{"id":198,"date":"2018-12-06T10:05:32","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T15:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=198"},"modified":"2025-01-23T13:21:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T18:21:55","slug":"sustainability-saint-peters-university","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/sustainability-saint-peters-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability Chronology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>SUSTAINABILITY AT SAINT PETER\u2019S UNIVERSITY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/blogs.dir\/185\/files\/2018\/12\/Untitled.png\" alt=\"Sustainable logo\" width=\"271\" height=\"212\" class=\"alignright wp-image-205 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/185\/files\/2018\/12\/Untitled.png 271w, https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/185\/files\/2018\/12\/Untitled-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 271px) 100vw, 271px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><u>2003<\/u>: R3 Energy Management Audit &amp; Review LLC was engaged to install energy efficient lighting upgrades.<\/li>\n<li><u>2008<\/u>: The President of Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University was a signatory of the <strong>American College and University Presidents\u2019 Climate Commitment<\/strong> (ACUPCC). Administered by the organization, Second Nature, this commitment seeks to reduce our carbon footprint through a variety of initiatives.<\/li>\n<li><u>2011<\/u>: A major green initiative led to the installation of <strong>solar panels <\/strong>on the West campus of the University and later expanded to the East campus.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>2012<\/u><\/strong><strong>: Establishment of the Sustainability Council to initiate, develop, and implement<\/strong> strategies, programs, and events to support sustainable practices across the University community.<\/li>\n<li><u>2013<\/u>: A <strong>co-generation plant <\/strong>with a <strong>Green Energy Command Center <\/strong>was dedicated to control the use of energy and reduce our carbon footprint.<\/li>\n<li><u>2014<\/u>: Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s won the statewide <strong>Garden State Greenfest Award <\/strong>in the category of college\/university.<\/li>\n<li><u>2014<\/u>: Campus Kitchen was founded on 9\/11\/14. As of 8\/2018, it has recovered 44,000 pounds of food from area companies and SPU Sodexo and served 41,000 meals.<\/li>\n<li><u>2014\/2015\/2016\/2017<\/u>: Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University was awarded the distinction of being listed in <strong>The Princeton Review\u2019s Guide to Green Colleges <\/strong>as one of the most sustainable campuses in the United States.<\/li>\n<li><u>2015<\/u>: Pope Francis issued <strong>Laudato Si&#8217; on Care for Our Common Home.<\/strong> This Encyclical Letter points out that: <em>Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded. \u2026 The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.\u00a0 At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life. <\/em><\/li>\n<li><u>2016<\/u>: Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University renewed its membership in the <strong>New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS)<\/strong>. This organization provides excellent opportunities to network on sustainability and climate issues.<\/li>\n<li><u>2016<\/u>: The President of Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University was a signatory of the new <strong>Catholic Climate Covenant<\/strong>, from the U.S.Conference of Catholic Bishops.<\/li>\n<li><u>2016<\/u>: Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s hosted an <strong>October Energy Day<\/strong> featuring a solar panel expert speaker, vendor displays, and tours of the co-generation plant.<\/li>\n<li><u>2017<\/u>: The tradition of annual events during <strong>Earth Week<\/strong> expanded including the visit from a penguin, an endangered species; presentations; and events.<\/li>\n<li><u>2017<\/u>: Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University was named a Finalist in the Second Nature <strong>Climate Leadership Awards <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><u>2017<\/u>: <strong>Food Pantry<\/strong> and <strong>Clothes Closet<\/strong> were established. In one year, 11,000 pounds of food, clothing, toiletries, and household items were distributed.<\/li>\n<li><u>2017<\/u>: Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s, in collaboration with Second Nature and GreenerU, hosted the<strong> November 3<sup>rd<\/sup> Workshop, BYOP (Bring Your Own Problem),<\/strong> to foster a collaborative approach to solving problems related to sustainable practices.<\/li>\n<li><u>2017<\/u>: <strong>Smoke-free and Tobacco-free<\/strong> indoors was extended to entire campus.<\/li>\n<li><u>2018<\/u> Received the <strong>Green Campus Project<\/strong> award from the Independent College Fund of New Jersey for 2018-19. Created a <strong>Native Plant Garden <\/strong>near the birdfeeder.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2019: Dining Services introduced Reusable DIY containers. Trayless dining was previously in effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2019: The Hudson County Improvement Authority initiated its \u201cFirst Sustainability Award\u201d and honored SPU at Liberty State Park.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2020: For the third year the Hudson Transportation Management Association awarded SPU \u201cPlatinum\u201d level status as a New Jersey Smart Workplace. (The program was suspended during the pandemic.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2020: A new Community Garden was established to provide fresh produce to the needy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2022: SPU joined Pope Francis\u2019 7-Year Journey Towards Integral Ecology.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2022: Center for Urban Research in Agriculture (CURA) Hydroponics Farm established.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2023: US <em>Laudato Si\u2019<\/em> Champion Award Honorable Mention from the Catholic Climate Covenant.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2023: International GREEN University Award from Green Mentors, special consultative status with UN.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024: Hudson County Hunger Hero Soup Kitchen Award for the Campus Kitchen from Hudson County Dept. of Health &amp; Human Services<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/blogs.dir\/185\/files\/2018\/12\/Untitled1.png\" alt=\"recycling \" width=\"146\" height=\"141\" class=\"alignright wp-image-204 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/185\/files\/2018\/12\/Untitled1.png 146w, https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/185\/files\/2018\/12\/Untitled1-120x116.png 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px\" \/>Sustainable practices cover a galaxy of initiatives.\u00a0 Examples follow: LEED silver Mac Mahon Student Center opened in 2014; indoor and outdoor receptacles for recycling; greenhouse atop the science building; community garden; tree planting on Arbor Day; SAVE (Students Against Violating the Earth) Earth Week; year-round events and programs; bird feeder with the Cornell University project; academic programs, courses, and research focused on the environment; trayless dining and reusable containers; local produce used by food service; Sustainability Council themes on water, biodiversity, <em>Laudato Si\u2019, <\/em>plastics;<em> A<\/em>rctic trips led by alumnus and Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts &amp; Sciences, Dr. William Gutsch; and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SUSTAINABILITY AT SAINT PETER\u2019S UNIVERSITY 2003: R3 Energy Management Audit &amp; Review LLC was engaged to install energy efficient lighting upgrades. 2008: The President of Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University was a signatory of the American College and University Presidents\u2019 Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Administered by the organization, Second Nature, this commitment seeks to reduce our carbon footprint [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-198","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280,"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/198\/revisions\/280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}