Top 10 Eco-friendly Universities

Sierra Club has composed a list of Eco- Universities that are changing the way we think of the big university. Being environmentally active use to be attributed to only the smaller universities, however we are now seeing the larger universities expanding environmental studies programs, adopting green building standards, and converting fleets to zero-emission vehicles. Sierra Club's list is a combination of large and small Universities and Colleges of "Cool Schools" based on ten categories - for building, energy, food, investment, procurement, transportation, curriculum, environmental activism; waste management, and overall commitment to sustainability.

Top Ten Eco-Friendly

1. Middlebury College which has 2,350 students and is located in Middlebury Vermont.
2. University of Colorado which has 29,000 students and is located in Boulder, Colorado.
3. University of Vermont which has 10,750 students and is located in Burlington, Vermont.
4. Warren Wilson College which has 850 students and is located in Swannanoa, North Carolina.
5. Evergreen State College which has 4,400 students and is located in Olympia, Washington.
6. Arizona State University which has 51,500 students and located in Tempe, Arizona.
7. University of Florida (Go Gators!) which has 50,000 students and located in Gainesville, Florida.
8. Oberlin College which has 2,200 students and located in Oberlin, Ohio.
9. University of Washington which has 39,250 students and located in Seattle, Washington.
10. Tufts University which has 8,500 students and located in Medford, Massachusetts.

Schools that Stand Alone

Students interested in hands-on environmental education can find it in the "Eco League" composing of Alaska Pacific University, College of the Atlantic, Green Mountain College, Northland College and Prescott College. These 5 liberal arts schools approach nearly every course with active environmental studies.
The Universities of California stands also alone because of their 10 campuses that have an ecological footprint of a large city.

This is just the beginning of a "cool" trend. More and more colleges and universities across the nation are changing their habits rapidly as more pressure is placed on them by students and what they are seeking in a University. According to Sierra Club, more than 550 campus have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment; which means they are committed to auditing their school's greenhouse-gas emissions, developing concrete plans for going carbon neutral, and reporting their progress.

Here are some interesting facts on what is going on with this movement of going green in schools across the nation:

High school students and young adults have persuaded 200 U.S. colleges and universities to commit to paperless admissions processes by signing the online "Student Plant the Seed Petition."

New York University buys more green power than any other school in the country.

Because of a coalition of students, all 15 institutions in the University System of Maryland are conducting greenhouse-gas inventories.

Even some high schools are now converting their buses to biodiesel and starting building projects with the goal of eliminating carbon emissions.

Source: Sierra Club