Four Decades of Campus Conservation
Our leadership in sustainability dates
back nearly 40 years, making CU-Boulder
a pioneer in conservation practices:
- The nation’s oldest and most active student-led environmental center, established Earth Day 1970.
- The nation’s first collegiate recycling program, established in 1976.
- The nation’s first student-funded wind energy purchase for campus buildings (2000).
- A national leader in sustainable transportation programs.
- Robust campus energy and water conservation efforts that have reduced resource use every year for the last five years.
- An aggressive green building standard that has led to three new LEED-certified buildings (Wolf Law, Koelbel Business, ATLAS), the most of any public entity in Colorado.
- A commitment to convert the campus to zero greenhouse gas emissions as detailed in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. CU is an original signatory of that charter.
- A leadership-level steering council to guide and coordinate campus sustainability efforts (Chancellor’s Committee on Energy, Environment, and Sustainability formed in 2007)
- The nation's first zero-waste program at a Bowl Championship Series™ (BCS) football stadium (2008).