  
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Rebecca Silver, Sierra Club, 646-461-9831, rebecca.silver@sierraclub.org
SIERRA MAGAZINE REVEALS 6th
ANNUAL RANKING OF AMERICA’S GREENEST COLLEGES
Universities commended for their strong
commitment to environmental improvements
(SAN
FRANCISCO – August 14, 2012) – For the sixth year in a row, SIERRA magazine is releasing its annual ranking of the
nation’s “Coolest Schools,” a salute to U.S. colleges that are helping solve
climate problems and making significant efforts to operate sustainably.
While
researching the schools that are making a difference for the planet, SIERRA found common among the top 10 major actions taken toward improving
sustainability across many realms, including energy sourcing, infrastructure,
transportation, and, yes, academics. In addition, substantial efforts are being
made to meticulously quantify their efforts to attain their environmental
goals.
From Stanford’s organic gardens which provide wheat for
bread (and barley for beer!) to Duke’s practice of generating and buying
offsets to UConn’s extensive recycling programs, schools across America are
taking dramatic steps to help preserve the planet and its resources.
“Over the last six years, SIERRA
has been privileged to connect with and learn from traditional institutions
evolving in nontraditional ways,” said Bob Sipchen, SIERRA
magazine’s editor-in-chief. “With their ever
growing emphasis on environmental responsibility, these schools are
channeling the enthusiasm of their students, who consistently cite climate
disruption and other environmental issues as the most serious challenges their
generation must confront, while demonstrating leadership for other civic
institutions.”
SIERRA magazine’s top 10 schools of 2012 are:
1. University of California, Davis (Davis, CA)
2. Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
3. Stanford University (Stanford, CA)
4. University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
5. University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
6. University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH)
7. Duke University (Durham, NC)
8. Yale University (New Haven, CT)
9. University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)
10. Appalachian State University (Boone, NC)
UC
Davis, SIERRA’s number one school this year, stands
out for its well-rounded set of sustainable efforts, including establishing
rigorous green purchasing standards, diverting 70% of the school’s trash, and
offering extraordinary transportation solutions: 20,000 bicycles park on campus
every day.
In a rush to effect tangible change now, a new trend among student “warrior nerds” is to put
school aside (for a bit) to test their technological ideas out in the field; SIERRA’s “Cool Schools” package profiles two young inventors
with radically different approaches to saving the world. SIERRA
also profiles David Orr, an Oberlin professor whose plan, dubbed the “Oberlin
Project,” seeks to transform his little college town into a worldwide model of
how our species can live more harmoniously with the rest of nature.
The
complete ranking, along with stories about the winning schools’ environmental
efforts, are online at www.sierraclub.org/coolschools.
About SIERRA magazine
SIERRA
is the official publication
of the Sierra Club, America's largest and most influential grassroots
environmental organization, with more than 1.4 million members and supporters
nationwide. The Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities,
protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots
activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, please visit
www.sierramagazine.com
###
Connect with the Sierra Club:
|
|
Sierra Club
