Student Victoria Widener created an an environmentally-friendly art project to educate the Rutgers–Camden Campus community about composting. Learn more.
We Are Green
From our own Green Purchasing program to our Climate and Environmental Change Initiative, Rutgers’ scarlet ways are increasingly green.
Art and Composting
1,519,216
That’s the number of pounds of recyclables Rutgers collected in 2013 to retain the Gorilla Prize in the national RecycleMania contest. Rutgers bested more than 330 other colleges and universities in gross tonnage of recyclables collected for the sixth straight year.
What Is Green Purchasing?
As good stewards of the environment, Rutgers buys products that conserve energy and other precious resources. Green Purchasing minimizes negative environmental effects through the use of products and services that have less of an impact on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services. To compare, the university considers raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, and maintenance or disposal of the product or service.
Recycling Program University Facilities makes sure that the Rutgers Recycling Program is one of the best in the nation.
Green Cleaning The Rutgers Green Cleaning program has introduced the use of bio-based ingredients instead of petroleum-based ingredients whenever possible to reduce the health hazards associated with the toxins in standard cleaning products.
Green Centers
Rutgers research and outreach centers focus on green issues, from local pesticide use to global climate change. Here is a sampling of those centers.
- Center for Energy, Economic, and Environmental Policy
- Center for Environmental Prediction
- Center for Green Building
- EcoComplex
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
- Highlands Regional Information System
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
- National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfields Redevelopment
- New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
- New Jersey Environmental Digital Library
- New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute
- Pest Management Office
- Rutgers Cooperative Extension
- Rutgers Energy Institute
Rutgers LEEDs the Way
Visitor Center Meets Green Building Standards
The United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program sets environmentally sound design standards for new building construction and renovation. Since 2007, Rutgers building projects have met the LEED Silver Rating, including the Visitor Center, which opened on the Busch Campus in Piscataway in October 2009. Inside the building, the contractors used low volatile organic compound (VOC)-emitting paints and materials, energy efficient lighting, and low-flow plumbing fixtures that reduce the amount of water released per use. The installed carpeting was made from recycled materials and the landscaping features no-irrigation, native plants.
