“Bryn Mawr College affirms the importance of prioritizing sustainability efforts, reducing our carbon footprint, and above all educating generations of students so they may make positive change in an interdependent world.”
—Bryn Mawr College Climate Action Plan
Bryn Mawr College is committed to environmental sustainability. We approach sustainability with the innovative thinking Bryn Mawr is known for. We recognize that sustainability is an issue of social justice, and as such is vital to our mission as a socially responsible institution.
President McAuliffe signed Bryn Mawr’s Climate Action Plan in January 2011, in accordance with the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. The Plan was drafted by a planning group made up of staff, faculty, and students. In the fall of 2011, the Environmental Sustainability Leadership Group was created to implement the plan.
By signing the Climate Action Plan, President McAuliffe and Bryn Mawr College have committed to reducing our carbon footprint 10% by 2020. We also commit to a greater emphasis on sustainability in education and behavior, which, though largely immeasurable, is one of the greatest contributions we can make as an institution of higher learning. The Climate Action Plan outlines how the College will achieve these goals by primarily focusing on three major areas of change:
- Operational Efforts
- Teaching, Learning, and Research
- Cultural and Behavioral Changes
Operational Efforts refers to physical changes we can make around campus to save energy. For more information about this area of change, see the Operational Efforts page.
Teaching, Learning, and Research takes advantage of the talents of Bryn Mawr’s students and faculty, as well as their collaboration with staff in facilities and elsewhere. For more information, see the Teaching, Learning, and Research page.
Cultural and Behavioral Changes relate to the larger need to change the way we think about our interaction with the world. This is another area where Bryn Mawr has a particular strength; our focus on civic and social engagement provides a vantage point from which to see how we, individually and as an institution, fit into the global ecology. For more on this area of change, see the Cultural and Behavioral Changes page.
The Climate Action Plan is full of information about Bryn Mawr’s energy use, sustainability measures currently being undertaken, and plans for the future.
Read the entire Climate Action Plan here: Bryn Mawr College Climate Action Plan (PDF)
Read the Bryn Mawr Now article about the Plan: Bryn Mawr Climate Action Plan Calls for Reduction in College’s Carbon Footprint
