U Houston to Offer Sustainability Minor
(U.S.): The university has created an interdisciplinary minor in energy and sustainability as part of a strategic plan to enhance and expand its energy-related educational and research initiatives. Courses to be offered include sustainable development, the environmental biology of Texas, the economics of energy, introduction to air pollution, international energy politics and an energy-related writing class.
U Iowa Expands Initiative for Sustainable Communities
(U.S.): The university has expanded its Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities to become a campus-wide and statewide project. The initiative was created to enhance the capacity of Iowa's communities to address the economic, environmental, and social-cultural issues they face today and build a more sustainable future. With its expansion, more departments across campus will partake in future projects.
U Nebraska Lincoln Alumni Raise Money for Organic Farm
(U.S.): Two alumni have been working with current environmental studies students to raise money to turn a half-acre of university land into an organic farm. The student-run farm has received commitment from the university for the land, and more than $2,000 toward the $3,500 needed to renovate a greenhouse on the site has been raised.
United Arab Emirates U Organizes First Green Week
(United Arab Emirates): The university’s first Green Week featured events linked together via specific themes aimed to raise awareness about environmental sustainability. The event aims to increase students' awareness regarding the preservation of the environment and applying green strategies in their daily lives.
U South Carolina Installs Solar Trash Compactors
(U.S.): The facilities department has installed eight BigBelly Solar trash compactors and Smart Belly recycling units at the Russell House University Union. The new compactors replaced 40 trashcans and will serve as a pilot program. The trashcans will be repurposed to offer more recycling cans in other areas of the campus.
U Toronto Debuts Veggie Mondays Campaign
(Canada): Food Services has launched Veggie Mondays, a campus-wide campaign to encourage students to consume more plant-based foods at least one day of the week. The first phase of this campaign implemented a vegetarian and vegan standard which allows students and staff to easily identify vegan and vegetarian foods in campus eateries. The second phase will introduce student discounts on vegan and vegetarian meals as well as a weekly comic strip to raise awareness.
12 Canadian Institutions Participate in Earth Hour Competition
Twelve post-secondary institutions from across Alberta, Canada will take collective action against climate change through the One Hour, No Power: Campus Challenge. The fourth annual inter-campus competition, hosted by the University of Alberta’s Office of Sustainability, will see which school can get the greatest number of students, faculty and staff to pledge to power down all non-essential lights and appliances during Earth Hour 2013 on March 23.
College of the Atlantic to Divest all Fossil Fuel Investments
The college’s Board of Trustees has voted to divest from all fossil fuel-related investments, going into effect immediately. The move follows a student push to sell investments in companies whose businesses are believed to be harmful to the environment.
Colorado Approves In-State Tuition for Immigrant Students
The governor of Colorado is expected to sign into law a bill, passed by the state’s House of Representatives, that would allow students who entered the United States illegally to pay in-state tuition at Colorado’s public colleges. Currently, these students must pay the higher rate for nonresidents.
Cornell U to Launch Sustainability Major
The university’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will debut a new environmental science and sustainability major this fall. The major will take an interdisciplinary approach to environmental science, examining both biological and physical sciences as well as the social dimensions of sustainability. Students will have the opportunity to specialize in concentrations including biogeochemical sciences and environmental policy and governance.
Dickinson College Launches Student Sustainability Fellows Program
The Center for Sustainability Education has launched the Baird Fellows Program designed to bring together student leaders who have helped advance sustainability at the college. The intent is to create an interdisciplinary forum for discussion and collaboration. Senior participants will engage with guest speakers and the community throughout the semester, sharing ideas about how to create a more sustainable world.
DOE Announces Better Buildings Case Competition Winners
The Energy Department has announced the winners the 2013 Better Building Case Competition, an annual U.S. Department of Energy contest that challenges collegiate students to develop and present real-world solutions to boost the energy efficiency of buildings across the country. The winners included Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Chicago, and Yale University.
Louisiana State U Kicks Off Campus Sustainability Campaign
Residential Life and Campus Sustainability have launched UNPLUG, a three-week campaign that aims to inform students about energy and water consumption, conservation, recycling and sustainability. Residential halls will also compete against one another to see who can save the most energy.
McGill U Receives Sustainable Seafood Certification
The university’s Food and Dining Services has received the Marine Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification, becoming the first Canadian post-secondary institution to be recognized by the MSC for its commitment to serving sustainable seafood. Supported by the university’s Sustainability Projects Fund, the certification effort was kickstarted by a capstone class project and picked up by students who were able to work in partnership with Food and Dining Services to see the certification through to completion.
Michigan State U Offers Boxed Water
The university has added its single-serve, boxed water product to its main campus offerings. Students will have the option to purchase Boxed Water at the Student Union and in three campus residence halls. The University partnered with Boxed Water is Better because of the company’s focus on sustainability, environmental awareness and its distinct package design.
New Mexico State U Explores Sustainable Wastewater Treatment
Researchers have begun testing a new system to treat wastewater that uses less electricity than conventional sewage plants and uses photosynthesis to produce renewable surplus energy. If successful, the POWER (photosynthetically oxygenated waste-to-energy recovery) system will provide a more sustainable method for treating wastewater, a new viable approach to producing electric power and liquid biofuels, and a revenue stream to offset infrastructure improvements.
Portland State U Joins Fresh Air Campus Challenge
The university has signed on to the Fresh Air Campus Challenge, an effort that brings together campuses and local, state and national health organizations in a partnership to help all institutions of higher education begin the process of adopting a tobacco-free policy. Students and administrators are assessing tobacco issues on campus and working with the City of Portland to move toward a smoke-free campus.
Salisbury U Purchases Local Renewable Energy Credits
The university has committed to purchase 8,000 renewable energy credits from Ingenco, a renewable energy company operating throughout the mid-Atlantic. The company has partnered with the Wicomico County to use methane gas produced from a local landfill that is also used by the university.
Sierra College Student Constructs Solar Array
Students have constructed a solar array composed of 99 panels that will provide nearly 18,000 watts of annual energy production. The array was built over the last three years by over 50 students enrolled in the college’s Energy Technology Program.
Spelman College to Receive 75 Recycling Bins
The college will receive 75 recycling bins as part of the Alcoa Foundation Recycling Bin Grant Program. The program is an effort to help schools boost their recycling results during the eight-week RecycleMania Tournament, and expand their recycling efforts throughout the year.
U Iowa Dental Science Building Addition Earns LEED Gold
The 33,754-square-foot addition features collection and storage areas for recyclable materials, energy cost savings of 41 percent above standard building codes, and wood-based materials harvested from Forest Stewardship Council certified forests.
U La Verne Residence Hall Achieves First LEED Gold
Vista La Verne, a campus residence hall, has earned the university’s first LEED Gold certification. Sustainable features include a reflective roof, low-flow plumbing, preferred parking for energy efficient vehicles and a covered bike shelter.
U Minnesota Morris Launches On-Site Composting
The university has launched an organic waste disposal program as part of its campus-wide sustainability efforts. The initiative was led by a group of students to help avoid a waste hauling fee and create a valuable resource for use in landscaping projects. In the past, all compostable materials were sent off-campus to be incinerated.
U Minnesota Twin Cities Receives Energy Efficiency Award
The university has received the Platinum Award by Xcel Energy for its long-term commitment to energy efficiency. The award recognized the Twin Cities campus for saving 35 million kilowatt hours of electricity over five years.
Yakima Valley CC Receives $600,000 in Grants for Energy Projects
The college has been awarded $503,000 from the state Department of Commerce’s Energy Efficiency Grants program to install new lighting and heating and air-conditioning systems at six buildings on campus. The college also received $97,476 from the Pacific Power Blue Sky renewable energy program to install a 30-kilowatt solar array and monitoring system.
Appalachian State U Begins Zero Waste Commitment
The university has launched a zero waste commitment with the goal of diverting 90 percent of all waste from landfill disposal by 2022. As part of this commitment, single stream recycling and mini-bin waste collection initiatives will be implemented. The initiative will also include institutional purchasing decisions that focus on reducing consumption and increasing recycling.
College Presidents Urge Colleagues to Push for Immigration Reform
The presidents of Cornell University, Arizona State University, and Miami Dade College have sent a letter to more than 1,200 of their colleagues, urging them to join an effort to reform immigration laws that limit colleges’ ability to educate and to innovate. Particularly in the STEM fields, American colleges “train many of the brightest minds of the world,” they write, “only to have those students sent abroad to compete against us because our immigration laws do not provide a viable path for them to stay.” In their letter, the three leaders call attention to the plight of foreign-born students who “arrived in our country as children but are prevented from attending college because of their undocumented status.” By denying such young people access to higher education, they write, “we deny our country the talent we very much need.”
Colorado State U Conducts Waste Audit
Students, faculty and staff have conducted an audit of trash gathered from the university’s dorms and dining halls as part of RecycleMania. Volunteers separated items to recycle, compost or discard. Results from the same audit conducted last year found that 26 percent of what was tossed could have been recycled, 36 percent could have been composted and only 38 percent was true trash.
Department of Energy Announces Winners of Student Competition
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the winners of the second annual Better Buildings Case Competition, which challenges university teams to develop and present real-world business and technical solutions to cut energy waste and improve the efficiency of commercial buildings across the country. The winners included the Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Chicago, and Yale University.
Duke U Adds 2 New LEED Certifications
The Duke Cancer Center and Chilled Water Plant #2 have been awarded LEED Gold certification. Along with bike racks and showers for bicycle commuters, the Cancer Center also features a rooftop garden, large windows to allow for natural lighting and occupancy sensors. The chiller plant is able to capture water condensate on the roof and store it for for the building's cooling towers.
Emory U Releases Report to Help Build Inclusive Community
A Campus Life committee has released the “Campus Life Compact for Building an Inclusive Community at Emory," a student-driven report that outlines a framework and a strategic plan that is designed to guide campus dialogue around issues of social justice.. The report consists of a comprehensive list of recommendations that focus on the need to improve inclusion and address issues of diversity within the campus community.
Feeding McGill Project Wins National Award
The university’s Feeding McGill project has been awarded a silver medal for leadership in education given by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) and Deloitte at the 2012 IPAC Deloitte Public Sector Leadership Awards Gala. Since the project’s creation, Feeding McGill has supplied over 80,000 pounds of produce to university’s Food and Dining Services.
Georgia Tech Housing to Streamline Recycling
The Department of Housing will implement a new single stream recycling system to replace the multi-stream process that is currently in use. Student recycling is expected to increase by 20 percent by the end of the semester.
Humboldt State U Receives $1.75M for Clean Energy Project
The university’s Schatz Energy Research Center in partnership with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority has received a $1.75 million grant from the California Energy Commission for a community-scale renewable energy implementation project. The clean energy initiative will include a biomass power system, community-wide energy upgrades and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Indiana U Purdue U Indianapolis Conducts Sustainability Survey
The university has conducted a survey asking businesses, health care organizations, churches, nonprofits, higher education institutions, and other groups and residents in Indianapolis how they view sustainability. The survey’s purpose is to examine the sustainability practices of those in the Indianapolis community and use the data to determine possible improvements to current and future sustainability practices.
Knox College Theatre Students Promote Sustainability
Theatre students have raised an emphasis on reducing waste and promoting sustainability for its latest stage production. All items were reused from past shows, purchased from second hand/vintage shops, or created with the intention of being used again. The students also created a Sustainability Crew which included initiatives like sewing tote bags from old t-shirts, posting student videos promoting sustainability on YouTube, and encouraging others to be more sustainable in their everyday lives.
Massachusetts CLA Student Government Passes Divestment Resolution
The Student Government Association has approved a resolution urging the President, Board of Trustees, and Foundation Board to divest from publicly traded fossil fuel companies. The divestment plan calls for the college to cease any new investments in fossil fuel companies and to end all holdings by February 2016.
Morgan CC Creates Community Garden
The college has created a community garden to provide food for the community, help fund scholarships through produce sales, and provide a student educational component. Classes will be held to assist participants in becoming more self-sufficient with their own gardening sustainability efforts.
Rochester IT Debuts Living Wall, Fuel Cell Power Unit
The institute has installed a green wall and a fuel-cell power unit at the new building for Goslisano Institute for Sustainability. The green wall spans 8 feet wide and 38 feet tall, containing 1,776 green plants that contribute to air quality as well as aesthetics. The fuel cell will produce 400 kilowatts of continuous electric power and will serve as the building’s primary energy source.
Tulane U's New Law Program to Focus on Sustainable Development
The Law School and the Payson Center for International Development have partnered to create a new law and development graduate degree. Students will receive multidisciplinary training in sustainability, development, international human rights, and comparative environmental law.
U California Santa Cruz Announces Carbon Fund Awards
The university’s Carbon Fund Committee has awarded over $30,000 to six projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus and the surrounding community. Projects include installing LED lighting; working with at-risk youth to build bike generators; improving the BLEST machine, which is used to convert waste plastic into bio-diesel; conducting a bike route quality and safety index; and the development of a new smart phone application that will show on-campus residents how much energy their building is consuming.
U Cincinnati Students Advocate for Organic Food
Student advocates for organic food have received approval to go forward with the Real Food Calculator, the first step to the Real Food Challenge. The calculator determines how healthy the food currently being served is and how much it needs to improve. The university can use the calculator without signing a commitment to the challenge, a national campaign to provide students with more sustainable food in school systems.
