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Of the estimated 18 million college students in the US, only two million live in campus dorms. The remaining 16 million join the countless Americans who commute an average of 100 hours per year. These commutes—if not on foot or by bike—add to pollution and help exacerbate the increasing problem of climate change. This has not gone unnoticed by universities across the country, which are beginning to invest resources to alter the way people get around—on and off campus. Read on…

I’m addicted to fermentation. It started innocently enough—my boyfriend’s mom gave me the old yogurt maker that had been sitting unused in her cupboard since the 1970s. I simply had to plug it in and leave some milk (and a little yogurt culture) to incubate for six hours, but I soon realized the vast potential for experimentation. What if I tried a different kind of milk? Or left it out for 12 hours instead of six? I could make it sour or sweet, thin or creamy. With little tweaks to the process, I could sculpt a unique creation that precisely fit my tastes. Or it could surprise me! Read on…

More than 126 universities have certified LEED green buildings on their campuses. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED] is a program aimed at reducing the environmental impact of various structures. Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO₂ emissions, 40% of energy use, and 13% of water consumption. These expenditures represent 15% of our GDP each year. By constructing efficient buildings, we will aid both our environment and economy. Below are three institutions of higher learning that are leading the way in LEED construction. Read on…

The Sustainable Endowment Institute (SEI) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, publishes a College Sustainability Report Card, an annual independent sustainability assessments of the the nation’s largest endowment universities. Their current data show the tremendous progress US colleges have made and are continuing to make in the area of renewable energy. Read on…

For most of my life, with a few brief interludes, I have lived with one person or another who was unpredictable and so made my life hell. Learning to bend and learning to live around “what just is” were habits I developed—almost unconsciously—to survive and to find a way to live, I hoped, in peace. Until very recently, I accepted mostly that this way I lived was normal, that this was my life. I say “accepted mostly” because deep inside, I knew that the way I was being treated and the behavior and choices I was forced to accept weren’t right. Still, even as I went on living in hell, I looked for solace. I looked for peace. My search for peace taught me where my real home could always be. Read on…