The first time I walked into Crossroads Dining facility at UC Berkeley last fall my jaw dropped. With enormous sun-facing windows that extended up to the ceiling and a vibrant salad bar the size of my bedroom, I could hardly believe I was in a public university’s dining hall. As I would soon find out, UC Berkeley boasts the first certified organic student dining program, a LEED certified energy-efficient dining commons, and an impressive composting program.
With its own Office of Sustainability, Cal has proven to be quite a leader in the green movement. Each year, the office releases a Campus Sustainability Report documenting how the campus has done with achieving its energy efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainability goals. Some highlights:
- Saved 8.5 million kWh through energy efficiency measures
- Water usage has dropped 30% per square foot since 1990
- Composting has tripled since 2006 – bins are in every dining hall and most Panhellenic sorority houses
- A paper towel composting program has been developed and implemented
- The 2008 landfill diversion rate of 50% was met
- 500 new bike spaces were installed
- At least 24% of food and drink purchased on campus was sustainable
- 1 Silver LEED certified building, 5 to LEED standards, and 14 LEED registered
In addition to making such great strides in sustainable practices, the university is working hard to be proactive in reaching greenhouse gas emission reductions well before the state legislation mandates it- their goal is to reach 1990 levels in CO2 emissions by 2014. Most notably, Berkeley received a place on the Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll this year, being listed as 1 of 15 colleges in the nation to receive the highest score (99) in sustainability and environmental consciousness.
But don’t be misled; it’s not just Berkeley. Hundreds of campuses in the nation are going green as we speak, and as budget cuts are being made, campuses are finally finding ways to save money through energy efficiency and waste reduction. As put by Robert Franek, vice president and publisher of The Princeton Review, “The ‘green’ movement on college campuses is far more than an Earth Day recycling project. It is growing tremendously among students and administrators alike.”
Change can only happen through education and involvement, so it is no wonder that universities are becoming leaders in working towards sustainability. To learn more about the nation’s greenest campuses, check out the full Princeton Review Green Honor Roll at:
http://www.princetonreview.com/green-honor-roll.aspx , and to read more about Berkeley’s green initiatives and sustainable practices, visit http://sustainability.berkeley.edu .
