Pedaling Change

Students Psyched for Bikes

Most college campuses are already well populated by bicycles. With construction costs rising and parking at a premium, many schools have sweetened the deal for students who travel on two wheels.

Ripon College in Wisconsin has the best deal for incoming students who agree to leave their car behind: free mountain bikes. Parking your car at home and getting a free bike has been a dramatic success at Ripon. Over 60% of incoming freshman took Ripon up on the deal and saved the school from building another parking garage. They ditched their greenhouse gas-making ride and got this person-powered one for free:
The congestion created by automobiles has sparked a *Velorution* (velo = bicycle in French) at the school. So, Ripon is directly confronting car-based convenience on campus by systematically moving parking to the exterior of campus and removing two streets that bisect the grounds. Soon Ripon will "create a safer, greener, more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly mall." The University of New England liked Ripon's plan and now has a bike give-away for those who abandon their autos.

Check out all of the elements of Ripon's Velorution here:


Other campuses have utilized more traditional bike rentals or provide free bikes for campus use:

• Mercer University asked for donated bikes, fixed them up, and is renting them to students.


• Emory University students merely show their ID and are able to rent bikes for free at several stations around campus.


• Danforth University students following the model of FreeWheel groups needed no help from their school to start a free bike program. They just did it.

Sierra Club's Greenest Schools

Surprises in Top Ten Eco-Campuses

Small liberal arts colleges once dominated innovation and creativity in sustainable college campuses, but now large state schools are getting in on the action. The Sierra Club ranked the schools based on a 100-point formula that considered everything from green building to waste management. Here are the rankings:

1. Middlebury College; Middlebury, Vermont
2. University of Colorado-Boulder; Boulder, Colorado
3.University of Vermont-Burlington; Burlington, Vermont
4. Warren Wilson College; Swannanoa, North Carolina
5. Evergreen State College; Olympia, Washington
6. Arizona State University; Tempe, Arizona
7. University of Florida-Gainesville; Gainesville, Florida
8. Oberlin College; Oberlin, Ohio
9. University of Washington-Seattle; Seattle, Washington
10. Tufts University; Medford, Massachusetts

University-wide master plans dedicated to a reduction of the school's carbon footprint are highlights of some of the state schools listed. Other schools opted for more creative solutions to problems: ASU is sending all of its organic waste material to a local farmer who composts it.

Tufts University, on the list at number 10, deserves credit for several important firsts. Tufts' president convened a group of university presidents and chancellors all the way back in 1990 to urge institutions of higher education to create a sustainable future. The meeting resulted in the Talloires Declaration, which is a "ten-point action plan for incorporating sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach at colleges and universities." Learn more about the Talloires Declaration here. Find out if your school is a signatory here. Tufts also dedicated a huge sum for investments in developing countries.

But what's so great about Middleburry? Well, author Bill McKibben regularly brings environmental journalists to campus. The campus draws power from wind and even a wood-chip plant. And a host of student-directed initiatives have boosted recycling and reuse. The campus now recycles more than 60% of the waste produced at Middleburry.

In addition to green cheers, there are also jeers. Five schools are reserved for special criticism from the Sierra Club:

1. The College of William and Mary; Williamsburg, Virginia
2. George Washington University; Washington, D.C.
3. Howard University; Washington, D.C.
4. Texas Tech University; Lubbock, Texas
5. Valadosta State University; Valadosta, Georgia

Howard University doesn't recycle, the Club claims, and the Red Raiders are wasting water. Perhaps the infamy of being dubbed an "un-Cool School" will make these colleges and universities change their ways.

Some schools deserve honorable mention in their sustainability efforts. Kentucky's Berea College has an EcoVillage. Pitzer College in California has dorms with solar panels and roof-top gardens.