Princeton Review Green Rankings: UC Only Public in Ohio Placed Among Nation s Green Leaders

Just in time for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, The Princeton Review today named the University of Cincinnati among the nation’s best “green” schools – leading in environmental practices and in preparing the next generation of green professionals.

UC is the only public school in Ohio to make this prestigious list as well as the only school in southern Ohio

listed in The Princeton Review’s new “Guide to 286 Green Colleges.” Partnering with The Princeton Review on the guide was the U.S. Green Building Council.

In the green highlights published specifically about UC,

The Princeton Review praised the university for

• Incorporating sustainability throughout university operations and classrooms.

• Studying and conducting research on sustainability issues in an urban context.

• Buildings that meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.

Specific achievements and innovations mentioned in relation to UC’s green ranking include

• An introductory course on sustainability open to all majors.

• UC’s Center for Sustaining the Urban Environment, which conducts research and develops innovative green solutions to urban challenges.

• Food served on campus is purchased from a purveyor that works with local farms.

• On-campus eateries have eliminated the use of food trays in order to reduce wasted food and to save on water and cleaning products once used to clean trays.

• Student volunteer efforts related to recycling on campus, specifically student-led recycling of 5.4 tons of plastic, metal, glass and cardboard at UC’s 2009 home football games, completed with the help of vendors, athletes and fans.

The nation’s 286 green-leading schools listed in the guide are not in hierarchical order. It is, instead, organized state-by-state and alphabetically.

Other Ohio schools named in the new green guide are Case Western Reserve University and Oberlin College near Cleveland as well as Denison University and Kenyon College near Columbus.

Other national schools named among the green elite include the University of Chicago, Duke University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University and Yale University.

“Our research has shown that students and their parents are becoming more and more interested in learning about and attending universities and colleges that practice, teach and support environmental responsibility,” said Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher, The Princeton Review. “We created this guide to help them evaluate how institutions focus on environmental responsibility so they can make informed decisions as they move through the college assessment and application process.”

UC has been previously recognized for its green initiatives in The Princeton Review’s general guide to undergraduate education.

• Download The Princeton Review’s free Guide to 286 Green Colleges.
• Visit UC's Sustainability home page.
  
• Apply to UC. 

See other UC news related to Earth Day, including

• UC Rolls Out New Bearcats Bike Share Program on April 22’s Earth Day.
• UC Saves Energy and Saves Millions.
• A Round Up on Recycling: Each Year, UC Recycles by the Ton.
  
• UC-Student Designed Eco-Bag to be Carried by JCPenney.
• Earth Day Milestone: In Walking to Work, UC Engineers to Soon Total Nearly 25,000 Miles.