For the second year straight, the University of Mary Washington has been ranked among the nation’s top “green colleges.” The ranking appears in the 2016 edition of The Princeton Review’s Guide to 361 Green Colleges.
The Princeton Review profiles colleges with the most exceptional commitments to sustainability based on their academic offerings and career preparation for students, campus policies, initiatives and activities. The “green” colleges were selected from more than 2,000 schools, based on a 2016 survey of college administrators that asked about sustainability-related policies, practices and programs.
“We strongly recommend the schools in this guide to environmentally minded students who seek to study and live at green colleges,” said Robert Franek, the Princeton Review’s senior vice president and publisher.
Among its initiatives, UMW revised its investment policy to limit discretionary fossil fuel investments to below 4 percent. In addition, all new construction and major renovations meet or exceed LEED silver standards and 18 percent of the university’s food budget is spent on local and organic food. The University also competes annually in the international RecycleMania competition, organized a faculty forum to share research related to sustainability and teamed up with the City of Fredericksburg to educate the community about cigarette butt litter.
Last spring, UMW was recently recognized as 2015 Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
To see the full list of institutions included in the guide, visit www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.