Top 10 Sustainability Tips for Students
Our top list of campus resources for a sustainable year at Georgetown.
1. Get Networked Connect with Student Sustainability Groups on Campus
Georgetown is home to over a dozen student clubs and organizations addressing sustainability and environmental topics. Start with the link below to learn more and get involved!
2. Save from the Start: Top 10 Ways to Save Energy on Campus
Recent data shows that a building’s occupants can cut its energy use by up to 12% just through simple every-day actions. Help Georgetown slash our carbon footprint and save valuable natural resources by following these ten simple tips!
3. Hydrate! Where to Fill Your Water Bottle on Campus
When you carry a reusable bottle on campus, you help reduce waste – and you can fill up on water at any sink, fountain, bottle-filling station or Corp cafe (just ask!). For a map of GU’s filtered water bottle filling stations across campus, visit:
4. Getting Around DC Without a Car
Getting around Washington, DC without a car is a breeze for Georgetown students, thanks to the the city’s extensive transit and bicycle networks, and the campus’s free shuttle buses and convenient access to BikeShare, and Zipcar.
5. How to Recycle on Campus
At Georgetown, recycling is our standard. We know that recycling practices can vary from state to state, city to city and even from one building to another in the same town, so we’ve produced a simple one-stop shop where you can find out how to recycle on campus, Hoya style!
6. Healthy, Fresh, Local: Finding Sustainable Food on Campus and in DC
Whether you’re dining on campus or exploring DC, sustainable food choices are never hard to find. Check out these resources below to learn more:
On Campus:
- Certified Sustainable Foods: From coffee to seafood and more, you can select many Certified Sustainable Foods on Campus (new window)
- Low Carbon Foods: Check out this Carbon Food-Score Tool (new window)to learn more.
- Local Foods: Discover Georgetown University’s Seasonal Farmer’s Market! (new window)
In DC:
- Check out this DC Food Guide (new window)from eatwellguide.org (new window)featuring restaurants, bakeries, farmers markets and other options for sustainable dining around the region.
7. Take a Sustainability Class
The university offers over 80 courses related to sustainability, taught by departments across campus. Explore these resources to find a course (and be sure to check the course catalog regularly for the most up-to-date information!):
- Core Pathway on Climate Change 2017-2018 (new window) – The innovative Core Pathway on Climate Change enables undergraduates to fulfill core and elective requirements through an interdisciplinary collection of courses that address the complex global challenge of climate change.
- Courses on the Environment and Sustainability (new window)
- Undergraduate Majors, Minors and Academic Programs (new window)related to environmental sustainability
8. Connect with Faculty
Over your four years on campus, Georgetown’s faculty will be your teachers, your mentors, and maybe even your future job references or employers, so building relationships with them is a great idea. Georgetown has an incredible roster of faculty from departments across campus with interest and expertise in sustainability. Explore the links below to find and connect with faculty members who share your interest in this field:
9. Engage Sustainability from an Integrated and Holistic Approach
At Georgetown, we pursue sustainability as a “quadruple bottom line” – people, planet, prosperity and purpose, driven by our Catholic and Jesuit heritage and our commitment to the common good. Inherent in the concept of sustainability is the idea of improving the quality of life for all people, while preserving the planet’s natural life support systems.
Explore the links below to find out how Georgetown’s Jesuit values and core mission (new window) compel us to pursue sustainability:
Catholic and Jesuit Faith and Ecology:
- Pope Francis’s Encyclical on the Environment- “On Care for Our Common Home” (new window) (June 2015)
- Healing Our Broken World: SPECIAL Report on Ecology (PDF) (new window) from the General Curia of the Society of Jesus (Rome)
- EcoJesuits (new window)– Connecting Jesuits, people and ecology
- Catholic Climate Covenant (new window)– Taking action on climate change on behalf of Creation and the Poor
Campus Resources on Social Justice and Sustainability:
- Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice (CSJ) offers numerous programs for students to explore connections between ecology, communities and justice:
- Many Alternative Breaks Programs (new window)explore environmental justice topics across the country
- The Georgetown University Social Innovation and Public Service (SIPS) Fund (new window)is a $1.5 million student-run fund that allocates grants and helps provide the resources for student and alumni social ventures. SIPS considers sustainability-related projects as a theme among their applicants and grantees.
Sustainability and Global Social Justice:
- The Few Resources Project (new window)is a web resources on food, energy, water and global social justice launched by Professor Madison Powers in GU’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics (new window)
10. Know Your Impact!
In the world of sustainability, they say you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Our individual impacts on the planet are no exception! Here are three simple tools to help you get started and calculate the size of your environmental footprint:
- Carbon Footprint Calculator (new window)from the Nature Conservancy
- Ecological Footprint Calculator (new window)from the Footprint Network
- Water Footprint Calculator (new window)from National Geographic Society