The Top Ten 'Greenest' Schools

By Lea Hartog and Michael Fox, Sierra Magazine. Posted September 11, 2008.

Not long ago small private colleges had a near monopoly on campus environmental initiatives in the United States. But today, supersize public universities are nipping at the nimble, hemp-shod heels of those pioneers by adopting green building standards, expanding environmental studies programs and converting fleets to zero-emission vehicles. This represents a dramatic shift even from last year, when Sierra ran its first "Cool Schools" roundup and filled all but two of the top 10 spots with private colleges. In the following pages, you'll find a diverse mix of institutions -- from North Carolina's 850-student Warren Wilson College to Arizona State University, the country's second-largest school with 51,500 students.

The top schools earned points in 10 categories: policies for building, energy, food, investment, procurement and transportation; curriculum; environmental activism; waste management; and overall commitment to sustainability. A perfect score in every area would give a school 100 points.

Like every ranking system, ours is imperfect. To be sure, dozens more schools deserve praise. But after weeks of reporting and analysis, we're confident we picked the nation's environmental leaders.

That said, you might ask why the Eco League colleges and the University of California system -- two environmentally proactive institutions -- don't rank on this list. Schools in the Eco League consortium, which focuses solely on environmental studies, hardly play on a level field with schools that serve students in 150 degree programs. Meanwhile, the 10 campuses of the UC system -- neither wholly independent nor entirely unified -- could not in fairness be compared as separate institutions. Sierra decided to feature them separately as "Shining Stars".

If you're excited about or frustrated with initiatives on your campus or convinced we've missed a great green school, you can vent or brag in the comments section. We hope you'll join the conversation -- so we can make next year's list even better.

-- Lea Hartog

The Top 10 Schools

1. Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt.: 2,350 students

Another college with Middlebury's record might have taken it easy on green initiatives this year. After all, Midd's outdoorsy intellectuals had already earned recognition for such ambitious projects as recycling materials from a demolished building. But the school pressed on, giving its study-abroad program a shot of green last fall: A partnership with a renewable energy company makes it easy for students to offset carbon dioxide emissions associated with travel. More important, the Panthers now learn how to leave a lighter footprint on their excursions, and study-abroad students can win $500 grants to research environmental solutions like geothermal power in their adopted countries.

Highlight

Energy: A wind turbine supplies 25 percent of the campus recycling center's energy; a new power plant fueled by wood chips from a local willow farm could halve fuel-oil use. Waste: Sites for swapping goods encourage reuse. The campus recycles 60 percent of its waste.

Lowlight

Investments: Despite creating a committee on ethical investing policies and a fund to support initiatives like environmental research and green campus buildings, Midd's trustees do not disclose information about current investments.

If you go: Track down author Bill McKibben. He directs a fellowship program that brings environmental journalists to campus.

Score: 93

2. University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colo.: 29,000 students

Eight years ago the University of Colorado (CU) became the first U.S. university to buy renewable energy credits. Today the mile-high school supports local offset projects. CU does more than buy its way out of carbon guilt, however.

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