Campus Engagement
Better integrate sustainability within first-year orientation to emphasize its importance from a student’s first day on campus beginning in the Fall of 2017.
Institute optional gr!:lduation pledge for Class of 2018 by December 31, 2017.
Link student academic experience to on-campus operational practices beginning by September 1, 2017.
Develop a Sustainability Passport Program that allows staff to succeed at fulfilling the sustainability behavioral competency that is a part of every job description by September 1, 2017.
Leverage connections with alumni engaged in sustainability by organizing at least one annual alumni event that focuses on sustainability and climate issues by September 1, 2017.
Develop and implement a Sustainable Purchasing Policy by September 1, 2017.
Curriculum and Learning
Identify and encourage courses on sustainability and climate change in the curriculum by September 1, 2017.
Increase faculty awareness of teaching to sustainability by September 1, 2017.
Enhance coacurricular education/experiential learning that foregrounds sustainability by May 30, 2017.
Campus Operations
Buildings and Energy
Integrate Colgate’s Green Building Standards into the university’s Construction and Design Standards and put them into practice by July 1, 2017.
Complete Energy Master Plan by July 1, 2018.
Expand natural gas along Broad Street and other campus buildings to replace fuel oil #2 by July 1, 2018
Transportation
Colgate will replace its current vehicle fieet with zero-emission or low-emission vehicles on a rolling basis.
Continue collaborating with First Transit Inc (Cruiser and on-demand service) and Wade Tours and Hale Transportation (charter service) to emphasize low-carbon operations that reduce our environmental and carbon impacts.
Implement an air travel carbon footprint report card by division in order to raise awareness by September i, 2017.
Complete user-friendly guidelines for bltsiness grOLind travel that include best practices tor reducing costs and environmental impacts by September 1, 2017.
Complete an employee commuter plan that advances sustainable transportation options for Colgate commuters by September 1, 2017.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
Reduce landfill waste by an additional 100 tons from about 750 tons in 2015 to 650 tons in
2019 with an aspirational goal of becoming a zero-waste campus by 2025.
Water Conservation and Protection
Reduce water consumption by an additional 10 million gallons from about 60 million gallons in 2015 to about 50 million gallons by July 1, 2019.
Ecosystem and Land Stewardship
Complete a comprehensive update of Colgate’s Forest and Open Lands Stewardship Plan that was published in 2007 by July 1, 2018.
Complete a full re-measurement of all sample plots identified in our 2013 Forest Carbon Inventory & Projections report by July 1, 2018.
Food and Dining
Complete a full assessment of our local, community-based, and third-party certified food purchases by July 1, 2017 and establish an institutional goal for increasing the purchase of sustainable foods on campus.
Complete an initial sustainability audit of dining services that includes waste production as well as water and energy consumption by September 1, 2017.
Complete an action plan for advancing overall sustainability in dining operations that emphasizes sustainable food procurement and waste, water, and energy reduction by September 1, 2017.
Financing
Fund and Implement a Green Revolving Loan Fund (GRLF) by September 1, 2017
Investigate Federal, State and Local Funding Opportunities on an ongoing basis. Develop a suite of shovel-ready projects by July 1, 2018.
Climate Resiliency and Adaptation
Complete an initial vulnerability assessment by September 1, 2018. Complete an initial adaptation plan by September 1, 2019.
Offsets
Develop a plan to implement and finance offsets that result in carbon neutrality by 2019.
Form a Carbon Offset Working Group to evaluate and recommend offset options by July 1, 2018.
Campus Partnership and Reporting
By December 31 of each year, Colgate will formally update the faculty, students, and staff on our progress through presentations at staff and faculty meetings, our annual greenhouse gas inventory, and an annual sustainability report. During these engagements, sustainability leaders will prioritize feedback and create vehicles for continued input.
UCAN United Climate Action Network 