Grounds for sustainability -- The Perk Up program challenges SUNY Oswego students to reduce waste by utilizing reusable cups when drinking coffee; a companion project, Tap In, focuses on using disposable water bottles. Initiatives such as these help demonstrate the college's commitment to environmental sustainability, leading The Princeton Review to include SUNY Oswego in its 2018 guide to "green" colleges.
The Princeton Review education services company again has ranked SUNY Oswego among the nation's most environmentally responsible colleges.
The company recognized Oswego in the ninth edition of its publication, “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 399 Green Colleges.”
"SUNY Oswego is one college absolutely overflowing with sustainability," the guide reports. "An ACUPCC (American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment) signatory, the upstate New York green stronghold combines a rich institutional commitment to the environment with a thriving student enthusiasm toward sustainable endeavors."
The guide also cited: the college's Climate Action Plan, use of green cleaning products, sustainability research, multiple student groups working on and advocating for environmental solutions, the minor program of study in sustainability, several cross-departmental courses such as environmental chemistry, environmental economics and sustainability and human behavior; and its policy of LEED (U.S. Green Building Council standards of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver -- at a minimum -- for any new construction.
Recent college construction, including the Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation; the updated Rice Creek Field Station; and the residential complex of buildings known as the Village, all have achieved LEED Gold certification.
The Princeton Review singles out the value of SUNY Oswego's biological field station, located about a mile south of the main campus on Thompson Road. "Sustainability-related research is encouraged by Rice Creek Field Station, a unit that invites student proposals and is dedicated to the support of academic instruction, research, and public service in all aspects of natural history," the report notes.
The college has added initiatives not even reflected yet in the guide, such as recommendations by the President's Advisory Group on Sustainability in Dining Centers, recently implemented to greatly reduce plastics in campus eateries, coupled with increased education on making environmentally friendly choices for eating and drinking.
The company chose Oswego and the other schools for its "green guide" based on data from a 2017-18 survey of hundreds of four-year colleges concerning the schools' commitments to the environment and sustainability. More than 25 data points were weighted in the tallies for Princeton Review's Green Rating scores.
Editor-in-Chief Robert Franek noted that college applicants and their parents are increasingly concerned about the environment and sustainability issues. Among nearly 11,000 teens and parents The Princeton Review surveyed earlier this year for its 2018 "College Hopes & Worries Survey," 63 percent overall said having information about a college's commitment to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the school, he said.
For more information on SUNY Oswego's leadership in sustainability, visit the college's sustainability website.