Does Higher Learning Mean Greener Learning?

Greenopia is happy to announce its environmental ratings for the 100 largest schools in the US. We were not satisfied with the rigorousness of other green college lists that were presently available and wanted to lend our expertise in impact analysis to the mix. We used a comprehensive set of criteria to determine our ratings. These included the green building design policies, waste program, food selection, campus vehicle fleet, water conservation measures, climate performance, renewable energy usage, and the overall environmental transparency of the school.

At the top of the list, receiving 4 out of a possible 4 leafs were the University of Washington and the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Rounding out the top 10 greenest schools were the University of Oregon, the University of California at Davis, Colorado State, Stanford, Harvard, Penn State, the University of California at San Diego, and Duke.

With environmental awareness increasing daily, it is not surprising that the environment is becoming a crucial part of education. While most universities offer some sort of environmental program, there is little comprehensive information pertaining to their actual environmental performance relative to other schools.

"Rating the environmental performance of a university is a daunting task," said Doug Mazeffa, Greenopia's Research Director. "There are many different criteria that must be considered before any conclusions can be drawn."

We used a comprehensive set of criteria to determine its college ratings. Data was collected from the university itself or from other credible sources pertaining to the green building design, waste program, food selection, campus vehicle fleet, water conservation measures, climate performance, renewable energy usage, and the overall environmental transparency of the school.

It was fascinating to see the variability in the environmental performance of each university Some schools have made a tremendous effort, while others really have yet to make any significant changes to their policies.

See the ratings here.

Greenopia employs its award-winning eco-analysis method to deliver actionable green-assessments to the rapidly growing green consumer market. Green businesses and merchants use Greenopia's targeted marketing methods to effectively reach consumers making greener choices.