The College Sustainability Report Card, which rates sustainability at colleges around the U.S. and in Canada, recently released its annual report card. Last year, Creighton received a D+, but due to more involvement in sustainability by the administration, more sustainable food and recycling programs and investment priorities, Creighton’s score has improved to a B-.
The College Sustainability Report Card is a part of the nonprofit organization Sustainable Endowments Institute, which encourages institutions to use more sustainable energy. The Institute has been rating schools’ sustainability efforts since 2005, when it was founded.
On its website, greenreportcard.org, the College Sustainability Report Card names the 300 schools with the largest endowments and then grades them based on sustainability. Each grade is determined based on research and surveys done by administrators at each school.
Much of Creighton’s grade improvement can be attributed to the Green Jays club, which was started last year. The club’s website states that it is “a student organization focused on increasing awareness of environmental issues on Creighton’s campus as well as throughout the city of Omaha.”
Sydney Hiatt, Arts & Sciences senior and co-president and project coordinator for Green Jays, thinks the grade raise is a major step toward more sustainability at Creighton.
“I think the largest improvement we have made is the development of renewable energy sources on campus and the educational opportunities they provide for future students,” she said.
Along with the help of the Green Jays, the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., signed the Presidential Climate Commitment, which Hiatt said, will “evaluate the university’s carbon footprint and require that we lower our environmental impact.”
In addition, Creighton introduced single-stream recycling and installed an energy management system, more efficient lighting systems and solar panels on campus.
Even with all of these changes, Hiatt said Creighton can still improve by using more local food sources for dining and finding alternatives for the water used on landscaping.
Hiatt said she hopes Green Jays can continue to increase Creighton’s grade on the College Sustainability Report Card even more with more student involvement. She said that last year, the club focused on educating and involving students, but now they are focusing more on change.
“This year we are expanding our action on campus,” she said. “Becoming more involved with recycling endeavors, hoping to eliminate the use of plastic water bottles, starting an on-campus community garden and introducing a bike-sharing program in the spring.”
Hiatt said she also hopes that students become more aware of this issue because of its importantance.
“That is what is at the heart of sustainability: a concern for how we use, treat, live in the world and how we can maintain that for future generations,” she said.