Seattle U Earns a Top Rating in Princeton Review’s Green College Honor Roll

Seattle University is the only college in the Northwestern United States to earn a spot in the Princeton Review’s 2021 Green Honor Roll of 30 colleges that earned the highest scores by the publication.

“It’s great to see SU on Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll again this year,” says Phillip Thompson, PhD, director of Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability and professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Sustainability is a cornerstone of our campus culture and this recognition reflects a true team effort by Facilities Services, Grounds, Redhawk Dining and by students, staff and faculty who each do their part by sorting recyclable materials and minimizing energy and water consumption.”

Included in the Princeton Review’s profile of Seattle U is this section on sustainability:

“’Model’ is the operative word when it comes to sustainability at Seattle University. SU is a model of ecological gardening techniques. The university stopped using pesticides on its 50-acre grounds in 1998. Now it uses integrated pest management (including compost tea) to maintain its campus without the use of chemicals.

“The result of all these eco-friendly grounds efforts? Seattle University has been recognized by government and nonprofit organizations as a wildlife habitat, with a diversity of plant material supporting a wide variety of birds and small mammals. … SU’s Dining Services is also a model—it purchases 50 percent of its produce from local farms, buys organic when possible and offers fair-trade coffee. All to-go ware from campus eateries are compostable. … A designated recycling and composting technician runs an on-campus compost facility. The facility processes 178,000 pounds of kitchen food waste a year, which is used to fertilize the campus. Food waste bins are outside most buildings and each residence hall room has a food waste bin. Ultra low-flow toilets, urinals, faucet aerators and showerheads are now installed as the campus standard. An impressive 27 electric vehicles are part of the campus fleet. A student-led initiative resulted in the removal of plastic bottled water everywhere on campus. The university installed reusable water bottle fillers on more than 30 water fountains.”

Additionally, the review notes the university has a formal sustainability committee, sustainability focused degree available, employs a sustainability officer, has a public greenhouse gas inventory plan, available transportation alternatives, carpool/vanpool matching program, free or reduced price transit passes and/or free campus shuttle, indoor secure bike storage, shower facilities and lockers for bicycle commuters, reduced parking fees for car and vanpoolers, a policy prohibiting vehicle idling and a bicycle plan.

Princeton Review tallied Green Rating scores for 695 colleges this year. Its methodology for the ratings is here.