News & Events
6/5/13: Solar Charging Station Installation
The Manchester Journal reports on the promising future of electric cars in Vermont. Drive Electric Vermont (DEV) had a display at the annual Manchester Antique and Classic Car Show, which included an all-electric vehicle (AEV) which runs entirely by electric energy stored in its battery. Dave Roberts of DEV notes that more charging stations are now online, easing "range anxiety" -- the fear that an electric vehicle will run out of battery power before it reaches its destination, or the nearest charging station. Green Mountain College has installed a charging station, said Roberts, which features solar panels to offset the electricity used to charge the cars. "In the past, Vermont residents spent a total of approximately $1.1 billion a year on gas," said Roberts. "It could have been closer to $275 million if all of those cars were electric."
5/14/13: Green Mountain College Board Approves Divestment of Fossil Fuel Holdings
The Green Mountain College board of trustees approved divestment from 200 publicly-traded companies which hold most of the world’s known coal, oil and gas reserves at its May 10 meeting. The decision aligns the college with its strategic plan "Sustainability2020,” which commits GMC to socially responsible investments. Following the decision, the college administration will work with its investment advisors to implement the plan.
"We see this as another step in an ongoing effort to connect our investment decisions with our ideals,” said Paul Fonteyn, president of Green Mountain College. "Investing endowment funds on the basis of social, economic and environmental criteria is one of the ways Green Mountain College expresses its values."
1/11/13: REED Solar-Powered Garage
Students at Green Mountain College recently completed a solar-powered garage that demonstrates an integrative design to optimize the performance of electric vehicles in cold weather climates like Vermont.
Twenty-one students in the College’s Renewable Energy and Ecological Design (REED) block course last semester were charged with creating a charging station to house an electric vehicle for use by the school’s working farm and the REED program. To that end, students built a garage featuring a 16 panel 3.86-kilowatt solar array and a fiberglass passive solar south-facing wall suitable for early-season germination of crops for the College’s farm. They named the new structure Olwen Solar Garage, after the Welsh goddess of the sun.
The building is a mini power plant which consumes the power it produces while providing a platform for sustainable food production. Inside, the building is spacious and bright, with large a large multifunctional solar wall that provides heat, light, and shelving for food production.
12/6/12: Green Mountain Colleges Releases Strategic Plan: Sustainability 2020
POULTNEY—Most long-range plans developed by educational institutions center on brick and mortar projects, new curricular initiatives and fundraising goals. Green Mountain College’s new eight-year master plan, Sustainability 2020 includes these goals. It also commits the College to another ambitious milestone: meeting all of its energy needs with 100% renewable energy by the year 2020.
Sustainability 2020 embodies GMC’s educational vision for the future while reflecting on the College’s commitment to bend the curve of progress toward more adaptable and enduring models of social, ecological and economic practices.
5/25/2012: Green Mountain College Lawn-to-Edible Garden Project Unveiled
Green Mountain College has moved the traditional home vegetable garden—often relegated to the backyard—in front of the Solar Harvest Center (SHC), a farmhouse purchased by the College in 2009. With the support of several grants, students and faculty recently completed the Lawn-to-Edible Garden Project which converted the SHC front lawn into a permaculture landscape of vegetables and perennial fruits. Lettuce, peppers, onions, tomatoes and many other vegetables grown in the 12 new raised beds will find their way to the plates of students studying in the current Summer Farm Intensive Program on campus, and on the shelves of local food pantries. Blueberries, grapes, elderberries, and other small fruits will diversify the offerings in coming years. The entire installation was completed by students taking a semester-long Edible Landscaping course in a culminating week of construction and planting.
3/15/2012: GMC Adopts Casella Waste System’s Zero-Sort® Recycling Program and Power of Three™ Closed Loop Recycling System
GMC reaffirmed its commitment to being a leader in sustainability by joining Casella Waste Systems Power of Three™ closed loop recycling initiative. The Power of Three is Casella’s newest solution for its customers who are intent on bringing a new meaning to the term “zero-waste.” With Zero-Sort®, all of Green Mountain College’s paper, plastic, glass, and metal will be combined together in one single container.
Casella’s Zero-Sort processing facility located in Rutland, Vermont mechanically sorts all of the material. Once sorted, the baled paper will travel just 45 miles more to the SCA plant in Glens Falls, New York to be made into 100% recycled paper content products that will then be delivered back to Green Mountain College by Foley Distributing and UGL Services. Businesses that have converted over to Zero-Sort typically see a 20-40% or more improvement in their recycling efforts, which typically saves them money on disposal costs, time in sorting, and streamlines their collection processes internally.
6/27/11: Green Mountain College Receives Climate Leadership Award
Green Mountain College received the Second Nature Climate Leadership Award June 23 at the fifth annual Climate Leadership Summit of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in Washington, D.C. GMC received the award for achieving climate neutrality in 2011. Learn more.
5/24/11: Green Mountain is Climate Neutral
GMC is the first college in the nation to achieve climate neutrality through campus-wide efficiency, adoption of clean energy, and purchase of local carbon offsets.
Learn more about our path to climate neutrality.
5/20/11: Green Move Out
The 2011 Green Move Out at GMC diverted an estimate of 5,700 lbs of waste from the landfill (as compared with 2,950 lbs in 2010). A team of 4-5 Eco-Reps led by two student managers worked throughout the last week of finals through the day after commencement on this project. Signs and emails advertised the event in the residence halls the week before students began to vacate the campus for the summer holiday. Students were encouraged to bring unbroken, working and pre-owned items to designated areas in the lounges of their residence halls.
Three thousand pounds of goods will be repurposed on campus. Reusable items were placed in storage in Bogue and the Free Store to be given away/sold to new students in the fall.
This project was sponsored by the Sustainability Office in collaboration with the Office of Residence Life.
4/27/11: Green Mountain College Launches Masters in Food Systems
Green Mountain announced a masters degree program in Sustainable Food Systems (MSFS) to prepare future leaders in the burgeoning food movement with a graduate level interdisciplinary understanding of sustainable agricultural production, and a deep knowledge of the economic, ecological, and social forces driving food systems. Read more here.
1/17/11: GMC Explores Poultney Woodshed Project
Green Mountain College (GMC) and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (HBRF) are collaborating on a plan called the Poultney Woodshed Project to fuel the College's new biomass facility from local sources of sustainably harvested woodchips. The $73,658 project is funded by the Rutland Regional Planning Commission (with funds from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program), the High Meadows Fund, the Riverledge Foundation and the Luce Foundation. Read more here.
12/13/10: Cerridwen Farm set to Receive $93,000 Grant
Green Mountain College’s Farm & Food Project has received a $93,000 grant from the California-based Yavanna Foundation. The funding will be used to further develop the College’s fossil-free agriculture initiatives, including the hiring of a full-time post-doctoral researcher for two years and the associated purchase of research equipment. More...
12/6/10: Forest Policy & Management Students Present
Sourcing Recommendations for Biomass Facility
On Monday, December 6, students in the forest policy & management class will be presenting their recommendations to the College about how we should procure our biomass. Students will be addressing issues in sustainable forestry and comparing what other institutions and states are doing to protect ecosystems while also promoting biomass as a form of renewable energy. This will be taking place in Ackley 334 from 1 – 2:15 p.m.
10/25/10: GMC to Become First Climate Neutral
Campus in Vermont
Hopefully you have heard the news that this year Green Mountain College will become the first campus in the country to become climate neutral after achieving reductions in its carbon footprint of more than 50%. What does this mean? Why is it important? To help us understand the significance of this step, Prof. Steven Letendre (business and economics) has provided this short essay for the GMC community. Please look for future articles from the Campus Sustainability Council (CSC) with updates and information about our on-going journey to climate neutrality. Read the essay.
9/27/10: Duke Energy Foundation Awards $12,000
Grant to GMC
Green Mountain College has received a $12,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation which will be matched by funding from the Pierson Family Foundation to renovate kitchen facilities at the College's Solar Harvest Center. The Solar Harvest Center (SHC), a farmhouse next to the College's Cerridwen farm, contains office and classroom space for the Farm & Food Project, a GMC initiative that supports GMC students who take courses, conduct research, or volunteer their time in service-learning projects. The SHC is also an important resource for the community of farmers in Rutland County, providing office space for a VISTA volunteer who coordinates programs with the Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL).
4/19/10: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to Celebrate
GMC's New Biomass Plant
When Green Mountain College’s new biomass plant officially goes online on Earth Day, April 22, the College will take a major step toward achieving its goal of climate neutrality by next year. Vermont Governor James Douglas will cut the ribbon to mark the official opening of the plant at a 10:30 a.m. ceremony. The ceremony will be followed by a luncheon on the Cree lawn. Read the press release on the opening.
2/8/10: GMC Launches New Sustainable Agriculture Major
Green Mountain College announced last week the creation of a new Sustainable Agriculture & Food Production major at the College. GMC will present the major concentration as part of its curricular offerings beginning in the fall 2010 semester. The major has been developed out of a highly successful sustainable agriculture concentration in the College's environmental studies program. "Over the past decade, we've developed a strong national reputation for education in sustainable agriculture, and we've integrated that knowledge into our environmental liberal arts curriculum," said GMC Provost Dr. William Throop. More...