Nine Green Campuses

University of California, Santa Barbara

Earns top marks for its 62% recycling rate, its goal to be zero waste by 2020, and its use of greywater for landscaping. The campus has six Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings, including Bren Hall, which was the first building to earn a “double platinum” rating

University of Oregon

Earns high marks for its use of renewable energy on campus, purchase of renewable energy credits, and its excellent water conservation and composting efforts. Students learn about organic gardening, composting, and more at the school’s Urban Farm.

University of California, Davis

The university has a good recycling rate and comprehensive composting program. Students conduct waste audits to help put more into recycling and send less to the landfill. It uses some solar energy to heat water and power buildings.

Colorado State University

Is one of the most stringent schools in the country when it comes to green building design. All new buildings must receive LEED Gold certification. The university purchases renewable energy and uses a significant amount of solar power on campus.

Stanford University

Earns top marks for offering food from local and organic sources. An extremely high amount of waste is diverted from landfill thanks to strong recycling and composting programs. Stanford uses solar energy, has a fleet of hundreds of electric vehicles, and is testing a solar car.

Harvard University

Is aggressively trying to reduce its carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2016 and is credited for having good green building design. It also gets good grades for its composting program and selection of organic and local foods.

Pennsylvania State University

The campus is partially powered by wind and biomass. Penn State encourages students to participate in conservation efforts through its Take Charge program. Light switch covers remind students to turn off the lights. The university has top notch composting and recycling programs.

University of California, San Diego

Is recognized for its incredible recycling rate, comprehensive water conservation program, and fleet of vehicles that runs on alternative fuels. About 15% of UCSD’s energy comes from renewable sources.

Duke University

Green building design is a top priority. Duke’s Smart Home is the first LEED certified dormitory in the U.S. The school purchases renewable energy credits to offset a large amount of its energy use. Duke gets about a third of its food from local or organic sources.

Detroit Recycles Rail Line into Bike Path

The Dequindre Cut is Now Open to the Public!
A Detroit railroad line that has been abandoned since the 1980s has now been turned into a 1.2 mile biking and walking path, and Detroit officials assure us that this is only the beginning, part of a grander vision. "The Dequindre Cut is the latest in a growing network of greenways -- nonmotorized community links -- that eventually could encompass 100 miles of such trails throughout Detroit." The Cut was open to the public with festive ceremonies yesterday (just in time for Bike to Work Day.

The City of Detroit recycled a railroad line into a bike and walking path that could be extended to 100 miles in the future.

San Fran Recycles 72%- page 1

Written by Gavin Newsom

Published on May 12th, 20093 CommentsPosted in efficiency, recycling

Editor’s note: This post is a contribution by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. See his last post on electric vehicle charging infrastructure or all of his previous posts here. A companion piece was also posted on RedGreenandBlue.org earlier today.

San Francisco is a city that knows how to recycle. We work hard to give new life to our paper, bottles, cans and other waste.
New statistics released today show we are keeping 72 percent of all discards from going to the landfill – up from 70 percent the year before.

That’s a big leap for one year. The most significant gains came from the recycling of material from building sites – due in large part to our 2006 mandatory Construction and Demolition Debris Recovery Ordinance.

By requiring builders to recycle debris from construction projects, we were able to divert tens of thousands of new tons of material away from the landfill. This ordinance is unique in that it doesn’t require deposits or bonds, making it small business-friendly and limiting the amount of bureaucracy needed to implement the program.

When it comes to our recycling programs, we’re always in the development phase. In order to meet our ambitious goal of 75 percent recycling by 2010 and zero waste by 2020, we are constantly looking for additional materials to recycle, and for emerging markets to make use of our recyclables.


» See also: Plant A Tree — Even Wall Street Agrees
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A few years back we developed—along with the company Recology, our partner in recycling — an innovative program to collect food scraps and turn them into organic soil. Local farms and vineyards now use this soil to grow crops, which are then sold back to consumers in San Francisco. We close the loop locally.

We’ve also recently started recycling almost all types of plastic. We take everything except plastic bags and Styrofoam. Most of it gets made into plastic molding and bender board.