Leading the Way: 5 Eco-Friendly Colleges in the United States

The need to be green has permeated all aspects of life, and colleges and campuses are no exception. In fact, many higher education facilities have taken it upon themselves to make their campuses and operations as green as possible.

This helps to create a new generation that lives a much greener existence than those that came before them. The following five colleges in America take being green to higher levels because they have a very defined way of running operations while still being kind to the environment at the same time.

College of the Atlantic

College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, is a green college to the core. Every student studies human ecology and thus is taught how instrumental and fundamental the relationship between humans and the planet truly is and should be for better living.

In addition, organic food is served to students, buildings utilize green building designs and sustainability ranks high throughout the campus.

Warren Wilson College

Warren Wilson College in North Carolina takes being green to a whole new level. The school is highly self-sustaining as they use their own lumber and food grown on the campus grounds.

The entire campus is powered by biodiesel fuel and also uses solar powered energy throughout the dorms and campus. In addition, recycling, reusing and composting are a major endeavor at the school, and all students partake in this initiative in some manner.

Evergreen State College

Evergreen State College in the state of Washington is known for being green. It has a natural campus setting, where it grows food for students, engages in composting and only uses clean power to keep the campus up and running.

The food is grown through student participation and the organic manner for growing those used foods makes this college one that is also self-sustaining.

Oberlin College

Oberlin College in Ohio is another top notch green college. The school is home to the largest solar power set up in the state and also uses energy saving measures such as day lighting, geothermal heating and cooling and energy monitoring to keep the campus green.

The school also has an elaborate waste water treatment system in place to further make the campus as green as possible.

Middlebury College

Middlebury College in Vermont is another well-known and renowned green campus. The school takes green principles such as reusing materials very seriously. When aging buildings and facilities are taken apart, their key materials are placed back in to use for building new structures. They are a college truly focused on reducing their carbon footprint.

There are many other great “green” colleges such as Berea College, University of California, Harvard University, Duke University and California State University in Chico.

Though one wants to choose their higher education carefully, opting for an institution that does take sustainability, environmentalism, green living and Eco-friendly ways of operating the school to heart adds to the benefits received at any institution of higher learning. The right college choice is one that meets the educational and lifestyle needs you find important and essential in your overall growth.