47% Reduction in GHG Emissions from 2007 – 2024
27% Overall Recycle Rate as of 2025
>2/3 of Electricity comes from Carbon Free sources
Over 20 sustainability web tools to explore campus features, review green data, and measure your own impact
In Summer 2025, we re-launched the Green Office Certification initiative to reward and incentivize sustainable behaviors within our campus faculty and staff community. All certified Green Offices are rewarded with a framed certificate, and an invite to our annual Green Office Celebration. If your office is interested in certifying, Check out the checklist, review our guide and FAQ’s, then fill out the application below!
Work Control (Under Facilities Management) –
Certified Bronze with 33 points in July 2025 by Christie Ryan (cryan@umbc.edu)
The Graduate School
Certified Bronze with 38 points in November 2025 by Aubrie Zepp (azepp1@umbc.edu)
The Center for Global Engagement
Certified Bronze with 33 points in September 2025 by Rachel Vandegrift (rachelv@umbc.edu)
Academic and Pre-Professional Advising
Certified Silver with 40 points in January 2026 by Samantha Drummond (sdrummon@umbc.edu)
Center for Democracy and Civic Life
Certified Silver with 40 points in February 2026 by Ann Tropea (atropea@umbc.edu)
Center for Women in Technology
Certified Silver with 46 points in January 2026 by Morgan Lovell (mlovell1@umbc.edu)
Facilities Management – Business Services
Certified Silver with 42 Points in March 2026 by Sharon Paul (spaul@umbc.edu)
Getting ready to move out or just doing some spring cleaning? Consider donating your gently used items to the Retriever Re-Store, UMBC’s move out donation collection program that aims to redistribute the items to other students who can give them a new life!
Donate items such as:
Kitchen appliances, School supplies, Small furniture, Desk organizers, Decorative items, Arts + Crafts, Pots/pans and dishes, Mirrors, Non perishable food items, and more!
At this time, we will NOT accept clothing, bedding, or other items that should be trashed.
You can find donation collection bins near your RA desk in each residence hall, the ACC lobby, and Walker clubhouse.
Help us divert waste from the landfill and redistribute pre-loved goods for free among our campus community! Shop Winter 2025 Move Out donations at Upper Flat Tuesdays starting December 8th
In Academic Year 2024-2025, we collected and redistributed 1800 lbs. of donated items; saving them from the landfill and sending them to a new home for a new life!
Each year, we facilitate a Sustainability Career Fair – showcasing employers from every discipline from engineering to criminal justice, to show our students that sustainability is interdisciplinary, and if it is important to you, you can incorporate it into your career! We are proud to have had several students successfully land internships and full time jobs from our career fair.
Examples of employers who have attended in the past include:
Rare, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, CityScape Engineering, Baltimore City Office of Sustainability, Barton and Loguidice, Clean Harbors, IMET, Lorax, Maryland Dept of the Environment, Parsons Corp, Spectrum/HavTech, TRANE, US Army Corps of Engineers, Urban Green Environmental, ,W.R. Grace, WRA, Baltimore County Dept of Environmental Protection, Anne Arundel County Parks and Rec, and more!
Have an idea for an employer that should attend next time? Email us and let us know at sustainability@umbc.edu
Maryland Energy Administration awards UMBC $1.2 million for solar panels and more:
The funding will enable construction of solar canopies over the north portion of the Stadium Lot. Rooftop solar arrays will be mounted on UMBC’s central receiving warehouse, located adjacent to the lot. The installations will be highly visible to the UMBC community and members of the public attending events at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Together, these solar installations will generate 1,000 kWAC of clean, carbon-free energy, or about 2.5 percent of UMBC’s current annual electricity. The solar panels’ output will reduce UMBC’s carbon footprint by roughly 500 tons per year and earn Solar Renewable Energy Credits from the state of Maryland, which can be sold to power companies. The combined savings from the electricity generation and accompanying SRECs may save UMBC $200,000 to $300,000 annually.
Read the full press brief here!
The Office of Sustainability works closely with Retriever Essentials on a variety of initiatives to help combat food waste and food insecurity on campus.
True Grits Meal Packing
Every weekday, volunteers show up to True Grits after lunch and dinner to pack leftover food from the hot buffet into single serving meals, which are then brought back to the campus pantry and distributed for free. These efforts reduce food waste in True Grits by over 100 lbs per week! Interested in volunteering? Reach out to Retriever Essentials at retrieveressentials@umbc.edu
ShareMeals App
OoS and Retriever Essentials encoruages all students and staff to download the ShareMeals app.
Theres often extra food leftover after meetings, events, or programs. Instead of letting that food go to waste, you can post on Share Meals and redistribute it in real time. At Retriever Essentials, we think about campus resources through a systems lens. Food insecurity and food waste often exist in the same system, and tools like Share Meals help us close that loop by making it easy to act quickly when food is available.
How it works:
- UMBC users post free food
- Anyone with notifications turned on will get an alert about where food is, what’s available, and how long it’ll be there
- Community members come pick up within the time limit, while supplies last
It’s simple! When one person shares, the whole community benefits.
Get the App:
Download Share Meals and join the UMBC Community. When signing up, use your umbc.edu email address to automatically get connected to our campus community. Once signed up, opt-in to push notifications so you can get alerts when food is posted.
Having trouble signing up? Some users have reported the verification email delivering to their spam/junk folder, be sure to check there! Please contact us if you experience any other issues with the app