Green scene: The solar bench—which uses the sun’s rays to charge electronics—frames a recycling station, a bicycle rack and the Stewart Moore Carolinian Garden to point up the University of Windsor’s commitment to environmental responsibility.Green scene: The solar bench—which uses the sun’s rays to charge electronics—frames a recycling station, a bicycle rack and the Stewart Moore Carolinian Garden to point up the University of Windsor’s commitment to environmental responsibility.

UWindsor named among greenest universities in North America

UWindsor was among five Canadian universities ranked among the greenest in North America this week by the Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges.

Institutions were scored based on such factors as healthy, sustainable quality of student life on campus; environmentally responsible school policies; and how well students are being prepared for employment in an increasingly green economy.

Among specific areas of scrutiny were:

  • The percentage of food expenditures that go toward local, organic, or otherwise environmentally preferable food;
  •  The existence of a formal committee devoted to advancing sustainability on campus;
  • Construction or renovations within the past three years of LEED-certified buildings;
  • Overall waste-diversion rates;
  • The availability of at least one sustainability-focused undergraduate major, degree program or equivalent;
  • The opportunity for students to graduate from programs that include sustainability as a required learning outcome, or include multiple sustainability learning outcomes; and,
  • Percentage of the school’s energy resources derived from renewable sources.

Rankings were based on data points collected through Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges’ Green Rating system, as well as from student survey responses collected in 2013–2014.

The magazine says their survey data included student ratings of how sustainability issues influenced their education and life on campus; adminis­tration and student support for environmental awareness and conservation efforts; and the visibility and impact of student environmental groups.

“Issues of sustainability and environmental responsibility are important to everyone,” says UWindsor President Alan Wildeman.

“I congratulate the faculty, staff and students across the University of Windsor who have made this recognition possible.  It is also a reality that many of our students will have opportunities for future employment related to creating a more green economy that our society strives for.”

The full report is available at: http://az589735.vo.msecnd.net/pdf/greenguide2015.pdf