“I think university policies that infuse sustainability throughout the institution’s operating systems attract students from all over,” Matheison said, adding that the Sustainability Center has gotten more than 2,500 student involved in green projects like the “Get Rooted” project, which aims to repopulate the surrounding area with native trees and shrubs. “When they learn we’re recycling and composting … I think that’s really appealing to an environmentally-minded student.”
Last fall, the university began composting its dining hall waste, rather than throwing it away. The initiative is expected to reduce food waste by 90 percent, with up to 100 tons of waste being composted every year.
The IvyWise list is just one of the country’s annual rankings of environmentally-friendly colleges and universities. The latest College Sustainability Report Card was released in October, drawing from 332 college responses and totaling 10,000 pages of data about schools’ green efforts.
Despite operating budget shortfalls across higher education last year—average endowment values dropped by 23 percent last year, according to the Report Card—eco-friendly policies have remained a centerpiece for most colleges surveyed.
“Surprising the skeptics, most schools we surveyed did not let financial reversals undermine their green commitments,” said Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, the organization that compiles the annual report. “New financial realities encouraged saving money by adopting environmentally friendly innovations.”
Along with its surveying of green-conscious students, the Princeton Review publishes an annual Green Ratings. The ratings system ranks more than 600 colleges and universities, and designates institutions that receive the highest Green Rating. The 2010 honor roll includes Yale University, Harvard College, the University of New Hampshire, and Bates College.
“The ‘green’ movement on college campuses is far more than an Earth Day recycling project,” Robert Franek, vice president and publisher of the Princeton Review, said in an announcement. “It is growing tremendously among students and administrators alike. … Many have shown extraordinary commitments to environmental issues and to the environment in their practices and programs.”
Links:
IvyWise.com
Princeton Review Green Ratings
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