Are you heading to a green college?

By Dan Estabrook By the end of this month, many of our college-bound family members and friends will head off to the hallowed halls of higher education.  Since I first attended Dartmouth College eons ago (let's just say that big hair and shoulder pads were in style when I attended), I still review the top college lists to ensure that my educational investment is still worth something. In checking out The Princeton Review, always an aggregator of college and university rankings and lists, I was interested to see its Green Rating Honor Roll of the top green colleges in the U.S.  Any chance you (or someone you know) is matriculating at one? Here are the Top 11 that received a score of 99 (the highest) in The Princeton Review's rankings this year.  The table is so chock full of good information, you may want to check it out.  You can read more here. THE PRINCETON REVIEW GREEN RATING HONOR ROLL Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus Isn't this one of the bigger drinking schools, too?  Is the beer green?  In all seriousness, ASU's School of Sustainability offers multidisciplinary degree programs that advance practical solutions to the environment, economic, and social challenges. Bates College (Lewiston, ME) Located in my home state, I am pleased to see Bates on the list.  Bates offers a great education with close proximity to Boston.  It also launched the first Maine campus partnership with ZipCar last year, reducing the need for 14 cars on campus.  Pretty cool. College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME) This school, another from Maine, is REALLY green -- in fact, sustainability is part of its charter.  All campus electricity comes from renewable hydropower and its newest residence hall boasts composting toilets, triple-paned windows, metered showers, grey water pre-heats, and construction that favors lower heat. Emory University (Atlanta, GA) Emory has set ambitious goals for sustainability, with said goals built into its strategic plan.  Its shuttle fleet is 100% alternatively fueled and the dining halls provide local and sustainably-produced food. Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) The other Hotlanta-based school on the top green list, GIT is "leading the charge in green policy, practice, and academic arena" with 21 endowed chairs and 23 research centers that include significant sustainability components.  It, like Emory, is focusing on sustainable food within the community.  Sounds like a great market for organic farmers in the Atlanta area! Harvard College (Cambridge, MA) When I was at Dartmouth, the Dartmouth - Harvard football game resulted in carbon emissions from travel between Hanover and Cambridge, not to mention many, many unrecyclable beer bottles and cans (at the time) in the stadium parking lot.  I am happy to say that Harvard is now recognized as having the largest green campus organization in the world with 24 full-time staff.  There's even a $12 million fund available for green campus projects.  I still hope Dartmouth beats them this year, though... State University of New York at Binghamton 70% of Binghamton's 900-acre campus is actually a nature preserve.  The university integrates this conserved space into its cirriculum and classes, not to mention having it available for outdoor recreation. University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH) In January 2009, UNH will become the first university in the U.S. to use landfill gas as its primary (80-85%) energy source -- which will lower energy costs, provide energy security as alternative means grow more expensive, and remove greenhouse gas emissions 57% below 1990 levels.  Amazing! University of Oregon (Eugene, OR) These guys have offered sustainability education for over 20 years, and its law school pioneered the first academic curriculum in public interest environmental law.  The business school has also launched a Sustainable Supply Chain Management Center. University of Washington (Seattle, WA) UW is a leader in sustainability as a signatory of the Presidents Climate Commitment -- which has led the school to purchase power that is 100% renewable and upgrade facilities to be more energy efficient.  Like other colleges on this list, the university's food services group offers local and sustainable foods, compostable dishware, and a zero-waste goal. Yale University (New Haven, CT) I was surprised to see Yale on the list, as I always envision New Haven as a quite industrial and non-green city (I need to revisit!).  Yale is also reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 1990 levels by utilizing solar, wind, and geothermal energy produced right on its campus.  It gives its employees and staff incentives to live within walking or public transportation of campus.  Good stuff. I was interested where my alma mater, Dartmouth, ended up on the list.  Unfortunately, The Princeton Review scored the college with the low score of 60.  Isn't that a D?  Maybe The Princeton Review should have awarded these grades on a curve like my professors did way back when!  At any rate, you can find out the score for any school in which you have an interest.  Try it out. In the meantime, I plan to find out how to make the school known as "The Big Green" really green. Source: The Princeton Review