The Greenest Schools

The Sierra Club has issued its list of the top ten greenest colleges and universities, and the list may just suprise you. Gone are the days when small, private, liberal arts schools have a "monopoly" on environmental effforts. In fact, this year, the top ten list includes, "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 10 schools, in order of ranking by the Sierra Club, are:

Middlebury College
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Vermont at Burlington
Warren Wilson College
Evergreen State
Arizona State University at Tempe
University of Florida at Gainesville
Oberlin College
University of Washington at Seattle
Tufts University

The schools were chosen on a point system, earning points "in ten categories: policies for building, energy, food, investment, procurement, and transportation; curriculum; environmental activism; waste management; and overall commitment to sustainability."

Of course, not all schools have figured out that being green is cool. The Sierra Club also ranks five schools that fail. They are:
The College of William and Mary
George Washington University
Howard University
Texas Tech University
Valdosta State University

If your school is on the cool list, you should make sure you are on the green bandwagon. If you school is one of those that is failing, how about gathering some of your classmates and starting a green revolution on your campus? And for those of us who are sending money to our alma maters, what if we ask those fine institutions to be accountable on this front before we send them our money? If they are going to be responsible for educating the next generations, they need to make sure they are doing so responsibly.

Caroline Heine