by Nicholas White, UNH Junior & GA Intern

The University of New Hampshire recently received the annual Campus Sustainability Leadership Award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). AASHE was created in 2006 and UNH joined in that same year under the direction of Tom Kelly, the chief sustainability officer for the school. . “While UNH has received a number of awards and distinctions for our sustainability leadership, it is particularly gratifying to receive this recognition from our peer group,” says Kelly. “This AASHE award reflects more than a decade of dedication to sustainability from students, faculty and staff throughout the university.” UNH may have only recently joined the AASHE, but it is a pioneer when it comes to sustainability. It’s University Office of Sustainability, founded in 1997 is the oldest endowed sustainability program in any higher education system. In the 12 years that the program has been in place, UNH has fought to implement sustainable policies as well as discover more efficient ways to keep the university running. 

2009 held another exciting first for the university as it became the 1st in the nation to use landfill gas as its primary source ofenergy. Landfill gas now accounts for 85% of all the energy used at UNH and the university hopes to be carbon neutral by 2100. Other campus initiatives that have been implemented include an improved public transportation service where most of the vehicles run on bio-diesel or compressed natural gas, remodeling buildings to be LEED certified, mandated use of all-natural, green cleaning products, (a program which has decreased the amount of cleaning product used by 50%) and locally grown produce in the dining halls.

The dining halls are not the only places in Durham serving food sustainably. Young’s restaurant and the UNH Dairy Bar (owned and operated by UNH), are two Green Alliance business partners striving to leave their mark on the community without leaving their mark on the environment. After being in service for 89 years, Young’s has developed strong relationships within the community. This has allowed them to purchase all of their eggs from local farmers and implement extensive recycling and composting programs as well as energy efficiency techniques that will decrease total energy use by 68%. The UNH Dairy bar also uses locally produced food, 75% of their total food usage to be exact. The Dairy Bar composts and recycles 90% of their waste making them a truly “zero waste” facility. They send all their organic waste to Kingman Farm in Madbury to be used as topsoil.

UNH’s size and long history of sustainability give it a lot of influence in the Seacoast region and the higher education system across the country. The surrounding community can learn a lot from the initiatives the school has taken thus far. UNH also offers, supports and promotes the New Hampshire Carbon Challenge which helps New Hampshire residents reduce their household carbon emissions by 10,000 pounds a year. As a student at the University of New Hampshire I am both excited and proud that my university takes environmental care so seriously and that it is among the nation’s leaders in sustainability.

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