Here at Vangel we are happy to highlight local institutions for their efforts in sustainability. For the fourth year in a row, The Princeton Review has named UMBC as one of the country’s most environmentally responsible colleges in their annual guide to green colleges.

UMBC has a sustainability club which is very active, apparent through their constant flow of content online. The UMBC sustainability group web page is a hub of information which includes news articles, videos, events and discussions. Although the discussion is not viewable unless you are a student, it is evident that this group is active by the amount of replies to each discussion. This group has created a real community of students, staff and faculty who care about sustainability at UMBC and work hard to keep improving.

The UMBC Sustainability group is active on social media. Throughout the week interesting articles and information about upcoming events is posted and commented on. In addition to the Facebook page, @SustainableUMBC is active on Twitter. Another Twitter account @UMBCRecycles, is also related to UMBC sustainability efforts.

UMBC has many groups and projects under way as part of their sustainability efforts. One of which is UMBC’s Biodiesel project whose mission is:

“. . . to make the University of Maryland, Baltimore County more sustainable by reusing the waste vegetable oil created by on-campus restaurants to produce biodiesel. The biodiesel will then be used to run the buses that are on-campus. In the future we plan on expanding our research into other forms of fuel, such as biofuels. When creating biodiesel you end up with glycerin byproduct. We plan on using the glycerin to create hand soap to be used at the University.”

Additionally, there is Project Greenthumb, an educational campaign on campus that teaches students, faculty and staff how to recycle appropriately.

UMBC Sustainability has hosted many events including an e-cycling event where students could correctly recycle their electronics, ECOFEST, UMBC’s Weeklong Earth Day Celebration and Recyclemania, a nationwide, eight-week long competition against other universities to cut back on waste and collect the most recyclables. In this year’s competition UMBC ranked 98/273 for Food Service Organics, 28/273 for corrugated cardboard and 11/273 for bottles and cans. Congrats, UMBC!

UMBC Sustainability is constantly working to integrate sustainability campus-wide. June 5th, the group hosted a workshop designed for faculty who wish to integrate topics of environmental sustainability into their courses.

Other UMBC Sustainability Facts

• 21 percent of the school’s energy comes from renewable resources.

• 80 percent of the cleaning products used on campus are Green Seal-Certified.

• UMBC has a Dining Sustainability Commitment to minimize the impact on the environment with primary focus on REDUCTION. Their approach is to bring awareness and education and implement best practices for waste management, water conservation, energy efficiency, and pollution control.

• UMBC keeps sustainable design strategies in mind when constructing new buildings.

The new Performing Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB) is still under construction, but in the design, UMBC takes the natural environment into consideration. UMBC believes that “Protecting health and protecting nature go hand in hand.”

The PAHB is an anticipated LEED Silver project: Leed-NC v2.2

The first phase of construction was completed and the building was opened Fall 2012. Phase II will be completed Fall 2014.

In addition to all of their other sustainability achievements, UMBC also practices Dual Stream Recycling. By separating paper, plastics and glass, the clean recycled paper can be sold for a profit to bring revenue back to UMBC, providing funds for transportation fees and to enhance the growing recycling program.

Thank you, UMBC for being an inspiration to your community as well as to other universities across the country and around the world! Keep it up!

For information about ongoing sustainability efforts at UMBC check out their website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.