Colleges Offering Earth Day-Inspired Sustainability Initiatives This Year
Credit: Hill Street Studios / DigitalVision / Getty Images- Earth Day is April 22, but colleges have already started celebrating by announcing sustainability-focused certificates, credentials, and grant funding.
- Students can help create sustainable colleges by joining local clubs and fighting to have their institutions divest their endowments, research funding from fossil fuel companies, and reinvest in climate sustainable companies.
- The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, for example, is granting up to $2,500 to student and faculty projects including solar-powered charging stations and shelters for local bats and owls.
Earth Day is just around the corner, and many colleges around the country are already starting the festivities by announcing new programs and grant funding for sustainability.
Ahead of April 22, two colleges have announced training, credentials, and certificates on sustainability and implementing sustainable practices in construction and business. One university in Arkansas is giving up to $2,500 to four students and faculty for on-campus sustainability projects, from wildlife to composting.
In 2023, Ilana Cohen, a Harvard alum, New York University Law student, and cofounder of the student nonprofit Campus Climate Network, told BestColleges how students can choose and create a sustainable college.
Some of the best ways include:
- Fighting for your college to divest funding from fossil fuel companies and reinvest in sustainable companies — in endowment and research funding.
- Getting involved in a sustainability-focused club or starting one. Campus Climate Network has partnering organizations at universities around the country.
- Pursuing a fossil fuel-free and sustainable career and fighting to prevent fossil fuel companies from advertising at campus career fairs.
“Being in a university bubble creates an imperative for action; it doesn’t excuse inaction,” she previously told BestColleges.
“I think it’s really common for students to leverage the resources we have available to us, being at this unique point in our lives and being in these unique spaces. To ensure that these big institutions are acting in ways that are conducive to climate justice rather than supporting agendas.”
Colleges Announcing Sustainability Initiatives This Earth Month
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
The university broke ground on the $28 million Energy Research + Sustainability Center (ER+SC) to add a hub of labs, offices, and research spaces. The technology for students and faculty will help them advance energy, wind, and solar research.
“Sustainability is integrated in all corners of our campus. This facility will bring together students, faculty, and staff who are working together to make our world a more environmentally and socially just place,” Mike Fisher, acting vice president for administration and finance, said in a press release April 14.
“This facility will immerse our students in research and real-world work experience, showcasing just a few of the areas where we lead in higher education, sustainability, and energy research.”
Eastern Michigan University
The university announced April 16 that its dining services will now:
- Track and compost food waste
- Donate surplus food to local organizations
- Offer reusable to-go containers for students
- Minimize high-carbon ingredients in meal preparation
“Eastern Michigan University is reinforcing its commitment to sustainability through innovative initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact, fostering social responsibility, and enhancing energy efficiency,” a press release said.
Want a college that values sustainability? Read more:
Holyoke Community College
The college will offer a free four-week program this summer to train working adults in clean energy. The Green Construction, Electricity and Clean Energy Systems program provides 80 hours of hands-on training in:
- Green construction
- Hand and power tool use
- Energy-efficient materials and design
- Measurement and diagrams
- Basic framing
- Wall installation and maintenance
- Foundation construction and pouring
- Workplace safety
- Job readiness
- Electrical concepts and circuitry
- Application of learned concepts in solar and electric vehicle charging installations
Students can also earn their Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10 safety credentials. Students must be at least 18, have a high school diploma, and be authorized to work in the country to enroll.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
The university announced up to $2,500 in grants for four student and faculty initiatives to promote campus environmental responsibility.
The 2024-25 grant winners:
- Colby Martinez, a mechanical engineering student, aims to install solar-powered charging stations across campus.
- Morgan Leyenberger, an instructor in the school of social work, will use microbiota technology to compost biowaste.
- Geology Assistant Professor Heather Black will analyze and monitor drinking water on campus.
- Biology student Lane Epperson’s project will install bat and owl boxes to provide homes to the local wildlife. Bats and owls also manage rodent and insect populations, providing natural pest control without chemicals.
All grant recipients will present their projects at the university’s Earth Day Event on April 22. A new round of grant funding will open in fall 2025.
San Diego State University
Once a week, San Diego State University students Viraj Urkudey and Olivia Devito go to local landfills to collect up to 40 pounds of organic waste to convert into energy or fertilizer as part of the university’s office composting program through the Office of Energy and Sustainability.
Since fall 2024, they’ve collected almost 1,000 pounds.
University offices can opt in to the program to receive a waste bin for organic waste for Urkudey and Devito to pick up in their electric vehicle. The two are also responsible for creating educational campaigns about what is and isn’t compostable.
“A big part of it is education,” said Devito, a third-year sustainability major with a minor in ecology. “We’re really trying to see this expand to a university-wide thing, at least in the sense of getting people to understand what composting is and why it’s important. We educate our offices and give them everything they need to be comfortable disposing their waste.”