The University of Wisconsin ranked in the top 10 best schools in the country for being green and sustainable in the College Sustainability Report Card 2011, a survey from the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
Colleges across the country were surveyed and studied to establish where environmentally-friendly projects are taking place and how well each of these colleges are doing.
UW was one of seven schools to receive an “A” grade by the Sustainability Report Card, alongside schools like University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and Yale University.
The college received “A” grades in all of the categories except “Food & Recycling,” where a “B” grade was given.
Faramarz Vakili, director of Campus Sustainability Program at UW, said he was extremely proud of the ranking. He said the campus had been working hard to improve in this, as we had received a “B” ranking last year from having two categories ranked “C,” four ranked “B,” and three ranked “A.”
According to a statement from the institute, 322 colleges spanning all 50 states and eight Canadian provinces were graded. Fifty-two of those schools expanded their energy efficiency efforts, earning them an “A-” or above grade for the Sustainability Report Card.
The schools were graded in nine categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, transportation, student involvement, endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.
The Sustainability Report Card shows great improvement in universities from when the ratings first came out in 2006.
For example, the percentage of schools with a green building policy has risen from 26 percent to 79 percent, and 95 percent of colleges surveyed have sustainability committees, as opposed to the only 40 percent from 2006, according to Sustainable Endowments Institute spokesperson Sarah Levy.
Levy said it was encouraging to see the amount of improvement across the colleges. She said before this year no overall grade higher than an “A-” had been given.
“Education is such an important part of America, so hopefully universities can learn from their peers and encourage the general population,” Levy said.
Levy encourages everyone to check out the website, as it has many features like allowing schools to be compared to each other.
While the good sustainability ranking does improve the school’s image, Vakili said it was more important that it helped spread the message and goal of environmental awareness and understanding the importance of protecting the environment.
“We have to do the right thing for the right reason; we need to be a leader at raising the bar for students and universities at going green. If we don’t, who will”? Vakili said.
Vakili said this is not the end of our progress but only the beginning for more improvement.
“Every student, staff, and faculty member has to ask themselves: ‘What are you doing to improve and help at managing these issues?’ Each one of us must get involved and contribute,” Vakili said.
