How Green is Your Campus?

With the green movement gaining fans young and old, it’s no surprise that businesses, communities, and schools are beginning to adopt eco-friendly practices. http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/green-campus/ has created an infographic outlining how ten popular colleges are beginning to do business with a focus on keeping things green.

Most of these colleges start going green by initiating a recycling program, and then quickly starting a composting program as well. The College of the Atlantic composts all of its food, and Cornell University ends up composting 63% of their waste. Most of these colleges also offer advanced environmentally friendly classes: The University of Washington has 550 environment focused or sustainability courses, University of California Irvine offers 350 sustainability-related classes, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst reports that 29 out of 90 of their undergrad programs have a focus on sustainability. At American University, the Green Teaching Certification Program rewards professors for incorporating sustainability content into curriculum.

The focus on environmental efforts doesn’t end with composting and classes. Many of these colleges are also shifting their focus onto renewable energy, energy efficient vehicles and buildings, and other environmentally friendly programs. Many of these colleges now have LEED certified buildings, solar power panels, Green Mountain University has built a biomass facility which allows for the campus to be heated by woodchips.