The College of Charleston is again one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Princeton Review. “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition” can be downloaded for free at www.princetonreview.com/green-guide.

“The College of Charleston is consistently improving upon its sustainability efforts,” says P. Brian Fisher, director of the Office of Sustainability. “At any given time, we have a dozen ongoing projects from apiculture at Dixie Plantation to recycling initiatives, compost analyses, and bike share. We are also continuing to ramp up our research efforts whether on commuting behavior or the influence of sustainability on higher education.”

See the projects the Office of Sustainability is working on.

“The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition” is created in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It is the only free, comprehensive guidebook profiling institutions of higher education that demonstrate a notable commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation. The Princeton Review chose the schools for this guide based on a survey of administrators at hundreds of colleges that the company polled in 2012 about their school’s sustainability initiatives. The company tallied Green Ratings for 806 institutions in summer 2012. The 322 schools in this guide received scores of 83 or above in that assessment.

According to Robert Franek, Senior VP/Publisher, The Princeton Review, “Among 9,955 college applicants who participated in our 2013 ‘College Hopes & Worries Survey,’ 62 percent said having information about a school’s commitment to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the school.”

The Princeton Review first created this resource for college-bound students in 2010 with the U.S. Green Building Council, which is best known for developing the LEED standard for green building certification. In the fall of 2010, USGBC launched its Center for Green Schools (www.centerforgreenschools.org) to increase its efforts to drive change in how campuses and schools are designed, constructed and operated so that all educational facilities can enhance student learning experiences.

For more information, contact Brian Fisher at fisherb@cofc.edu.