Villanova U Receives 'BEE Protective' Recognition

The university recently signed a pledge to continue its commitment to using neonicotinoid-free insecticides, a product with harmful environmental impacts. The pledge, called BEE Protective, is a national campaign organized through the Center for Food Safety and Beyond Pesticides and works with campuses to adopt policies that protect pollinators from bee-toxic pesticides.

U Nebraska-Lincoln to Upgrade Irrigation System

A new campus-wide upgrade to irrigation piping is underway and projected to decrease campus water use by 20 percent annually. The new system allows employees to control and monitor watering from a centralized location.

Morehead State U Obtains Bee Campus Honor

A Bee Campus USA certification now adorns the university after the campus developed a Pollinator Protection Plan for its 1,200-acre landscape that includes locally native and pollinator friendly plants.

U Missouri to House Two Beehives

With planning that began over one year ago, Sustain Mizzou wants to install the beehives to teach students about bee behavior and the importance of bees for food production.

Portland CC Earns Bee Campus USA Status

The community college recently announced its acquisition of the Bee Campus USA certification. In keeping with certification, the campus implements an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan, staff are regularly trained on best IPM practices and chemical use, and the college is expected to use signage in appropriate places that explain the role of pollinators. There are currently plans to develop a Campus Pollinator Habitat Plan.

U South Carolina Students Provide Hydroponics to Campus Dining

Sustainable Carolina students spearheaded a hydroponics business, and as a result, are providing homegrown lettuce to campus dining facilities.

U Alberta Installs Solar-Powered Street Fixture

As a solution to lighting a dark area on campus where connecting with grid power isn't feasible, the first solar-powered street lamp at the university was installed on the Augustana campus this past month.

Houston Universities Participate in Fundraiser for Native Prairie Parks

The Katy Prairie Conservancy recently launched a fundraiser, called Grassroots for Change, to build pocket prairies at Houston-area universities, including the University of Houston, Rice University and the University of St. Thomas. The funding will be used to install and maintain native plant areas on campus.

Michigan State U Applies Organic-Based Liquid to Combat Ice & Snow

In alignment with the university's strategic framework, Landscape Services recently began using a liquid deicer derived from beet juice in an effort to reduce chlorides in the environment. Sidewalk snow removal teams are also equipped with special brooms that are now used during lighter snow events, which has helped cut down on salt use as well.

U Connecticut Constructs Wildlife Corridor

A new road that links the Storrs campus to a local route was engineered with a wildlife corridor that enables critters as small as salamanders to larger ones such as white-tailed deer to cross the road without danger from vehicular traffic. Further, the path of the road was designed to minimize destruction of surrounding wetlands.

Smith College Students Test Permeable Surface

A student design will transform a 12-car parking area into a laboratory to test the effectiveness and effects of permeable pavement. Instrumentation will collect data from runoff and compare water quality between the permeable asphalt and traditional asphalt surface.

Georgia Piedmont Technical College Partners for Tree Planting Event

The college and Trees Atlanta teamed up to plant 30 trees across one of its campuses in an effort to make the college a more environmentally-friendly and beautiful place for the campus community. Planted species include hornbeam, ginkgo, crape myrtle, cypress, linden, oak and blackgum trees.

U Colorado Boulder Expands Pollinator-Friendly Landscaping

The specialized landscaping across campus, totaling about 10,000-square-feet of land, is pollinator-friendly, can withstand heavy heat and minimal water, and enables pesticide-free practices to continue. The project was funded by the campus' sustainability fund and involved students from the university's Environmental Center and permaculture class.

North Carolina State U Students Study Compost for Recreation Fields Fertilizer

With the help of students and staff, University Recreation and Grounds Management partnered to study the viability of using compost instead of traditional fertilizer to maintain the health of grass on the university’s recreation fields.

Edge Hill U Earns Keep Britain Tidy Green Flag Award

(U.K.): The award recognizes the university’s efforts in minimizing the environmental impact of its activities, maintaining natural habitats through its commitment to biodiversity, and developing a sustainable campus for the enjoyment of students, staff and the local community.

U Texas-Rio Grande Valley-Edinburg Receives Tree Campus USA Designation

The Arbor Day Foundation recognized the campus this summer with the Tree Campus USA designation for its commitment to effective urban forest management and engaging the campus community in environmental stewardship.

Vassar College Achieves Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certification

The college's new designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP) recognizes the college for upholding environmental and habitat stewardship.

Duke U Celebrates Its Old Trees

Some of them dating back to before Duke was Duke, the university catalogs its tallest, widest and oldest trees.

Appalachian State U Unveils Outdoor Educational Space

The new outdoor learning space that includes seven wooden benches constructed from locally harvested wood now resides on the university's Living Learning Center campus.

Pennsylvania State U Students Plan Student Farm

Dozens of students are now involved in planning a student-centered farm initiative that includes plans for a new minor in sustainable food systems. Students are involved in strategy for the future farm including what farming techniques will be deployed, research about financial resources and workforce of other student farms, and fundraising.

North Carolina State U Students Establish Bee Habitat & Garden

This year students from the university's College of Veterinary Medicine have been busy as bees establishing a habitat for bees and a community garden on campus with the help of a $7,000 grant from the NC State Sustainability Fund. Featuring an assortment of pollinator-friendly and native plants, the garden is an educational space for future vets to learn about medicinal & toxic plants.

San Francisco State U Showcases Water-Efficient Irrigation System

The campus recently installed a centrally-controlled irrigation system that reduced water consumption on athletic fields by 30 percent by calculating the amount of moisture in the air and soil to determine water needs. The system will be expanded to help the campus meet the governor's 25 percent water-reduction mandate.

Rice U Earns Tree Campus USA Honor

Arbor Day Foundation recently granted the university Tree Campus USA designation for its commitment to managing campus trees, developing connectivity with the community beyond campus borders to foster healthy, urban forests, and striving to engage their students and community in forestry efforts.

Morehead State U Earns Tree Campus USA Designation

The university was recently honored with 2014 Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management. The dedication celebration included a tree walk, tree planting, and a chalk it up event where students wrote and created art about what benefits trees provide.

U Kentucky Adopts New Sustainability Policy for Campus Landscapes

The university will use the principles and resources developed by the Sustainable SITES Initiative™ as guidelines for integrating the institution’s commitment to sustainability with projects that impact campus landscapes. Contribution to air quality, water filtration and management, wildlife habitats, energy, and human health all define sustainable landscapes through the SITES program.

Southern Oregon U Named First Bee Campus USA

On April 8, 2015, the university and Bee City USA will announce the launch of the national Bee Campus USA program, designed to marshal the strengths of college campuses for the benefit of pollinators. The university collaborated with Bee City USA to develop the guidelines for certification after being inspired by early adopters of Bee City USA, such as SOU’s hometown of Ashland, Ore.

U Kentucky Conducts Campus Clean-Up

A beautiful campus and a litter-free campus go hand-in-hand, and groups at the University of Kentucky will be able to care for their own piece of Wildcat country during the month of April. A new element of the Pick It Up campaign, the Adopt-a-Spot program encourages registered UK student organizations, UK offices and other groups to participate in weekly clean-ups to eliminate litter at UK.

U Mississippi Attains Tree Campus USA Designation

The new designation comes on behalf of the university's Landscape Services' stewardship of campus trees in an urban environment and student engagement through learning opportunities.

U Maryland Receives Funding to Restore Campus Creek

Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the University Sustainability Fund and $1.5 million from the Department of Natural Resources, the waterway notoriously troubled with flooding, sediment and trash will be restored to improve the creek's stormwater output and general functionality.

Berry College Holds Tree Campus USA Honor

In the past year, in addition to meeting the Arbor Day Foundation's requirements for the designation, the college started growing trees from seed and grafts for the sole purpose of replanting its grounds with species that are healthy and native, ensuring that trees of historical or good quality endure for years to come.

Portland State U Earns Tree Campus USA Designation

Its 49-acre urban campus recently earned the designation for meeting Arbor Day's Tree Campus USA standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and student service-learning project.

Wesleyan U Students to Build Living Wall

The university’s Wild Walls student group recently announced its plans to build a vertical plant wall on campus this semester focusing on redesigning conventional campus landscaping while promoting self-sustaining ecosystems.

Utah State U Faculty Launches Water Conservation Project

A faculty member has recently collaborated with other university and community parties to implement a rain garden that captures rainwater and diverts it through a rock swell featuring native plants and fruit trees.

U Arizona Students Redistribute Campus Fruit Tree Produce

(U.S.): A campus with nearly 8,000 trees including citrus, olive, fig and pomegranate, members of the university's LEAF organization, Linking Edible Arizona Forests, have recently begun collecting and distributing edible fruit growing on campus that otherwise would go to waste.

California State U Fullerton Plants New Landscaping

In an effort to meet the state's mandate to reduce water use by 20 percent by 2020, the university is replacing grassed areas with drought-tolerant plants and landscapes.

Georgia Tech Manages Invasive Species with Sheep

During the month of November, the university will be using sheep to control kudzu rather and chemical herbicides, which can produce toxic runoff and leave behind tender leading to a potential fire hazard. The university plans to bring the sheep back in spring for a second grazing period.

Roosevelt U Earns Recognition for Grounds Biodiversity

The Schaumburg Campus recently received accreditation as a bona fide arboretum after 34 different types of trees and 10 types of shrubbery were identified on the 27-acre suburban grounds.

Bowling Green State U Approves Landscape Master Plan

Approved by the university's board of trustees, the new plan, outlining 53 projects, includes the following guiding principles: keeping the landscape simple and elegant, creating places for people to enjoy, developing outdoor spaces as a learning laboratory, and creating a memorable and beautiful environment.

U North Carolina Greensboro Conserves Trees

The university continues its efforts to protect campus trees and provide maps for students and the community to learn more about the surrounding environment.

Emory U to Protect Bees

The university’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives recently released a new campus pollinator protection policy that will protect pollinators to further its sustainability vision to reduce the university's impact on the local environment.

North Carolina State U to Save Trees

To prevent cankerworms from damaging university trees, volunteers will wrap and attach polyfill fabric and special paper around tree trunks this fall, and later they will slather the bands with a sticky paste to prevent eggs being laid.

U Wisconsin Milwaukee Practices Natural Lawn Care

This year the university eliminated the use of chemicals to be replaced with aeration, seeding and composting to increase environmental efforts across the campus.

Hastings College to Create Green Space

The college plans to create a pedestrian mall to replace a busy intersection located between residence halls and the student union by next summer to unite the campus and improve college experience while promoting an increase in green areas.

U Central Florida Patents Innovative Soil Media

A soil product recently created by the university to keep grass and plants firmly rooted and thriving while also providing significant filtration and reduction of storm water runoff is now on 50,000 square feet of roofs in Florida.

U Michigan Relocates Tree Older than University

After a petition urging the university to save the 200-year-old tree located where the business school expansion has been planned, donors factored the relocation of the tree into the overall cost of the project.

Auburn U Restores Campus Creek

Giving students, faculty and the community the ability to learn more about water resources, facilities recently restored the ecological function of the creek and included an outdoor classroom.

Medgar Evers College Plans to Create Green Space

A 20-year-old, $15 million plan has come to life again to convert part of a street running through its campus into a central lawn with trees, plants, nooks and classroom seating areas.

U Wisconsin Stout Makes Way for Green Space

A building was demolished recently to make a green space and outdoor recreation area for the 925 students who live in four of the university's north campus residence halls. Plans for the lot will most likely include volleyball courts, outdoor seating, grilling areas and a pedestrian walkway.

Vassar College Earns Tree Campus USA Designation

(U.S.): The college earned the new credential by creating a tree committee, which includes faculty, staff, students and community members, creation of a campus tree care plan, observing Arbor Day, and a service-learning project.

Cirencester College Students Plant 650 Trees On Campus

(U.K.): As part of the college's initiative to reduce its carbon footprint and create an aesthetically-pleasing environment, the native species trees were planted to create a woodland area and two hedgerows.