In its time, the MGB was one of the most modern sports cars available. Featuring some of the first crumple zones to ever be included in a production car, as well as a fast-for-its-day 0-60 mph acceleration of 11 seconds. It was also a beauty.

So it’s clear why, in 1984, an engineering professor with a brand-spanking new PhD, who had just begun his professional career at the University of South Carolina, would think it might be cool to drive a 1972 MGB around with the top down in that climatically-pleasant area of the US. And so began Professor Roger Dougal’s obsession with his MGB.

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This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.

While Detroit has benefited from Cash for Clunkers, foreign automakers have gained even more. Some critics of the program warned that because it let consumers buy domestic or foreign cars, Clunkers could end up spending more American tax dollars to help foreign companies than American ones. More on this story here.

With irresponsible banking practices taking the blame for bringing about the global economic crisis, there has been a surge of interest in Islamic finance.Now, a slew of academic courses are springing up to meet the demand of those wanting to break into an expanding market. According to ratings agency Moody’s, the global Islamic finance sector is worth $700 billion and has the potential to be worth $4 trillion. More on this story here.

n an effort to curb solid waste pollution, China banned the import of scrap polysilicon at the beginning of August, an effort supported by its current environmental laws according to its Environmental Protection Ministry. Scrap polysilicon is a low-grade form of silicon not pure enough to use in microchips. However, it can be used as a component of solar wafers, which contain a variety of types of silicon, including up to 30% scrap polysilicon. More on this story here.

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To help us wade through all the green hyperbole, a growing list of sustainability ranking projects has emerged including the Princeton Review Green Honor Roll, the College Sustainability Report Card, and the Sierra Club’s just-released Cool Schools ranking. Each of the guides uses a different methodology but all of were helpful when formulating the following compilation of the top green colleges and universities in the United States.

Recognizing that defining the word ‘green’ can be problematic in its own right and that there are tons of colleges doing really great things in terms of sustainability, this list is certainly incomplete and/or inexact. Think we missed something? Have an example of campus sustainability that needs to be told? Tell the world in the comments section. In alphabetical order:

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But for Montana State University students, this seemingly implausible scenario is the real deal.  Last month at the launch of the spring semester, MSU unveiled the brand-new Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems undergraduate degree program.

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How many colleges and universities are participating in the 2009 Recyclemania? 510

College sports fans will likely say “That’s not an accurate comparison, Jeff.” They’re probably right… but, the question remains: Have you ever heard of Recyclemania?

I hadn’t until checking my feed reader today.  Apparently, I’m not alone: I checked most of the other big green blogs, and found nary a mention in any posts. There was one passing mention of it on Ecolocalizer, but it was far from the focus of the post.

Now, I don’t bring up this lack of coverage (at least within the green web) to criticize anyone, but rather to express my amazement — this thing’s huge! Founded in 2001 “as a friendly challenge between recycling coordinators at two schools in Ohio, Miami University and Ohio University,” Recyclemania now coordinates participating colleges and universities from all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and, for the first time, schools from outside the United States.

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Colleges have always been a primary point of rally for green initiatives.  Now, a threat to malting barley has created a new call for support as the price and availability of beer is being threatened by climate change according to a study conducted and released in 2008.

The potential for the alcohol industry to be effected by climate change has been a concern for some time, but it is hitting a feverish pitch and garnering support and calls to action from campuses across the country.  In Lawrence, Kansas, Greenpeace volunteers held a recruitment event called “Save the Ales” earlier this week to tackle how global warming effects college drinking.

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Despite the common idea that you need to be wealthy to really be green, there are many ways to both save money and be environmentally friendly. One of those ways, a personal favorite of mine, is buying used instead of new. Especially when you are buying books. Choosing to buy a used book rather than a new one saves a tree, lessens the impact from printing the book, and if you buy it from a local used book shop lowers the impact that shipping has on the environment.

But what about renting books? The Netflix CEO is taking the rental idea from movies to textbooks. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars buying new textbooks for a class you will only be in half the year you can now rent them for a fraction of the cost. It is definitely something I wish had been around when I was in college.

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While most people are wondering if the summer heat is ever going to end, we were hitting our stride here: many more posts, and much more variety. Perhaps it was the cool breeze created by fingers flying across the keyboard…

August 2008

• Kelli Best-Oliver reported on a couple of bloggers documenting the American urban homesteading movement.
• Low Impact Living discovered a much better investment than the stock market: green home improvements.
• Lisa Kivirist showed us how to adopt a neighbor’s fruit tree.
• Raz Godelnik of Eco-Libris wondered if free online open-source textbooks represented the future for college students.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/30/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-urban-homesteading-green-colleges-and-recycling-by-the-numbers/feed/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/28/my-search-for-an-entry-level-green-job-part-one/ http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/28/my-search-for-an-entry-level-green-job-part-one/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:35:59 +0000 Michael A. Weber http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/28/my-search-for-an-entry-level-green-job-part-one/ Hello, my name is Michael. I am a new writer here at Planetsave and I will be spending my first couple months documenting my personal search for a green job amidst America’s growing economic hardship.

I am in a good position to find a job, or so I hope.

I graduated a few months ago from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington with a B.A. degree emphasizing environmental policy. My studies in college pertained to social and political solutions to environmental problems, particularly global warming. I was part of a group that documented our school’s entire carbon footprint, which is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive study of a college campus’s footprint to date.

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]]> http://planetsave.com/blog/2008/10/28/my-search-for-an-entry-level-green-job-part-one/feed/ http://ecoscraps.com/2008/10/20/college-freshman-get-free-bikes-if-they-leave-their-car-at-home/ http://ecoscraps.com/2008/10/20/college-freshman-get-free-bikes-if-they-leave-their-car-at-home/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:10:40 +0000 Jennifer Lance http://ecoscraps.com/2008/10/20/college-freshman-get-free-bikes-if-they-leave-their-car-at-home/ Freshman entering the University of New England and Ripon College are given free bikes if they promise to leave their cars at home.  At Ripon College, 200 Trek mountain bikes, helmets and locks were given to freshman that signed up for the program. Dr. David C. Joyce, Ripon’s president and competitive mountain biker, explained, “We did it as a means of reducing the need for parking, but as we looked at it from the standpoint of fitness, health and sustainability, we realized we have the opportunity to create a change.”

Via:  New York Times

Image: University of New England

Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota)



The sustainability initiatives at Carleton College rank right up there with those you’ll find at the Ivies and other large, well-endowed universities. Carleton unveiled its own 1.65-megawatt wind turbine in 2004, the first of its kind in the nation. The school is also proud of its LEED-certified buildings and campus wide compost and single-stream recycling programs.

Image via resedebear

College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine)



Named by Grist as the “Greenest college in the world,” College of the Atlantic earned that honor for a reason: because it was the first college to be a net-zero carbon emitter in the country. Since then, hundreds of other universities have made similar such pledges. Since the college opened in 1972, it has specialized in healthy, local and frequently organic eats. There is also a thriving campus community garden and a nearby organic farm, which is owned and operated by the school.

Image via College of the Atlantic

The Evergreen State College (Olympia, Washington)



Evergreen State College maintains a thriving organic farm that produces enough food to have leftovers after selling to the campus food service. It also has a massive composting program in place, replete with a compost reactor, worm bins, and food-scrap collection at residence halls.

Image via wonderjunkie

Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont)



On track to become carbon neutral by 2016, Middlebury made steps toward their goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2016 by building a biomass gasification plant that replaces one million gallons of fuel oil annually with locally and sustainably produced wood chips. The plant generates steam for heating, cooling and electricity and reduces the college’s net carbon dioxide emissions by an impressive 40 percent. Middlebury is home to the country’s oldest undergraduate environmental studies program and currently is the home institution of resident scholar Bill McKibben, well-known climate activist and author of The End of Nature.

Image via cogdogblog

Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)



Also listed in the top tier of US News and World Report’s annual ranking of colleges in the country, the Ohio liberal arts college has always been considered a little lot left of center. Sustainability is taken seriously at Oberlin including a wastewater processing system that creates reusable grey water via the natural cleansing methods that occur in a wetland. As part of Oberlin’s Buy Local program, about 35 percent of the total food budget is spent on items sourced from approximately 30 local farms and a local dairy.

Image via La Sequencia

University of California at Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, California)



One of the top five renewable energy purchasers of any university in the country, the UCSC Banana Slugs’ green power program is the result of a ballot initiative that was approved in May 2006 by the student body. UC Santa Cruz has even developed a sustainability vision statement which says the university will strive to integrate sustainability into every aspect of the three pillars of university education: research, teaching, and public service.

Image via davidsilver

University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, Colorado)



Home of the nation’s oldest student-run environmental center, established Earth Day 1970, and the nation’s first collegiate recycling program, established in 1976, the University of Colorado in Boulder has long been at the forefront of campus sustainability.

Image via University of Colorado

University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire)



The first college to run off of a landfill gas cogeneration plant which covers 85% of heating, cooling and electricity, The University of New Hampshire also buys buy food from 54 local farms thereby supporting local farmers.

Image via UNH Office of Sustainability

University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont)



The University of Vermont supplies 60 percent of campus power needs with renewable energy; composts more than 20 tons of waste each month. And when those frigid winter winds come blowing off nearby Lake Champlain, students and faculty are thankful they can ride free on biodiesel-powered shuttles.

Images via zappowbang

University of Washington at Seattle (Seattle, Washington)



Despite campus growth in the same period, overall energy use actually decreased at ‘U-Dub’ by 10 percent between 2000 and 2005. The university buys 100% of their energy from renewable sources, and has a hybrid and electric fleet of over 300 vehicles.

Image via Wonderlane

Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)



Home of the legendary School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale has always been well regarded in terms of its academic programs in the environment and natural resource sciences. Enter the 21st century and Yale hasn’t lost a step. The Connecticut Ivy now has a forward-looking office of sustainability and publishes one of the best regarded environmental blogs on the internet.

Image via loop_oh

Honorable Mention…

The following colleges and universities were also repeatedly in the top tier of the green rankings.

Arizona State University

Dartmouth College


Dickinson College

Harvard University

University of California Berkeley

University of California Los Angeles

University of Oregon


Warren Wilson College

]]> http://ecoscraps.com/2008/10/20/college-freshman-get-free-bikes-if-they-leave-their-car-at-home/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/09/02/green-report-card-for-us-college-campuses/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/09/02/green-report-card-for-us-college-campuses/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:33:44 +0000 Joshua S Hill http://sustainablog.org/2008/09/02/green-report-card-for-us-college-campuses/ When the future of our planet’s environment is concerned, one of the groups that we hope are paying attention is those currently attending college. They will be the leaders, the decision makers, the discoverers and changers of the future. But at the moment, they are simply learning the value of calculus and being exposed to copious amounts of beer.

But thanks to the National Wildlife Federation’s just released Campus Environment 2008 report card, conducted in partnership with Princeton Survey Research Associates International, we can at least be certain that, in addition to learning about beer and the opposite sex, our college students are getting a lesson in green.

The report follows up on its first run, back in 2001, by providing a review of programs at 1,068 institutions, grading them on an A to D scale for collective, national performance on a range of issues such as energy, water, transportation, waste reduction and environmental literacy.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/09/02/green-report-card-for-us-college-campuses/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/12/back-to-school-shopping-madness-from-kindergarten-through-college-its-time-to-curb-the-stuff/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/12/back-to-school-shopping-madness-from-kindergarten-through-college-its-time-to-curb-the-stuff/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:14:13 +0000 Robin Shreeves http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/12/back-to-school-shopping-madness-from-kindergarten-through-college-its-time-to-curb-the-stuff/ According to a recent article in USA Today, Costly College Prerequisite: Decorate Dorm, 17.6 billion dollars is expected to be spent on back to school shopping for students in kindergarten through college this year. That’s $527.08 per family - an 18% rise from last year. Back to school shopping falls right behind holiday shopping for retailer’s most profitable season.

Why?

Sure, there are some necessities that need to be bought when going back to school. My sons both have a page long list of items that they are required to have on the first day of school - pencils, composition notebooks, scissors, a box of tissues, etc. When I was a kid, schools supplied those things, but budgets are ever tightening and now families are required to buy them. I certainly won’t be buying $527.08 worth of necessary supplies, though. I don’t think anyone will be buying $527.08 of necessary supplies, unless their definition of necessary is different from mine.

I was in Target last night, and there was an entire section dedicated to the necessities for a college dorm room. This was separate from the traditional back to school section with school supplies. This section had coordinated dorm bedding, rugs, lamps, wall hangings and desk top accessories. Other items that many college kids consider necessities are computers (okay, I’ll give them that), microwaves, TV’s, DVD players, gaming consoles, mp3 players, hand held gaming systems, and stereos.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/08/12/back-to-school-shopping-madness-from-kindergarten-through-college-its-time-to-curb-the-stuff/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/02/11/measuring-sustainability-on-campus-aashe-launches-pilot-of-stars/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/02/11/measuring-sustainability-on-campus-aashe-launches-pilot-of-stars/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:33:35 +0000 Jeff McIntire-Strasburg http://sustainablog.org/2008/02/11/measuring-sustainability-on-campus-aashe-launches-pilot-of-stars/ What’s the best defense against charges of “greenwashing?” Its measurement, of course: accurate, verifiable assessments provide evidence that an institution is “walking the walk” in its efforts to operate more sustainably. While the business world might have the most to gain in terms of releasing concrete data regarding sustainability initiatives, higher education’s enthusiastic embrace of green initiatives has also drawn scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders: students, faculty, administrators, alumni and board members all want to know that a campus’ efforts to “go green” represent sound investments in both the institution’s, and the planet’s, well-being. While a number of reports have measured various aspects of college and university environmental programs, no single method for assessing campus sustainability exists… well, until now.

Last week, I ran across an article from the Washington University Record noting that it, along with 89 other institutions, was participating in the pilot stage of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). The pilot represents the start of “a collaborative process to develop a campus sustainability rating system” with the following goals:

1. Provide a guide for advancing sustainability in all sectors of higher education, from governance and operations to academics and community engagement.
2. Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions by establishing a common standard of measurement for sustainability in higher education.
3. Create incentives for continuous improvement toward sustainability.
4. Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance.
5. Build a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community and promote a comprehensive understanding of sustainability that includes its social, economic and environmental dimensions.

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