Sustainability
Sustainability -- the intersection of economic, environmental and social issues -- is a popular cause on campus. The Office of Sustainability plays a significant role in spearheading many of the University's environmental initiatives, and students are encouraged to get involved with these efforts and to launch their own.
Student Groups
Several campus groups focus on different aspects of sustainability, providing a range of options for the socially conscious Princetonian. Here's a sampling:
CycLab: Princeton has its very own bike co-op. Its main purpose is to serve as a resource for bicycle repairs, but the group also organizes activities such as workshops and group rides.
Eco-Reps: This student group promotes campus recycling and energy conservation in the residential colleges, from recycling cups and bottles to cell phones and plastic bags, as well as partnering with other students groups on the Pull the Plug campaign. You'll probably see an Eco-Reps presentation in your dorm during orientation.
Greening Princeton: The power brokers. Greening Princeton works with campus administrators to improve the University's sustainability efforts. Successes include increasing the organic and local food served by Dining Services, helping create Princeton’s first Office of Sustainability and switching to 100 percent recycled paper for general office needs across the University.
Princeton SURGE: SURGE is dedicated to fighting climate change by reducing emissions on campus and advocating for emissions-reducing policy and legislation around the world. SURGE, with Greening Princeton, recently organized an energy reduction competition between two residential colleges.
Campus Initiatives
The University also directly sponsors activities and internships related to sustainability. Some examples:
Garden Project: Students oversee a 1.5-acre organic herb and vegetable garden at 79 Alexander St. that provides produce to Forbes College and local vendors. The students also organize events that educate the campus about sustainable food systems.
Student Environmental Communication Network: This initiative teaches students how to produce stories about sustainability using media such as podcasts and videos. You can sign up for a course, take a summer workshop or get trained through an internship with the Office of Sustainability.
U-Bikes: The Office of Transportation and Parking Services turns over hundreds of bikes abandoned on campus each year to U-Bikes, which refurbishes the ones that are salvageable and rents them (and some new bikes) to students for $15 per semester. One of U-Bikes’ primary missions is to help curb the campus abandoned bike problem, and minimize unsustainable waste, by providing students an alterative to buying a cheap bike.
Princeton Environmental Network: A consortium of campus environmental and sustainability student groups representing more than 1,000 students. The leaders of the groups attend biweekly PEN meetings, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, to plan joint activities and discuss issues.
Academic Resources
The University has a slew of academic units that offer courses (including fieldwork) as well as lectures, funding, internships and other opportunities for students interested in environmental issues. For starters, check out the Princeton Environmental Institute and its certificate in environmental studies; the Grand Challenges Program; the Program in Sustainable Energy; and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
