Eco Colleges Encourage Environmental Activism
Green Colleges Environmentally Motivate Students In Eco Activism
Sep 22, 2008
Educational institutions are becoming much more environmentally aware. In Canada the SEEDS Foundation is promoting the “Green Schools” program while in the US both the Eco League and the ACUPCC encourage the teaching and practice of environmentalism in schools.
Rise of Environmental Awareness in Education
In his introduction to Greening the College Campus, by Jonathan Collett, et al, published by Island Press in 1996, David Ehrenfeld of Rutgers University, New Jersey says “Along comes the environmental crisis, forcing us to proclaim that ecological ignorance is dangerous, that gaining environmental understanding must be an essential goal of every student’s education.” But rather than just teach about the environment, many educational institutions also put what they teach into practice by running the institutions on an environmentally friendly basis.
Canadian Environmental Education
The SEEDS (Society, Environment, and Energy Development Studies) Foundation in Canada, an educational environmental group founded in 1976 promotes “The Green Schools Program” which is designed to encourage green education issues in Canadian schools. On their website section entitled “About SEEDS” their mission statement says “To support Canadian educators in promoting student literacy and active personal and societal responsibility for energy, sustainability, and the environment.” In the “SEEDS Chronology” section they state that “Presently, SEEDS offers programs in over 2,000 Canadian High Schools and in over 8,000 Elementary and Junior High Schools.”
Growth of Green Colleges in America
- According to its Annual Report, published in May 2008, “The American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment was publicly launched on December 12, 2006. As of March 1, 2008 just over a year later, over 500 schools have become signatories including public and private colleges and universities of all sizes and types in 48 of the 50 states representing over 25% of the higher education student population of America”. In the "About ACUPCC" section of their website they state that their object is "A framework and support for America’s colleges and universities to go climate neutral. The Commitment recognizes the unique responsibility that institutions of higher education have as role models for their communities and in training the people who will develop the social, economic and technological solutions to reverse global warming."
- The Eco League is a consortium of five colleges, spread across the United States, that are dedicated solely to environmental studies. The colleges are Alaska Pacific University, College of the Atlantic, Green Mountain College, Northland College and Prescott College. The “About the Eco League” section of the Eco League website states that “The Eco League is the only college consortium in the United States dedicated to environmental learning and the active pursuit of environmental studies. Five of the most distinctive colleges in the country make up the consortium, together offering students exciting opportunities to study human and natural systems from Maine to Alaska.”
- In a report in Forbes Magazine, published on May 2, 2008, titled “America’s Greenest Colleges”, Brian Wingfield, the author, states “Many of the greenest schools are in the Northeast and West, where there's a long history of environmentalism, and they're often private colleges with sizable endowments that can be directed toward green initiatives. But Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, notes that the movement is catching on fast nationwide.”
Protection of the environment needs the responsible use of energy, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and adoption of sensible recycling programs. Educational institutions are the best place to instill these attitudes into the citizens of tomorrow.
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