Many people say the future of our nation, and even the world, lies in the hands of the new generation – the students. These are our future doctors, lawyers, scholars, and leaders. Growth of this next generation is not only fostered by self-determination and hard work, but also by the environment and community in which students live and interact. In order to have a progressive generation, the students must be educated in ways that will ensure knowledge and awareness of our planet and its current and future needs. This is where the notion of a green university was born! There are many ways for a college or university to be “green,” and some universities are quicker than others. Although many universities have taken steps to become greener to educate the students of tomorrow, many universities have already showed great results in promoting and creating green lifestyles. There are many ways to do this, so let’s explore the universities of tomorrow!
Environmental Programs
More and more colleges and universities are starting to offer environmental courses and majors. In terms of environmental education programs and majors, a few schools stand out. Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies1, one of the oldest environmental institutions, was founded by Gifford Pinchot and Henry Graves to promote forestry as a sustainable career for men. It has now evolved into an institution aimed at teaching and creating leaders—both men and women—armed with knowledge to tackle environmental issues at local, regional, and global levels.2 Although Yale pioneered the study of forestry, many other universities are known for their excellent environmental programs. The University of California, Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources3 provides both social and science based majors that focus on the environment and its many aspects. From Molecular Environmental Biology to Environmental Economics and Policy, Berkeley provides an opportunity for students to build upon sustainable values to create a bright future. These and so many other schools4 like Stanford University,5 the Evergreen State University,6 and Cornell University,7 just to name a few, have excellent programs or mini-colleges that allow brilliant green minds to grow and flourish. Although it is important to help great ideas and passions grow in college, it is also important to build sustainable lifestyles that students can carry with them for the rest of their lives. For additional eco-college suggestions, read here .
Sustainability on Campus
There are many aspects of an environmentally friendly college lifestyle that must be addressed. First, sustainable eating habits are hard to build cold turkey, so some schools have made it easier to dine with the environment in mind. The University of California, Berkeley’s CalDining8 is proud to be one of the first university dining services to be 100% certified LEED Gold standards, as are many buildings in Willamette University12 and other colleges.
14All of these aspects of green universities are extremely important and add a great deal to student quality of life at each college or university, but no real effect can happen without the most important factor – the students themselves. A university cannot be sustainable or environmentally friendly without the help and passion of students that also care about these issues. Many campuses put the innate competitive nature of college students to good use by having competitions within, for example, the Greek community (Sororities and Fraternities), Residential halls, different departments, and even amongst student groups themselves. UC Berkeley has a program called Greening the Greeks,13 creating competition amongst sororities and fraternities to display the most sustainable practices. This usually means changing all the lights in the house to spread awareness throughout the year and to not only affect policies in their universities, but also in their surrounding communities.
Fostering the health of our environment is a collective responsibility, and universities across the world are becoming noted for their green efforts. University of Greenwich15 in London was named the greenest university in 2012 by The Guardian.16 This ranking was based on many criteria, including being fair trade, engaging students and staff in activities and curriculum, renewable energy, and water and carbon reductions. To name another, EARTH University in Costa Rica17 focuses on sustainable development in the tropics. With students from over 20 different countries, this university brings together green minds “to instill an eco-ethic in everyone on campus.”18 The trend is on and college campuses have taken measures to maintain our planet so that the generation of the future can share it with even further future generations.
Universities across the world have taken steps to educate the minds of the future in a manner that promotes the welfare of the future. Hopefully one day, sustainability will not be something abnormal in the college community. Sustainability is for the future, and college students are the future!
