Pittsburgh Universities and Their Sustainability Policies - The Green Voice

Duquesne specifically highlights their University Sustainability Committee (USC), which prioritizes the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’  On their website, Duquesne talks about how the USC has a number of  campus groups that focus on “managing campus gardens, coordinating  curricular work related to sustainability, developing partnerships with  local organizations, and more.”

The  USC also partners with BikePGH for Duquesne’s Campus Bike Week, an  annual event that encourages traveling by bike around the campus area.  Duquesne’s program ReUse listserv also supports environmental health by  donating furniture and appliances to those in need, and Duquesne has  also received the Tree Campus Higher Education recognition, which  celebrates the high number of trees planted on campus. Furthermore,  Duquesne has multiple campus gardens that are used for fresh produce and  green spaces. Duquesne’s website highlights that the school’s  environmental policies earned them a place on the Princeton Review’s 2025 List of Green Colleges.

The  University of Pittsburgh has an entire website dedicated to their  sustainability efforts, founded upon their sustainability plan, which  highlights 15 sectors that showcase and track their environmental  efforts. These 15 sectors are broken down into Stewardship (Water  Systems, Materials & Waste, Landscape & Ecology, Transportation  & Mobility, and Energy & Emissions), Exploration (Teaching &  Learning, Research, Innovation, Global Outreach, and Partnerships), and  Community & Culture (City & Regional Connections, Food Systems,  Equity & Access, Health & Wellbeing, and Engagement &  Awareness). Pitt’s sustainability website also highlights “Green  Guides,” which provide information for both faculty and students about  different environmental practices and opportunities on campus.

                                           

                                        

Additionally,  Pitt’s sustainability website has an entire section about on-campus  academic opportunities for students and staff who want to become  involved with the environmental science field.

Regarding  CMU, the university centers its sustainability policies around its  Sustainability Studio, a sector of its Sustainability Initiative that  prioritizes programming and education for environmental justice, as well  as other social and economic issues. In their own words, this  Sustainability Initiative is “Carnegie Mellon University’s commitment to  fostering a sustainable future for all by integrating the Sustainable  Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, into education, research, and  practices. The initiative goes beyond environmental concerns to include  social and economic justice, centering equity.”

The  website lists the various goals of this initiative, such as bringing  together faculty and students for environmentally-conscious events,  working with on-campus groups to create support for integrating the  Global Goals into the university’s education and research, and  developing external partnerships that support and encourage the Global  Goals. CMU’s website even includes a thorough table of the university’s environmental goals and practices,  which can be helpful for anyone who wants to learn more about the  school’s environmental actions and policies. A different sector of CMU’s  website includes information about their “Green Practices,” which are the specific efforts the university takes on campus.

Bria Zegarelli is a regular contributor to The Green Voice.