Chipotle continues to challenge what fast food looks like. The Mexican grill chain has always stood out from the crowd by choosing integrity with their products. They are committed to getting the very best ingredients, which are raised with respect to the animals, farmers, and environment. This month, the restaurant is going even further by providing funds to a fantastic organization called Veggie U.

All kids meal purchases from August 24 through August 31 will benefit Veggie U, and if consumers save their receipts they can come back in September for a free kids meal as well.

Up to $250,000 in proceeds will go toward Veggie U, a national non-profit that offers a great “Earth to Table” science curriculum to fourth grade and special needs classrooms. The curriculum was developed in an effort to decrease childhood illnesses and increase children’s awareness of healthy food and sustainable agriculture. The Ohio-based program aims to have their curriculum in 93,000 fourth grade classrooms nationwide. Read the rest of this entry »

Money is always a concern, but college students of the 21st century have a new definition for the “green” associated with going to school. Incoming college freshmen are adding eco-friendly attributes to their lists of criteria when choosing a college. Colleges and universities across the country having been demonstrating an increasing commitment to sustainability and their efforts are paying off.

Financial aid, dorm conditions, degree programs, location, college size and a plethora of other factors still help determine student decisions but the “green” factor on campus is proving to climb the list. When comparing schools, many students now look at how colleges are addressing their carbon footprint and reducing damaging effects. To aid students in their eco-friendly quest the Princeton Review has released a guide to 311 colleges and universities that demonstrate the most dedication to going green. The list includes 308 schools in the U.S. and 3 in Canada.

Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell University is receiving the largest gift the school has ever received from an individual. The University announced last Thursday that it was getting a gift of $80 million from alum David Atkinson.

Seventy-two-year-old Atkinson, who graduated from Cornell’s agriculture college in 1960, made his fortune on Wall Street and now owns and manages an investment firm.

The gift is to fund a research center that will produce more effective and less adverse practices in agriculture, medicine, energy and other constantly-changing arenas in economic growth. Read the rest of this entry »

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Blog Action Day 2010 focuses on the issue of water.

College campuses use enormous quantities of water every day, from student showers to keeping the lawns watered. Fortunately, college campuses are often test-sites for the newest and most innovative green technologies. According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, over 3,800 schools have some sort of water-saving program.

Low-volume toilets and low-flow shower heads are fairly standard across campuses. But some universities have taken water-conservation to the next level. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, they’re making the most of reclaimed water. Reclaimed water can come from rain runoff or is waste water from buildings. The UCSB uses this water to irrigate 93 percent of the landscaping and is also using it to flush toilets. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has installed a capture system for storm water that’s also used for irrigation and toilets.

Read the rest of this entry »

Green energy and eco-friendly jobs are an area that’s looking up in this tough economy. Not only will this growing sector need researchers and engineers, it will also need informed business managers that understand the needs of the market. Educational institutes, particularly community colleges, are seeking to fill this void by creating training programs specifically to create environmental management professionals.

Lane Community College in Oregon already offers two-year programs in renewable energy, water conservation and energy management. Lane is a forerunner in eco-managment, and its programs are serving as models for ten other community colleges nation-wide. Graduates of the program are finding work on a wide range of projects. “They are working for utilities, on engineering jobs, for school districts, cities and the military,” said Robert Ebbage, director of energy programs the college. Read the rest of this entry »

Evidently green studies and environmental science are the fastest growing trends in higher education. Many colleges are developing majors and minors in the fields of green studies and environmental science, and students are quickly enrolling in this new field.

In 2009 alone, more than 100 new programs were created across the nation in energy and sustainability-focused degree programs, according to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. This is a drastic increase from 2005, when only three new programs were added in these fields.

Why the sudden increase?

Read the rest of this entry »

GreenReportCard.org just released its annual report card for how sustainable college campuses are. They compared the greenness of 332 schools. No one received a solid A, while 26 scored an A-, and about half the schools received at least a B-. More than half the schools received a higher grade than they had in previous reports, showing forward momentum on the part of colleges to become more sustainable, with 13 percent receiving a lesser grade.

GreenReportCard.org grades the colleges on the following criteria:

• Administration
• Climate change and energy
• Food and recycling
• Green buildings
• Student involvement
• Transportation
• Endowment transparency
• Investment priorities
• Shareholder engagement

The 26 Overall College Sustainability Leaders, or the Greenest Colleges, all scoring an A-, are:

Amherst College

Arizona State University

Brown University

University of California – San Diego

Carleton College Read the rest of this entry »