Sustainability at Wellesley College: Welcome!
President H. Kim Bottomly, speaking about the environment in her 2008 Convocation remarks, framed our challenge: "It is no longer possible for any reasonable person to doubt that we have a serious problem. Colleges and universities around the world must and will play a crucial role, not just because of the research and education that happens there, and not just because they will lead the way with recycling and other efforts, but also because of the intellectual communities that exist there…. I hope we continue to pursue local efforts, but I also hope that along with our quite practical focus, we expand our focus to embrace discussions of the incredible complexity of this problem."
The involvement of all members of the campus community is necessary in order to meet this challenge.
The college has approached sustainability with the dual goals of instilling in our students, and the college community at large, the knowledge, skills and values necessary to living a sustainable lifestyle and of implementing institutional practices and policies that reduce the institution's impact on the environment. We are proud of the joint efforts by faculty, students and staff to ensure that sustainability is central to life at the college, and we know that there is more to be done.
Our Curriculum
Knowledge of societies, the environment, and the complex and multifaced
relationship they share, emerges from a wide range of disciplines,
including the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. An
environmental studies major or minor aims to provide students with
critical skills that will allow them to engage current environmental
issues and prepare to recognize future ones. Central to this goal is
helping students develop independent critical thinking, problem faming,
and problem solving across disciplines and cultures to build a
foundation from which they can diagnose and prioritize a wide range of
environmental issues, from the local to the international, from the most
pressing to the most long-term. For more information, please visit
www.wellesley.edu/EnvironmentalStudies/
Our Campus
The landscape of Wellesley College has played a vital role in the life
of the college and, as a consequence, efforts to ensure its integrity
for future generations formed the foundation of sustainable practices at
the college. The 1998 Landscape Master Plan recognized that education at
Wellesley is inextricably linked to the landscape, and the mission of
the college remains central to our thinking about sustainability.
Our Students
Not surprisingly, our students play a central role in ensuring that we
remain focused on issues of sustainability. They bring fresh ideas and
energy to all of the efforts on campus. For more information about their
efforts, please visit http://cs.wellesley.edu/~weed/
Shuttle and Carpooling Resources for Commuting Wellesley College Faculty, Staff and Students: Wellesley College offers a shuttle service – in conjunction with Babson and Olin colleges – from the Riverside station on the MBTA Green Line to campus for faculty, staff and students of the colleges. This fall, Wellesley commuters will also be able to connect through a carpooling conference on FirstClass, Wellesley’s electronic communication system.
The College received a B- on the Endowment Institute's College Sustainability Report Card, continuing to show improvement over prior years. For more about this ranking, visit www.greenreportcard.org.
Tanner Goes Green: The Tanner Conference has partnered with the Sustainability Advisory Committee in order to reduce the Conference's impact on the environment. All utensils and meal packaging are compostable and will be composted by We Care facility. The Tanner program is printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based ink. Locally-produced food will be featured throughout the day. Please do your part by bringing your own mug or cup for enjoying the beverages that will be available throughout the day and by taking care to place compostable packaging and recyclable products in the appropriate bins.