In recent years, Swarthmore administrators and students alike have paid significant attention to green initiatives. Various task forces have discussed environmental commitments and long-term plans, and student discussions, activist groups and protests have been organized to spark reform. All in all, the last decade was one of progress for the college’s sustainability efforts, on a level equal to, if not more extensive than, those of comparable schools.
One significant area of concern that remains throughout institutions of higher education is building sustainable habits of energy usage and carbon emissions. Many colleges around the US have signed onto the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in an effort to resolve this issue. Former college President Rebecca Chopp added Swarthmore’s name to the list of over 600 schools that committed to take significant measures towards sustainability — notably, creating a plan for achieving carbon neutrality within the next several decades. In conjunction with a Climate Action Plan committee formed during her tenure, Chopp set the college’s carbon neutrality goal for 2035.
These steps of commitment are signs of progress that some comparable schools have not yet matched. Haverford College has signed the ACUPCC and conducted emissions studies, but has not declared a deadline for carbon neutrality on its campus. Among those who have not joined the commitment include Amherst College, Williams College and seven of eight Ivy League schools.
However, other peer schools have made progress at faster rates than Swarthmore. Colby College achieved carbon neutrality in 2013, two years ahead of its self-imposed deadline, becoming just the fourth college in the U.S. to do so. Middlebury College aims to finish its project by the end of next year; Bowdoin College set a deadline of 2020. In total, over 120 colleges across the nation plan to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2030.
Thus far, Swarthmore has been making significant headway toward the 2035 carbon neutrality goal, though. Net carbon emissions have decreased by 35 percent since 2010, and the administration hopes to raise that number to 50 percent by the end of this calendar year. However, as the college was careful to note in an article on the school’s sustainability webpage, the significant campus construction and extreme weather patterns that have occurred recently may dampen results in the near future.
Some of the college’s recent projects move it closer to optimal standards of sustainability. Last month, the college’s Board of Managers announced its plans to construct the new Biology, Engineering and Psychology building according to the highest sustainability standards set by Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design. Instead of using the Silver level — the second-lowest in the LEED’s building rating scale — the school is investing another $12 million in order to be Platinum Certified by LEED.
Reaching Platinum certification is no minor feat. Haverford’s highest rating was Gold (one level below Platinum) for its athletic center ten years ago. Colby, Williams, Claremont McKenna College and nearby Villanova University have never received LEED certifications higher than Gold.
Another of the college’s recent greening initiatives was the introduction of ZipCar — a car sharing service that disincentivizes student car ownership — at the beginning of last semester. Many comparable colleges have already introduced ZipCar, including Amherst, Bryn Mawr, Colby, Pomona, Wesleyan, Williams and most of the Ivies.
Recycling and composting are widespread on campus as well, and in 2010 (when data regarding these initiatives was last made available) the college was diverting 27 percent of its waste away from landfills and into reusable, sustainable platforms. Furthermore, most campus food vendors use biodegradable, compostable paper products. Composting is in particular becoming more and more popular, matching the progress that many other schools have made in the last decade.
Responsibly managing sources of energy consumption represents one of the most crucial facets of long-term sustainability. In recent years, the college has decided to offset 100 percent of its electrical power by making proportional investments in wind power. By purchasing renewable energy credits, the college does not actually use alternative energy, but rather sustainably helps to fund progress in alternative energy research.
Haverford has a similar policy to Swarthmore, but states in its “Greening Haverford” brochure that it “purchases 100 percent wind energy” in RECs. Other schools have not yet made changes on the same level as Swarthmore. Amherst purchases enough RECs to cover the energy used for school computers, and experiments with solar panels on some of its buildings. Williams matches just 1 percent of its energy consumption with wind power RECs.
The college’s sustainability endeavors are set to increase in the future. The Green Advisors program allows students to get involved in environmental activities and discussions on campus and continues to actively seek new members. The students consider themselves “peer-to-peer environmental educators,” according to a recent recruitment email, and plan to work on a number of projects such as expanding composting and working with the Chester community to tackle its environmental issues.
For the administration, the next major step is a two-day event to discuss and further 160 green proposals sent to Interim President Constance Hungerford over the course of the last semester. Organized by Hungerford and Director of Sustainability Laura Cacho, the Sustainability Charrette on February 11 and 12 will feature talks and discussions by leading environmental advocates and thinkers from across the nation, including David Orr, an Oberlin College professor who spearheaded the creation of the first significantly green building on a college campus. The goal will be to shape dozens of proposals into actual initiatives that can be implemented in the near future and more long-term, furthering the college’s sustainability work.
