Sustainable Smith
In 1886, Florence Merriam Bailey, a student concerned about the plight of birds, started the Smith College Audubon Society and began weaving the fabric of sustainability at Smith that can now be found across all aspects of the college—in academics, operations, research and student life. Smith prepares women through active learning and societal engagement to foster and lead sustainable, just communities and to make significant and lasting contributions to address the critical issues of the times. Like Florence, students are frequently at the heart of sustainability issues on campus. You’ll find their stories throughout these pages.
Year on Climate Change
The Year on Climate Change is for creators, thinkers, problem-solvers, scientists, writers, engineers, educators, activists, entrepreneurs, economists, sociologists and all members of the Smith community. We welcome students, staff, faculty and alumnae to create and attend events throughout the year—including our opening conference, October 4–6.
Sustainability News
Reduce, Reuse, Smith Cycle
After seeing the waste produced by students moving out at the end of the year, Emmy Longnecker ’20J, a chemistry major and environmental science and policy minor, was determined to solve the problem. She worked with staff and faculty in CEEDS to create a two-semester special studies to understand the issue and develop a solution. As a result she has created Smith Cycle—the college’s first student-designed, comprehensive move-out waste reduction program.
Carbon Pricing Strategy
When Breanna Parker ’18 began working on a strategy to help Smith reduce its carbon footprint, she didn’t expect her research to become a national model. But that’s just what happened with a carbon-pricing tool that Parker helped create for the college during her senior year.
A Greener Way to Dry Clothes
A modest change in Smith house living aims to have a big effect on campus energy use: A new laundry drying-rack system proposed by students in Capen and Morrow was the winner of the college’s first-ever House Sustainability Challenge.
New Solar Facility
Smith and four other leading liberal arts colleges have formed a pioneering collaborative that will allow them to offset 46,000 megawatt hours per year of their collective electrical needs with electricity created at a new solar power facility to be built in Farmington, Maine.
Small Changes, Big Goals: Smith’s Sustainable Office Program
The Sustainable Office Certification Program offers tips on how to make small changes in everyday work practices to create a more environmentally friendly campus.
Investing in Sustainability
Students in Sustainability
Contact
Wright Hall 005
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063