Sustainability
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Many appliances that are plugged in suck electricity even when they are turned off. If you hook them up to a power strip, it's easy to press the off switch after using them to save energy. Read More
Our Commitment to Sustainability
At Northland College, sustainability is all about people. We believe that environmental change requires more than technical knowledge of renewable energy, ecosystems, and sustainable business practices; it demands an exploration of human nature--an exploration of ourselves. We focus on environmental leadership throughout the student experience at Northland. Students participate in all levels of our campus life--from volunteering to enhance our "commons," to work study jobs that support our green features, to capstone projects that help our college innovate. Students are active in governance, strategic planning, and vision-setting. They are not just tomorrow's environmental leaders; Northland students are creating a more sustainable future now.
Our commitment to sustainability is about acting from a position of hope: we can only construct a positive future if we can envision it. Creating change is a complex, iterative process. Our campus is a lab where we pursue sustainability; students test theories in real world projects, with real impacts and real risks. Northland's liberal arts mission is to educate leaders who will address future problems that we cannot begin to imagine. By making the college more sustainable now, students develop the skills they need to change the world.
Whether you visit Northland College for one day, or decide to spend your student career here on the edge of Lake Superior, we welcome you to help us create a sustainable future. In return, we ask, "what inspiration will you find here, and how will you pass it on?"
Download the 2011 Campus Sustainability Summary (.pdf).
Northland's Involvement
Check out our new Sustainability Chill Out Campaign Video.
Northland College and STARS®
Northland College ranks Silver by STARS!
STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to gauge relative progress toward sustainability and was implemented by AASHE (the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education). Check the scorecards at the STARS website.
Northland College continues to move forward in practicing sustainability through education, research and awareness. In January 2008, Northland launched its partnership with the STARS, which was developed by AASHE with broad participation from the higher education community.
STARS is designed to:
- Provide a framework for understanding sustainability in all sectors of higher education.
- Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.
- Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability.
- Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance.
- Build a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community.
Information above is taken from the STARS website. To read more click here.
Learn more about sustainability at Northland College by joining Environmental Council's Facebook group or becoming Environmental Council's MySpace friend!
Northland College is also part of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment where institutions must exercise leadership in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to eliminate global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality. Click the logo below to learn more.
