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Keene State Selected as One of the Country’s Greenest Schools

An array of solar panels is being installed on top of the new TDS building
An array of solar panels is being installed on top of the new TDS building

Keene State College One of the Country’s Greenest Schools According to Princeton Review and US Green Building Council

College Acts on Commitment to Sustainability Year-Round

Keene State College has been selected by The Princeton Review in collaboration with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as one of 320 green colleges in the US. The report also includes two schools in Canada. Keene State has been included in this list every year, since the selections began in 2010. As part of its sustainability efforts, Keene State will be celebrating Earth Week with events from April 22 through April 26. Earth Day is celebrated around the world on Monday, April 22.

“Keene State College continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability through actions all year long. From dining services to academics, sustainability is a value that is lived in every facet of the College,” said Mary Jensen, Keene State College Campus Sustainability Officer. “Students, faculty and staff are truly united in this value and I look forward to expanding our sustainability efforts by building on collaborations across campus and throughout our community to make even greater positive impacts.”

Keene State College is included in the fourth annual report titled “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition”, which profiles higher education institutions in the United States and Canada that demonstrate distinguished commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation. The report can be downloaded at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide and at www.centerforgreenschools.org/greenguide.

Some of the College’s sustainability accomplishments from 2012 are:

  • Installing solar panels on the new Technology, Design and Safety Center to help achieve LEED Platinum certification.
  • Significantly cutting food waste - Keene State donated 2,100 pounds of food and composted more than 79,000 pounds of food waste.
  • Keene State Eco-Reps, students who work for the Sustainability office, conducted dozens of programs, including water comparison tastings (bottled water vs. tap vs. filtered water) recycling programs that teach how to reduce, reuse and recycle, and comparisons between organic foods and foods grown with chemicals, including a discussions about local foods. Most of these events are held in the residence halls.
  • Green Bikes were rented out over 600 times from the Mason Library.
  • Grant funds helped fund a “hydroponics in the classroom” project implemented in the Education program, which is intended to teach science to elementary school students.
  • Residential Life, the student group Campus Ecology and Keene State’s Physical Plant department have placed more than 12 “hydration stations” on campus to increase use of reusable containers for water consumption.

Keene State will be celebrating Earth Day with a week of activities open to the public. More information about Earth Week events on Keene State’s campus can be found here http://www.keene.edu/sustain/earthweekevents.cfm .

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229 Main Street
Keene, New Hampshire 03435