University eco policies vital to today's students
October 12, 2009
Catherine Porter
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
Acclaimed academic program, championship football team, killer toga parties ... whatever. Students are now looking for a university that buys only post-consumer recycled non-bleached paper or powers buildings with cow manure (which by the way, Vermont's Middlebury College does).
"More and more students are weighing sustainability as an important factor in their college or university choice," says Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Massachusetts-based non-profit Sustainable Endowments Institute, which just released its fourth annual sustainability report card. The online report card rates more than 330 North American universities and colleges on their eco-commitment, surveying everything from green transportation to combatting climate change.
The hope is that the online report cards – along with details about programs at each school – will prompt even more green projects.
Seventeen Canadian universities were included in the report card. Of two Toronto schools rated, York University outshines the University of Toronto – mostly for its LEED-certified buildings, composters and carpooling incentives.
Toronto Star