Last week, the Sustainable Endowments Institute officially released the College Sustainability Report Card 2011. This year’s edition of the Report Card contains profiles of 322 schools, as well as an additional 1,100 full survey responses comprising more than 10,000 pages of data on the sustainability practices of our nation’s colleges and universities. The report, which assesses 52 “greenness” indicators (including green building initiatives, recycling programs, endowment investment policies, renewable energy installations, and more) uses an A to F letter-grading system to evaluate performance. Read more
Cheli Cresswell
Community Colleges at Texas Greenforce Summit: “Think Local”
At the “Preparing the Texas Workforce for the New Green Economy” Summit this past week, one of the hot issues discussed was how community colleges can engage green employers both for campus sustainability projects and to develop jobs for graduates — an undertaking that can prove challenging. Read more
Green Jobs Summit Series Kicks Off to a Great Start
Yesterday was a big day for Campus Ecology; the “Preparing the Texas Workforce for the New Green Economy” Summit in San Antonio, Texas was a huge success. It was the first in a series of regional summits put on by the Greenforce Initiatve that NWF and Jobs for the Future (JFF) have jointly created to help spur green jobs education, innovation and training at community colleges in select regions across the country. Read more
Going Green on Campuses of Color
Minority-serving campuses have unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to sustainability. The United Negro College Fund’s Building Green Initiative supports Historically Black Colleges & Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges to make their facilities more sustainable. At the Associate for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s 2010 Summit, leaders from several institutions gave insight into strategies for achieving the goals of the Building Green Initiative: namely, increasing the number of LEED certified buildings and the number of ACUPCC signatories on those campuses. Read more
Colleges & Universities Share Advice on Financing On-Campus Renewable Energy Installations at AASHE
At the AASHE Conference campus leaders from diverse backgrounds gathered to share their knowledge, experience and advice on a variety of topics — among them the perennial question of “I want to help my campus adopt sustainable energy practices, but how do I pay for it?” Read more
Record Turnout For AASHE Student Summit!
Today the Colorado Conference Center felt a little like a university campus as over 500 students from an impressive array of colleges and universities showed up for the AASHE 2010 Student Summit, co-produced by NWF’s Campus Ecology program. After a keynote address by Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, representatives from dozens of schools participated in breakout sessions on topics including “Connecting Campus to the Wider Community,” “Waste Management on Campus,” “Sustainability Success Stories,” “Financing Sustainability Projects on Campus,” and “National Student Campaigns.” Each session was entirely student-led and showcased inspiring initiatives on campuses from Northern Arizona to McGill, and from San Diego to Yale. Examples ranged from the “free store” at Bemidji State University to a student-created green lifestyle blog. Students also had the opportunity to discuss topics of their own choosing during an “Open Space” session, where participants were free to brainstorm and then lead small group discussions about the issues they felt mattered most. Read more
Gretchen Bleiler to AASHE 2010 Student Attendees: “You All Have The Power To Create Green Change”
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s 2010 Conference in Denver, Colorado has officially begun, and for the Student Summit portion of the conference, it began with Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler delivering the keynote address to the 500+ students in attendance. Read more
RePaper Project helps Campuses Step Up Climate Protection Via Waste Reduction and Paper Recycling
This fall, help your campus move beyond simple paper recycling and take climate and sustainability practices to the next level. The RePaper Project, an initiative of the Environmental Paper Network, has released a new comprehensive tool designed to facilitate that process. The guide, entitled Paper Steps on Campus: 9 Steps to Protecting the Climate and Reducing Waste through Campus Paper Policies and compiled in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and Recycling Organizations of North America, is an essential resource even for colleges and universities that have already begun implementing sustainability initiatives on campus. Read more
Take the Lead For Green – 10 Ways to be an Eco-Leader On Your Campus This Year
A new school year is a time of many changes, which makes it a perfect time to build new habits, get rid of old ones, and encourage those around us to do the same. There are many ways to be an environmental leader on campus, and some of theA most effective of them are easier than might be expected. From residence halls to recreation activities, most colleges and universities (even the eco-friendly ones) are full of opportunities for increased sustainability. Here are 10 ways that anyone– student, faculty, or campus liason – can help their campus “go green” in 2010-2011. Read more
Sustainability Leaders at Major Corporations Share Strategies at Green Pathways Conference
Today marks that start of the Creating Green Pathways for Lower-Skilled Adults Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The two-day event, co-hosted with NWF by Jobs For The Future and the National Fund … Read more
