Connecticut College - Green Living

History of Connecticut College as an Environmental Model

The College has been a national leader among colleges and universities in environmental issues for many years. Here is a short list of highlights:

2007	Connecticut College launches on-campus composting initiative With one big grind, Connecticut College officially began composting in November 2007, as the college community gathered for a celebration and demonstration of the college's two Earth Tubs, commercial-sized compost units that will reduce the college's food waste by up to 35,000 pounds a year.
2007	College Commits to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions College and university efforts are underway to forestall global warming contributions from campuses. In January, 2007, President Higdon became a Charter Signatory of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). This nationwide effort for campuses to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions recognizes the role America’s higher education institutions can, and should, play in decreasing contribution to global warming. To date, the number of signatories is about 440. Connecticut College has inventoried its GHG emissions from 1990 to the present. A comprehensive plan in accordance with this initiative is being devised by the Presidents Climate Commitment Committee comprised of students, faculty and staff.
2007	RecycleMania From January 28th through April 7th, 2007, CC participated for a second year in the intercollegiate competition, RecycleMania, to increase campus recycling and reduce waste. Of the 201 U.S. colleges and universities enrolled in RecycleMania, CC ranked 24th. The cumulative weight of recyclables collected per person at the College was 39.5 lbs. The total amount of recyclables reported by the competing schools was 41.3 million pounds. A boost to waste reduction on campuses!
2006	RecycleMania During spring semester of the 2005-2006 academic year, the students, faculty and staff at Connecticut College participated in RecycleMania 2006, a 10-week competition to see which of the participating 92 U.S. colleges and universities recycles the most material per capita. Connecticut College ranked 5th in the competition.
2005, 2006	Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) In 2005, Connecticut College first purchased Green-e ® certified Renewable Energy Certificates from 3 Phases Energy to offset 50% of the total electricity use on campus for one year. The purchase of 7.5 million kWh of RECs was funded by the annual student fee surcharge for renewable energy. The wind generation source, Mountain View Wind (CA) wind farm, comprises 111 turbines.
2005	Sustainable Gardening Initiative Beginning in the 2004-2005 academic year, students prepared a small plot of land on campus to begin the College's first sustainable garden. During the spring of 2005 the first crops, including tomatoes, swiss chard and radishes, were planted. By 2007, the garden initiative, Sprout!, has expanded dramatically in activity, size and production since.
2005	Environmental Coordinator Position As part of the Strategic Plan adopted by the College in 2005, the Campus Environmental Coordinator position was upgraded to a full-time administrative staff position. The purpose of this position is to lead the college in environmental sustainability initiatives including recycling, conservation of energy and materials, renewable energy, and “green” building projects.
2005	Energy Conservation & Efficiency Fund (ECEF) As part of continuing efforts to reduce energy consumption, the College created the Energy Conservation & Efficiency Fund (ECEF). The ECEF provides the capital necessary to make improvements in energy efficiency and to run effective energy conservation efforts in the form of a revolving loan fund.
2005	Green Building Policy In 2005, Connecticut College adopted a policy that will work to incorporate sound environmental practices into siting, design, construction, maintenance, renovation, and eventual demolition of campus buildings. By implementing this policy it is hoped that the college will be able to provide better quality of life while at the same time saving money and conserving resources such as water and energy.
2004	Light Bulb Exchange In an effort to educate the campus community about electricity use while at the same time increasing energy efficiency, the College sponsored a light bulb exchange. The old incandescent light bulbs were turned into art which was then sold. The proceeds from this artwork were used to provide continued funding to the light bulb exchange program.
2004	Renewable Energy Policy In order to ensure continued progress on energy issues, the Renewable Energy Club, the Student Government Association and the Environmental Model Committee worked together to develop the College first Renewable Energy policy.
2003	Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs) In the spring of 2003, the College began participating in the EPA's program to purchase Tradable Renewable Certificates. These certificates represent the positive environmental impact associated with the generation of electricity from environmentally sound sources such as wind and solar. In October 2003, the College signed a deal to purchase 13,300,000 kWh of wind credits through EAD Environmental. These credits will offset about 44% of the College's electric usage for the next two years.
2003	Environmental Model Committe (EMC) becomes an official college committee After many years of operating as an informal ad hoc committee, the EMC was granted the status of a permanent standing college committee.
2003	Green House Gas Emissions Inventory Working in conjunction with Clean Air-Cool Planet, the College compiled an inventory of its green house gas emissions for the 1990-2003. This inventory was updated again during the summer of 2005.
2001	Renewable Energy In the spring of 2001, Connecticut College students led a campaign to switch the campus to 22% renewable energy from the standard supply, which includes a high percentage of nuclear power. The student body agreed to pay an extra $25 a year in their tuition in order to make this happen. This made Connecticut College the first school in the country to purchase a significant portion of its energy from clean, renewable sources. To learn more about the renewable energy the school is using, contact the Renewable Energy Club.
1999	THE PARK SOLAR ARRAY When Park residence hall was renovated in 1999, a 10 kW array of solar panels was installed on the roof. The electricity generated by these solar panels is used to offset the power required by a boiler plant that was installed that same year. Savings from the combined reduction of having a new smaller, more efficient boiler plant and from the solar array amounts to 90,769 kWh per year. The amount saved is approximately what one dorm would use in an academic year.
1999	CARBON OFFSET PROJECT In August 1999, CC became the first college or university in the United States to address its carbon emissions, a primary cause of global warming, by joining the “Klinki Program.” In collaboration with a non-profit organization based in Mystic, Connecticut called Reforest the Tropics, Inc., the college agreed to work with farmers in Costa Rica to plant enough fast growing trees, including the Klinki (Araucaria huntsteinii), to compensate for the 593 tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually by the electricity use in the Crozier-Williams College Center over the next 30 years. If you would like additional information about how you can offset your carbon emissions, check out Reforest the Tropics, Inc.
1994	Environmental Coordinator Position Created In an effort to better organize environmental efforts on campus, the Environmental Coordinator position was created. This position was as an academic year internship for a recent Connecticut College graduate who had been involved in environmental activism as a student.
1994	Earth House The Connecticut College Earth House is a residential community of campus activists living in North Cottage. Formed in 1994 by six students (Erin Corcoran '95, Jens Hilke '96, Brooke Loder '95, Mark Lucey '95, Jake Marin '97, and Heather Montgomery '95), the Earth House acts as a vehicle for coordinating student activism on issues of sustainability on campus. Earth House also acts as a resource for campus activists and as a model for environmentally and socially conscious living.
1993	Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies In 1993, the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies was established to promote more effective and cohesive collaboration between many different people and departments concerned with environmental issues. As an academic center, CCBES supports research and education, oversees an undergraduate certificate program, and sponsors conferences and lectures.
1970	Recycling Program Begins In 1970, Connecticut College became one of the the first colleges in the nation to to establish a campus-wide recycling program. The program began by recycling old newspapers. The program was expanded in 1984 to include glass bottles and aluminum cans, and again in 1989 to accomodate office paper, plastic and other metal cans.
1969	Environmental Studies Major In 1969, Connecticut College became one of the first undergraduate schools in the nation to offer a major in Human Ecology. Over time this program has evolved into the Environmental Studies program. The focus is to encourage an examination of environmental science and policy using a multidisciplinary approach integrating classroom, laboratory, field and study-away experiences.
1931	Connecticut College Arboretum The Connecticut College Arboretum was established on 60 acres west of the main campus. Since then it has been expanded to include the entire 750 acres of College property. The campus grounds crew and the Arboretum staff collaborate to maintain the entirety of the campus using environmentally sound techniques. The Arboretum was one of the first to be dedicated to growing and studying native plants, and it now protects hundreds of acres of wild lands including tidal and freshwater marshes, swamps, fields and forests. The Arboretum serves as a “living laboratory” and classroom for teaching and research, as well as a place for recreation.

This page maintained by The Environmental Coordinator green-living@conncoll.edu