About G3
- George Gets Ingenious
- Recycling
- Green Your Dorm
- Sign the Green Pledge
- Student Environmental Alliance
A Call for Sustainability
George Goes Green
A Call for Sustainability
Students have been the driving force behind the College's commitment to sustainable community practices. CES works with the President's Office, the Board of Visitors and Governors of Washington College, the President's Climate Action Committee, and the Student Environmental Alliance to promote stewardship both on- and off-campus, implementing socially-responsible management practices wherever possible. Through collective action, we encourage a proactive and integrative approach to Campus Greening. This approach also provides a forum for environmental concerns and a resource for those people who might not be activists, but who would like to partake in campus preservation and stewardship.
Staff members of the Center for Environment & Society are actively involved in many projects that foster sustainability on campus. Heading up the President's Climate Action Committee, the Center's staff works with other members of the college community to meet goals set by the American College & Universities Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are also involved with members of the Chestertown community to meet similar goals set by the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
Other sustainable practices include: recycling on campus; composting; landscaping with native plants; purchasing locally-grown foods; purchasing eco-friendly consumer products (e.g., recycled paper towels and bathroom tissue for the dorms, and recycled paper with post-consumer waste content for printers and copiers in the offices); and, insisting on the design and construction of "green" buildings that consume less energy, use non-toxic materials, and produce less waste than conventionally-built ones.
One of the overarching principles of sustainability is the emphasis on balancing environmental, economic, and cultural needs in the community. Educating for a sustainable future calls for integrating knowledge from many disciplines so students have the tools to be decision-makers and stewards of a sustainable world. The Center endeavors to inculcate responsible stewardship in the community's mind set, and to become a leader in teaching and promoting sustainable community practices.
Learn more about the background of sustainability at Washington College.
Watch a Sustainability Feature produced and narrated by CES intern Maureen Sentman.