Appendix D - Recommendations from Blueprint for a Green Campus: The Campus Earth Summit Initiatives for Higher Education, 1995

I. Integrate Environmental Knowledge into all Relevant Disciplines.

Integrate environmental knowledge into courses in all relevant disciplines. Include a section in the academic mission statement, such as "all students, upon graduating, will possess the knowledge, skills, and values to work toward an environmentally sustainable future." Provide resources for appropriate faculty to integrate environmental issues and perspectives into their existing courses, by developing and launching faculty training programs, holding seminars, and providing funding.
1. Become a signatory to the Talloires Declaration, an international declaration of principles signed by over 150 institutions worldwide dedicated to fostering environmental literacy.

II. Improve Undergraduate Environmental Studies Course Offerings.

Assemble a review team of students, faculty, alumni, and outside experts to produce a report on the quality of any existing or proposed environmental studies course offerings. Publicize, distribute the report, and adopt the recommendations for the environmental studies course offerings.
1. Make a university commitment to provide funding for the costs of environmental studies courses and administration, and provide resources to hire and appoint faculty members and staff to lead such courses.

III. Provide Opportunities for Students to Study Campus and Local Environmental Issues.

Develop classes in which students can obtain academic credit for research on campus and local environmental issues.
1. Make a commitment to use these studies to help formulate more effective, innovative approaches to campus and local environmental issues.

IV. Conduct a Campus Environmental Audit.

Conduct an annual or biannual review of campus environmental impacts, including, but not limited to: solid waste, hazardous substances, radioactive waste, medical waste, wastewater and storm runoff, pest control, air quality, the workplace environment, water, energy, food, purchasing policies, transportation, campus design and growth, research activities, investment policies, business ties, environmental education and literacy, job placement and environmental careers. Issue a report providing recommendations for improved performance in each area, ranking priorities for action, and setting goals to be completed by the next audit.
1. Distribute to all members of the campus community, including trustees, high-level campus officials, staff, faculty, students, alumni, foundation donors, corporate donors, government officials, environmental leaders, community leaders and the public at large.

V. Institute Environmentally Responsible Purchasing Policies.

Include environmentally sensitive specifications in all university goods and services contracts. As an individual institution and through cooperative purchasing agreements with other universities and large institutions, purchase products with high recycled content, produced in an environmentally sustainable manner, which demonstrate maximum durability or biodegradability, reparability, energy-efficiency, non-toxicity, and recyclability.
1. Require every university department and program to meet university-wide purchasing standards.

VI. Reduce Campus Waste.

Establish a program to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost a high percentage of campus waste. Increase the percentage reduced, reused, recycled, and composted annually.
1. Expand the scope of waste reduction programs to include the following: glass, steel/aluminum cans, plastic, food waste, cardboard, bond and computer, paper, mixed, paper, magazines, newspapers, construction debris (steel, wood, concrete, asphalt), yard waste, oil, leaves, tires, scrap metal, hazardous chemicals, telephone books, contaminated soil, and mattresses at all areas and facilities of the campus.

VII. Maximize Energy Efficiency.

Invest in energy efficient technologies for heating, cooling, lighting and water systems in all existing and future campus buildings and earmark the savings for further improvements in environmental performance. Install meters to measure the use of heat, electricity, and water by building or department and take ongoing meter measurements to set baseline data and determine progress.
1. Raise campus awareness about the need for energy conservation and provide incentives for action, such as by establishing campus-wide "Eco-lympics" competitions.

VIII. Make Environmental Sustainability a Top Priority in Campus Land-Use, Transportation, and Building Planning.

Incorporate sustainable design principles into existing and future land-use, transportation, and building plans. In land-use plans, include guidelines to promote compact development for all new campus growth and to insure that any proposed development will not have a negative impact on parks, forests, wetlands, wildlife habitats, agricultural land, watersheds, historic buildings, traffic congestion, or noise and air pollution. In transportation plans, provide incentives for walking, bicycles, buses or rail, and ridesharing; discourage the use of single-occupancy cars by passing on the full cost of parking to drivers, and link transportation planning to land-use planning.
1. In plans for building construction or renovation, incorporate guidelines for energy-efficiency, proper ventilation, and non-toxic, environmentally-sound construction materials.

IX. Establish a Student Environmental Center.

Provide space, funding, and high-level support for a student environmental center as a durable institution from which to educate the campus and local community about environmental problems and their solutions. Develop a Center membership program, and use Center-sponsored events and conferences to strengthen the network of students, faculty, staff, and alumni concerned about environmental problems.
1. If possible, support a full or part-time paid administrator/staffer for the center who can help students channel their interests into substantive reforms on the campus, local, state, national and global levels.

X. Support Students who Seek Environmentally Responsible Careers.

Provide funding and resources to the career placement office for staff to assist student efforts to find careers in organizations working for an environmentally sustainable future, including comprehensive and accessible job and internship listings, alumni contacts, recruitment opportunities, and environmental career guidance.
1. Provide staff and funding support for students, faculty, and staff to organize an annual "Careers in the Environmental Field" panel that brings environmental leaders and alumni from different sectors (government, business, academia, the media, non-profits), to campus to speak to students about their work.