motor pool, and 27% of vehicles on campus use alternative fuels. Students, faculty and staff can ride Georgia Tech’s buses around campus and connect to Atlanta’s transit system for easy, green transportation. A car-sharing program provides even more options.

40% of the produce and 25% of all food purchased by the Institute’s dining facilities is local, and organic food is offered by multiple outlets on campus. Students even get a discount for using reusable cups and shopping bags. There’s also a student-organized, community-supported agriculture program on campus and the school has both composting and recycling programs.

More than 100 courses with a sustainability emphasis are available at Georgia Tech, and every student is asked to take at least one during their course of study. Sustainability has also been integrated into new student orientation, and each building has an ‘Eco Rep’. Student organizations focusing on green goals are flourishing, with lots of conservation competitions and outreach efforts.

After all that, there are still many more ways in which Georgia Tech has excelled at sustainability, including green purchasing, green cleaning, stormwater management and land use – check it all out at the Georgia Tech Campus Environmental Stewardshp website. Congrats, Georgia Tech – keep up the good work!

Link [Georgia Institute of Technology]

Green College Spotlight: Ohio State University

Ohio State University has recently begun to blossom with sustainability initiatives, ranging from increasingly energy-efficient buildings to a football game recycling program. The Office of Energy Services and Sustainability was founded in 2006 and a task force of students, faculty and staff has been formed to create a green purchasing policy. OSU, ranked as the top public university in Ohio by U.S. News & World Report, was also honored with a ‘B’ grade on the College Sustainability Report Card for 2009.

President Gee signed the Presidents Climate Commitment and a six-year retrospective cabon emissions inventory was carried out in spring 2008. OSU has an active, university-wide energy committee that meets on a regular basis to draft energy conservation policies, and three full-time staff members conduct regular energy audits and identify and implement energy conservation projects. Ohio State also purchases the maximum amount of renewable energy credits allowed from its local power provider.

Ohio State has quite a large campus, so getting around without a vehicle can be tough – but vanpooling, car sharing, free on-campus bus service and bus passes for local transit services are available to students, faculty and staff. The university fleet also includes hybrid and electric vehicles and all diesel vehicles on campus run on B20 soy biodiesel.

Two new buildings at OSU have been LEED certified: the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center and the Moody Hall Neighborhood Policing Center. The 4-H Center is made with many recycled materials, gets lots of natural light, has eco-friendly furnishings and carpeting and recycled 89% of constructiond debris. A third building, the Ohio Union, is currently undergoing renovation and is also seeking LEED certification.

New green organizations are forming at OSU all the time, like “Students for Food Sovereignty” which aims to strengthen the movement toward agricultural sustainability and is currently working on a student-run farm to be planted in the spring. The students hope that the farm will help raise awareness about food and agriculture issues and increase involvement among all students throughout the campus. Currently, the dining hall spends 36% of its total food budget on locally produced goods, serves fair trade coffee and has adopted a goal of 30% waste reduction by 2010.

Other green organizations on campus include Students for Recycling and Students for a Sustainable Campus.  A sustainability chair at each dormitory develops and coordinates sustainability-related educational programs as part of OSU’s Scarlet, Gray and Green conservation program and student involvement will no doubt increase as sustainability continues to gain a higher profile on campus.

Link [Ohio State Sustainability]

College Student Invents Affordable Solar-Powered Fridge

The refrigerator made by British college student Emily Cummins isn’t really new – the idea has been around for ages, but for some reason, it hasn’t really been applied on a wide scale. Now that people are rethinking the design of everyday items in order to up their energy efficiency and sustainability, however, ideas like Emily’s are becoming more popular.

Emily’s solar-powered fridge can be made from household materials, making it ideal for use in the third world. The 21-year-old came up with the idea while working on a school project in her grandfather’s potting shed.

From The Daily Mail:

Her ’sustainable’ fridge works through evaporation and can be used to keep perishable goods such as milk and meat cool for days.

Without using any power, temperatures stay at around 6c.

The fridge comprises two cylinders  -  one inside the other. The inner cylinder is made from metal but the outer cylinder can be made from anything to hand, including wood and plastic.

Miss Cummins, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, said: ‘A fridge is something that people can’t seem to live without.

‘I wanted to keep it really simple and so I set about researching how we cooled things years ago. The simplest method of cooling something could be seen when you look at how we cool biologically  -  through sweating or evaporation.

‘That idea led me to the design and the fridge was born.’

Cummins, who has won awards for a toothpase squeezer for arthritis sufferers and for a water-carrying device for Third World use, also hopes to patent a more sophisticated portable version to transport medical supplies around hot countries.

She has spent five months in Africa perfecting and demonstrating her refrigerator, recently returning to the UK to start a business management course at Leeds University. She had hoped to take engineering courses but was denied due to lack of proper qualifications, as supporters around the world call for university officials to consider her real-world experience.

What makes Emily’s invention special is that she has taken this idea and applied it to a real need in the world, finding a niche for it so it can be used for the greater good. I’m no engineer but I have to wonder why we can’t apply similar technology to full-size refrigerators at home – modern-day fridges are such a waste of energy, especially in the winter.

Link [The Daily Mail] via [CleanTechnica]

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]

Green College Spotlight: Cornell University

Cornell University in Ithaca, New York officially set a goal this year to integrate sustainability into all major operations, but that doesn’t mean they’re just getting started on the path to being green. Cornell adopted the Kyoto Protocol for reducing CO2 emissions back in 2001, and they’re on track to exceed their goals by 2010. All kinds of different sustainability programs are in place, helping the university make progress in areas like recycling, green building, waste, energy use and transportation.

About 4,100 tons of waste gets composted every year at Cornell, and another 2,300 tons gets recycled. They’ve cut the amount of waste they produce by an awesome 40% since 1990 through solid waste, dining hall and agricultural programs. Cornell also produces about 16% of its own electricity supply, running partially on power from a hydroelectric plant. Cold lake water cools the campus during the hot summer months, and the campus benefits from energy-saving methods like efficient lighting, demand controlled ventilation, and energy-efficient windows.

The university has a fleet of alternative fuel vehicles including electric vehicles, natural gas vehicles and trucks that run on biodiesel.  Many Cornell students take the bus into town for free and ride their bicycles on a campus that includes two LEED-certified green buildings and several more sustainable building projects under construction.

Cornell keeps a close watch on air quality both indoors and out, and works hard to protect its many water sources from contamination. Keeping the air and water clean is no small task given the university’s agricultural research, construction activities, the existence of former waste disposal sites and waste from its schools of medicine.  But, they’re working hard on new innovations like clean “non-burn” technology for waste disposal and strict oversight of stormwater discharge. The university’s steam plant provides heat for campus buildings and doubles as a thermal electric plant, minimizing emissions.

Cornell students, faculty and staff have so many opportunities to get involved and make a difference both on campus and in the community. Student organizations include the Sustainability Hub, Kyoto NOW!, Society for Natural Resources Conservation, Engineers for a Sustainable World – and the list goes on and on.  Cornell staff can join the Campus Green Life Team, the Green Purchasing Task Force, the Green Building Oversight Committee or one of several other groups. There are also community groups, academic organizations and a great list of national and international groups.

It’s clear that at Cornell, practically everyone is dedicated to the important goal of living more sustainably, in every way possible. Read more about their sustainability programs and initiatives at the Cornell Sustainable Campus website.

Link [Cornell Sustainable Campus]

Green College Spotlight: Brown University

Brown University is working toward a more sustainable global environment through three focus areas: research and training, community collaborations, university commitments and a great variety of student groups and initiatives that turn ideas into reality. The Providence, Rhode Island Ivy League school began their ‘Brown is Green’ environmental education and advocacy initiative way back in 1990, with the aim of expanding student involvement in identifying and solving environmental problems on campus, providing a model for other colleges and universities.

The Brown is Green initiative addresses a number of goals including energy conservation, pollution reduction, eco-friendly design, energy efficiency, resource recovery, water conservation and transportation. Brown University now has an Energy and Environment Task Force that assesses the university’s environmental impact and works on ways to improve, as well as an Energy and Environmental Advisory Committee (EEAC) that develops goals and strategies to make Brown more green. The EEAC’s first set of recommendations, released in 2007, led to the creation of Brown’s Community Carbon Use Reduction program which works to reduce the university’s carbon footprint.

Brown University students have certainly proven to be passionate about making their school more eco-friendly and spreading these ideas to the community. Green organizations on campus include Emerging Green Leaders, comprised of students and young professionals intent on becoming part of the green building movement, and the Empower Student Group, which believes that Brown must take responsibility for its contribution to global warming and immediately work to end it.

Students are also leading the way toward better practices on campus. The Sustainable Food Initiative integrates local food and sustainable agriculture into student life through an on-campus, student run farm. The Brown Progress Initiative is a multidisciplinary think-tank for sustainable product design and development, seeking to cultivate innovative solutions that can solve current needs in a ‘green’ manner.

Brown has retrofitted many existing buildings on campus with more eco-friendly lighting, motors and mechanical equipment, and millions of dollars worth of additional improvements are in the pipeline for the next few years.  The university has also set goals to seek, at minimum, the Silver standard in LEED for all new construction and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for all newly acquired facilities by at least 15%.

Other ways in which this Ivy League institution has gone green include a ‘Bike to Brown’ support group, a fleet of university-owned hybrid, natural gas and biodiesel-fueled vehicles, and free bus transportation for students, faculty and staff. The Brown dining hall purchases locally grown and fairly traded food through its Community Harvest program, works to compost or recycle as much waste as possible and provides biodegradable to-go containers.

Read more about Brown’s efforts at the Brown Daily Herald, which frequently features environment-themed articles. Congratulations to everyone at Brown University for all of your achievements in such a short time period -  we’re looking forward to seeing what else you can do.

Link [Brown is Green]

Real Food Challenge: Uniting Students for Just and Sustainable Food

College students across the nation are coming together to demand ‘real food’ – local, organic, fair trade food via college farms, farm-to-cafeteria programs and other initiatives.  The Real Food Challenge loosely defines ‘real food’ as a holistic term they’re using to bring together a lot of different ideas people have about just and sustainable food. Since colleges and universities spend more than $4 billion on food every year, college students have the ability to directly influence a significant portion of the national food system.

From Real Food Challenge:

People are increasingly waking up to the need for change. The situation is dire, as environmental degradation, corporate consolidation, homogenization, and alienation become the hallmarks of our food system. The momentum for change is growing; consumers are demanding more real food, activists from across the country are linking up, and the buzz is growing all around. On hundreds of college campuses all around the country, the momentum has become a budding movement.

This movement, however, lacks common goals, a common framework, and a collective voice. Nor is this movement as diverse and widespread as it should be. If we move strategically and effectively, we can capitalize on the growing energy and bring the many elements of the campus food movement into collaboration, working towards a unified goal of more socially and environmentally conscious food.

We have shown that we have the passion, drive and wherewithal to make real change. Thousands of students are already working to create a more just and sustainable food system, and have demonstrated a commitment to the highest ideals of environmental sustainability and social justice.

Dozens of schools are already participating, including sustainability leaders like College of the Atlantic, Dartmouth College, Evergreen State College, Middlebury College, NYU and Warren Wilson College. Check out the list, and if your school isn’t on it, the Real Food Challenge website has all the details on how you can get involved.  The website also includes resources like a 10-step ‘Guide to Launch’, action ideas and downloadable posters.

This is a fantastic way for college students to exercise their power to make the world the way they want it to be. Why settle for pesticide-laden, mass-produced junk when you can demand better, and get it? This is a really well-organized campaign, and it’ll undoubtedly do a world of good in changing the way college students think of food.

Link [Real Food Challenge]

Green College Spotlight: University of California at Santa Cruz

The University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) has a long history of environmental and conservation programs, so it’s no surprise that they’ve upped their game when it comes to sustainability on campus. The university, well known for its stunning acres of forests and fields overlooking the Monterey Bay, has also received many accolades for their Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems.

UCSC has joined the ranks of dozens of green colleges around the country in creating a Sustainability Office and hiring a Sustainability Coordinator to oversee all of their efforts to establish UCSC as a forward-thinking, eco-minded institution. Since then, UCSC has worked to integrate sustainability into the core responsibilities of faculty, staff and students, initiating many programs and outreach strategies.

The University of California at Santa Cruz has had great success integrating green buildings into the local ecosystem, working hard to limit adverse environmental effects as much as possible. They’ve always taken stewardship of the campus very seriously, and have now committed to meeting LEED standards for future projects.

With a large, spread-out campus that occupies over 2,000 acres of grasslands, oak woodlands and redwood forests, you might think that eco-friendly transportation would be difficult to integrate. But at UCSC carpooling, buses and bicycles abound, and all campus transit and fleet diesel vehicles run on B-20, a diesel fuel that is at least 20% biodiesel.

UCSC is a leader in sustainable agricultural research and training in the Farm-to-College movement, and it shows in their campus food service programs. UCSC Dining Services purchases lots of local, certified organic food and has been offering a wide range of vegetarian and vegan options since the early 1970s. The University Center’s restaurant offers environmentally friendly and healthy options like fair trade coffee, organic produce, antibiotic-free and hormone-free meats and seafood that meets the criteria of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.

Singing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment back in March of 2007 solidifed UCSC’s carbon neutrality goals. The university hopes to return to 2000’s carbon levels by 2014, 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

UCSC is also getting serious about recycling, waste reduction, water conservation and protecting the diverse ecology of the Santa Cruz area. They’ve managed to do so much over just a few years, we can’t wait to see what they accomplish next. Great job, University of California at Santa Cruz!

Link [UCSC Sustainability]

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