August 27th, 2008

Sierra Club Rates Green Colleges

Posted by Jessica Jensen

The Sierra Club has just released its new feature on green colleges, and it’s a great read. The feature was edited by Lea Hartog and Michael Fox. Here’s the intro:

“NOT LONG AGO small private colleges had a near monopoly on campus environmental initiatives in the United States. But today supersize public universities are nipping at the nimble, hemp-shod heels of those pioneers by adopting green building standards, expanding environmental studies programs, and converting fleets to zero-emission vehicles.

This represents a dramatic shift even from last year, when Sierra ran its 2007 “Cool Schools” roundup and filled all but two of the top ten spots with private colleges. In the following pages, you’ll find 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.”

Included in the “Ten That Get It” are such fine institutions as tiny Middlebury in Vermont and the huge University of Florida at Gainesville. They also do a “5 That Fail,” which is a sort of shame circle. Check ‘em all out!