Strategic Priority #10
FULFILL SAINT MARY'S CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
Saint Mary’s will exhibit leadership in environmental sustainability and environmental justice by fulfilling Saint Mary’s Climate Action Plan and adopting energy, transportation, policy, and education solutions that reduce our carbon footprint. We will launch a distinctive, comprehensive, place-based Institute for Environmental Justice & Sustainability to serve as a regional hub for advancing equitable and sustainable solutions for the campus and beyond. We will increase sustainability-related course and degree offerings such that all Saint Mary’s students graduate with an understanding, skills, and motivation to make responsible decisions that considers their relationship to natural systems, communities, and future generations.
Initiatives
We will be updating this page with our accomplishments as we execute the Strategic plan.
2021-2024 Accomplishments
Year 2023 was a year full of accomplishments in the area of sustainability.
Saint Mary’s is again featured in the 2023 edition of The Princeton Review Guide to 353 Green Colleges, which highlights schools that are committed to the environment and green practices, and we earned our second Gold STARS rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). AASHE’s STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. The most recent Greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory (April 2024) shows decline in campus emissions. In the first three years of Saint Mary's new Strategic Energy Management program, the College reduced electricity usage by 4% and natural gas usage by 12% through implementation of 14 low- and no-cost operational and behavioral changes, resulting in $70,000 in cash incentives.
Updated: July, 2024