Washington State University has joined the growing ranks of colleges and universities in the United States working to develop a vision of sustainable campus and urban communities. WSU became a member of the National Wildlife Federation - Campus Ecology Program in 2002-03, when participating faculty initiated several projects to launch the WSU Campus & Community Ecology Project.

A primary  goal of the WSU Campus & Community Ecology Project is to support and strengthen the diverse efforts of faculty, students, staff, administrators, and the surrounding campus communities to define and build a more sustainable, "green campus" at Washington State University.

 

The WSU Campus & Community Ecology Project will include work on campus greening issues, including building and landscape design, composting, energy use and efficiency, purchasing policies, recycling, transportation, and the design of sustainable agricultural, rural, and urban landscapes.

The first WSU Campus Ecology  annual report provided to members of the national Campus Ecology Program highlighted the establishment of the new Native Plant & Landscape Restoration Nursery, created through the efforts of faculty and undergraduate and graduate students at WSU. This Campus Ecology action project was initiated partly to meet the challenges of conserving and restoring native Palouse Prairie, widely recognized as one of the most endangered grassland ecosystems in North America.

WSU students from many disciplines work with the faculty and technical staff of the Native Plant Nursery to design and implement restoration projects on both public and private lands that involve restoration of Ponderosa pine forests, native bunch-grass prairies, streams and riparian corridors, wet meadows, and wetlands. The Native Plant Nursery will also support efforts to develop the WSU Arboretum and future botanical gardens, parks, trails, and demonstration sites for teaching, research, and public education.

According to Campus Ecology faculty member, Rod Sayler, " WSU has many efforts underway to reduce waste, decrease energy use, and increase the efficiency of all WSU campuses. WSU's Facilities Operations, Capital Planning, and Waste Management have made dramatic improvements in waste reduction and handling and energy efficiency which has saved the institution and Washington State an amazing amount of money. These projects end up paying for themselves, yet make a cleaner and better environment for everyone. 

 

We just need to keep moving aggressively forward on these kinds of activities and make more people aware of the opportunities to reduce the environmental impacts of our surrounding campuses, communities, and cities."

Sayler also says, "One of the first goals of the WSU Campus & Community Ecology Project is to help develop a formally-recognized green campus policy at Washington State University. We need to stand up as an institution and be counted in efforts to define and develop a sustainable future for both humanity - and the natural world."