Green Campus Network

Colleges and universities have been the central figures of Earth Day since its beginning in 1970. The higher education community is pivotal in creating the next generation of environmental leaders needed to protect our planet. MobilizeU unites this audience around environmental action and amplifies their collective impact on Earth Day, and year-round.

United, institutions can make a monumental difference.

From prioritizing environmental education in the classroom to setting higher sustainability commitments to participating in the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, our Green Campuses are leading sustainability in higher education. Read below to hear their inspiring tales and find resources to bring your campus into the global environmental movement.

University College Cork
Cork, Ireland

University College Cork Green Campus has been working to improve sustainability on and off campus for over 12 years. They are home to Ireland’s only Farm to Fork programme on a University Campus, and Ireland’s first Single-Use Plastic Free Cafe. They are signatories of the Principles of Responsible Investment and are implementing a comprehensive programme of green procurement across the whole university. Finally, UCC has reduced energy intensity by 57% since 2008.

The University at Albany
Albany, New York

The University at Albany implements sustainability into their curriculum, operations, research and engagement activities. They have over a dozen sustainability related degrees and a sustainability minor. Their research strengths include climate change, renewable energy, public health and environmental policy. And, the university has reduced their carbon footprint by 15% since launching sustainability initiatives in 2005 and are striving to make electricity use carbon free in the next ten years. They work closely with many community partners in advancing the ideals of renewable energy, energy and water conservation, waste reduction, alternative transportation and sustainable food choices.

Florida State University, Seminole Dining
Tallahassee, Florida

Seminole Dining is committed to our Better Tomorrow Campaign, focusing on ways they can make a difference today—which will in turn create a better tomorrow. Reusable take-out containers are available in all three of the Residential Dining Hall locations and students receive discounts with the use of reusable cups at any Retail location. They have teamed up with Cupanion to promote the Fill it Forward App on campus, this helps each person track their carbon footprint by scanning a sticker with the app every time they refill. They track local (250 miles) Fresh from Florida (Florida items) and Floridian Flavors (Florida small businesses). To highlight these items, they host a monthly Fresh Market where students are able to purchase items with their meal plan dollars.

The Culinary Institute of America
Hyde Park, New York

Ensuring a clean, healthy planet is one of the most important goals of the food industry. Launched in 2010, The Culinary Institute of America’s Green Campus Initiative demonstrates our own commitment to this ideal as students, faculty, and staff collaborate to make our college campuses even more sustainable and eco-friendly.

This is accomplished through several channels, such as: 1) Promoting sustainable agriculture; 2) Managing our resources through composting, recycling, re purposing materials such as cooking oil and glass bottles, and electrolyzing cleaning systems; 3) Transforming our campuses into eco-friendly hubs that employ solar, water, and renewable materials strategies, managing storm water, and installing geothermal heat pumps and energy recovery ventilators; and 4) Conserving energy to reduce our carbon footprint through efficient technology.

The University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

UIC executes the Climate Action Implementation Plan (CAIP), which is a refined cost-effective portfolio of solutions to be implemented by 2028. The CAIP is also a variety of additional strategic solutions that will be supported, developed, invested in, implemented, and reevaluated on a 5-year incremental basis through 2050. The strategies of the CAIP integrate the principles of the UIC Climate Commitments to be a Carbon Neutral Campus, Zero Waste Campus, Net-Zero Water Campus, a Biodiverse Campus.

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Mexico City, Mexico

UNAM has different initiatives such as study and research programs. Specifically, they have the newly created University Coordination for Sustainability, which is responsible for finding the mechanisms to inspire and engage our community with sustainability

The University of Cambridge
Cambridge, England

The University of Cambridge in England has taken the next step toward sustainability by removing red meat from the menu of its food catering service. The change has decreased the land needed for the service to produce food and lowered its carbon footprint by a third, all while increasing profits. This is one of many changes the catering service has made since enacting the Sustainable Food Policy Plan in 2016 to decrease its environmental impact, other sustainability measures include cutting plastic waste and reusing cooking oil. You can find the full report here.

The University of Hong Kong
Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong is currently working on two main projects. Firstly, the Ditch Disposable Campaign, which aims at removing all disposable plastic items on campus through awareness building, infrastructure improvement and policies implementation. This campaign shows the university’s commitment to better manage our environmental impact and help improve the situation of marine life. The second project is the Edible Spaces Initiative, which aims to bring the community closer to nature and foster a sense of responsibility to our natural environment through organic and sustainable urban farming on campus.

Duke University, Undergraduate Environmental Union
Durham, North Carolina

In 2019 Duke University’s Undergraduate Environmental Union held their first official Earth Week. The events included a climate panel, a community workday at the Campus Farm, a tour of the campus’s Chiller Plant, a tasting event with produce from the Campus Farm, a plant themed paint night at the wellness center, a tree planting event, a talk by Majora Carter, eco arts and crafts, plogging, and an Earth Fest centered around cultural environmentalism. There were more than 300 attendees at the events!

Seattle University
Seattle, Washington

In Fall 2018, Seattle University’s board voted to fully divest the university’s endowment from fossil fuels within five years, becoming the first university in Washington State and the first Jesuit institution in the US to do so. The school also reduced water use by 25 percent, saving about $100,000 and 4 million gallons. After a waste management audit revealed the Redhawks weren’t always using the correct bins, the school held a rowdy recycling rally, and students doubled down on disposal education on campus. Seattle U’s pesticide-free, organically maintained grounds are nourished with compost made from dining hall food waste. Seattle U received the Tree Campus USA designation after developing a Tree Care Program that aims to ensure a sustainable campus urban forest.

Eighty faculty members conduct sustainability research, 62% of students are engaged in community service, and 400+ sustainability-related courses are offered. In June 2018, Seattle University received a gold STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and a few months later, the Princeton Review selected SU as one of the 26 “Green College Honor Roll” schools. SU also landed 13th on the Sierra Magazine annual “Cool Schools” ranking (2019).

Bard College
Dutchess County, New York

Bard is focused on Climate Solutions by 2030. On Tuesday, April 7, 2020 Solve Climate by 2030 moderated a conversation with sustainability professionals from across all 50 states, focused on solving the energy side of climate change by 2030. The two hour afternoon/evening began with a 15-minute national webinar introduction, followed by one-hour state-level webinars in each state, followed by one-hour community dialogues. The community level events were hosted at colleges and universities, high schools, community groups and faith organizations. A university partner in each state organized the state-level webinar.

University of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia

Throughout the spring semester, various groups across University of Richmond celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with a number of lectures and events focused on sustainability. There were talks given as part of the Global Environment Speaker Series and Unsettling Ecologies Lecture Series, as well as a lecture focused on spirituality, sustainability, and food. Student poster presentations focused on the the theme “Looking forward to the next 50 years” were held the week before Earth Day. That same week, the campus celebrated the opening of the new Gambles Mill Eco-Corridor, an area devoted to environmental stewardship, education, and outdoor recreation.

Ohio University
Athens, Ohio

Ohio University is proud to support the following programs and initiatives: Climate and Sustainability Ambassadors: a selected group of students who volunteer their time to host events that promote climate and sustainability education; Office of Sustainability works to make sure procurement, food and grounds are using sustainable practices; Environmental Affairs Commission: Part of student senate, selected students work on environmental initiatives that would benefit the campus and community. This involves meeting with faculty and administration; Zero Waste Team: helps with zero waste football games, has a green event guide -Earth Day Celebration occurs every year; Reusable to-go boxes in dining halls; and Discounts for if you bring your reusable bag to campus markets or if you bring a reusable mug to campus cafes

The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Students are brought together from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to create a dynamic team working to deepen the culture of sustainability on campus. UAB Sustainability Ambassadors participate in educational workshops about environmental, social, and economic sustainability and receive guidance and support in their efforts to engage the greater university community through an Earth Day Activity.

Radford University
Radford, Virginia

On Saturday, September 2nd, Earth Day Network participated in the 2nd annual ReNew the New cleanup in Radford, Virginia. Together with Radford University, New River Adventures, and others from the Radford community, the cleanup brought out close to 200 volunteers and collected 2,000 pounds of trash. As part of a larger cleanup event organized through the New River Watershed Association Roundtable, Radford, along with four other neighboring counties, collected a grand total of 12,700 pounds of trash in a single day!

“I think the important thing is that people discover how we value our natural spaces,” – Radford Mayor David Horton.