Eco-Enlightened Universities

Universities and colleges all over the United States have begun taking the initiative to “go green.” Sierra magazine comes up with a list of the most eco-friendly schools every year, and I decided to check out what some of these top schools have been doing in order to become ranked. Hundreds of schools across the nation are judged based on a questionnaire that scored (1-10) the institution in eight categories: efficiency, energy, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, and administration.

-The University of Colorado at Boulder

Academics: 8

Administration: 9

Efficiency: 9

Energy: 3

Food: 7

Purchasing: 8

Transportation: 10

Waste Management: 10

Bonus: 5

            Score: 100

With the highest rank of all the colleges in the US The University of Colorado at Boulder has put its best foot forward in order to be green. CU-Boulder has always been one of the leading “green” institutions, with the first ever student-run environmental center and collegiate recycling program. Along with this CU provides a plethora of low impact transportation options to its students, and all need buildings being build on campus meet the LEED Gold standards.

-The University of Washington Seattle

Academics: 8

Administration: 10

Efficiency: 8

Energy: 9

Food: 7

Purchasing: 8

Transportation: 8

Waste Management: 8

Bonus: 2

            Score: 98

Tied for second place with Middlebury University, the University of Washington Seattle puts a large emphasis on local organic and natural food on campus, and all of its new buildings meet the LEED Silver standards. The UW also strongly supports the use of alternative transportation for its students and surrounding community members, and also has only alternative fuel, hybrid, electric and biodiesel-powered vehicles and trucks for on campus work.

As we develop as a green community I think that Elon can learn from the examples of both CU-Boulder and the UW Seattle about how we can obtain an even higher standard of sustainability on our campus. If you’d like to see Sierra’s full list of “Eco-Enlightened Universities” you can find it, along with some of the worst ranked schools here: http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200909/coolschools/

-Steffi