Sustainability and Green Initiatives at Tufts
Tufts Grows Green
Tufts colors may be brown and blue, but our campus is growing greener by the minute. Student-led efforts have ranged from a green roof collaborative on campus to constructing a net-zero home. It's safe to say that the university promotes the sustainable use of natural resources and energy as well as sustainable economic growth on a global scale. Here’s how:
- Tufts Office of Sustainability bridges ideas and practical implementation to make real change across campus and beyond.
- Tufts Dining purchases local, organic, and Fair Trade products, and all the main campus dining halls compost their food waste.
- TuftsBike is a student-run free bike share program. They operate a bike workshop, hold safety and urban riding classes and organize group rides. Bikes, helmets and locks can be checkout out from the Tisch Library for FREE.
- Tufts’ campus printing service uses soy-based inks and recycled paper.
- Tufts has a "green" dorm, Sophia Gordon Hall, where energy efficient appliances decrease energy use by anywhere from 10 to 35 percent.
- Students learn leadership skills and sustainability knowledge through the Eco-Rep program. The Tufts Eco-Reps are a group of residential students who help to raise awareness about ecological issues, encourage environmentally responsible behavior in their hall-mates and peers, and plan related events and activities.
- Tufts Recycles! organizes Tufts’ participation in RecycleMania, a national competition between hundreds of colleges and universities to determine which institution has the highest recycling rate. They can also tune you into local freecycling hot spots, among many, many other opportunities to reuse, reduce, and recycle.
- In partnership with two Tufts alumni, the university established a $100 million microfinance fund for investments in developing countries.
- You can read all about how to live green at Tufts in the Green Guide
National Recognition
- In the September/October 2008 issue of Sierra Magazine, published by the American environmental organization The Sierra Club, Tufts was listed among the top 10 schools “that get it” when it comes to green living. Schools were judged in ten different categories: policies for building, energy, food, investment, procurement, transportation, curriculum, environmental activism, waste management and overall commitment to sustainability.
- In 2009, the university was named one of the top 25 greenest schools in the 2009 Kaplan College Guide.
- Princeton Review’s “Green Rating” guide - “which evaluates colleges and universities on their environmentally-related policies, practices, and academic offerings” - gave Tufts a 94 on a scale of 60 to 99.