Sustainability at Colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Special Focus on Mount Holyoke College
Date
2021-07-02
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Abstract
Climate change is the existential issue of our time, and institutions of higher education
can have a measurable impact thereon through sustainability initiatives like carbon neutrality
goals. To understand where four institutions, Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith
Colleges, stand in terms of their relative sustainability, a comparative case study approach was
employed with a focus on four critical parameters. Data were collected representing water use,
energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and curriculum at the institutions. The first three
parameters represent the three traditional pillars of sustainability; the fourth parameter,
curriculum, was chosen to reflect a more holistic view of sustainability at institutions of higher
education. The findings for each parameter were examined relative to the other institutions to
reach a better understanding of patterns and factors influencing parameter values. A significant
portion of the study concerns the limitations and merits of the available values to truly represent
the parameters. Ultimately, Hampshire proved to have the best overall values across the four
parameters while Amherst had the worst. Smith and Mount Holyoke Colleges alternated between
second and third place, suggesting that they have achieved some sustainability success but could
do even more. A second focus of the study was Mount Holyoke College’s individual situation
and institution specific recommendations to improve sustainability data collection procedures
and by extension sustainability on campus. A series of recommendations were made to create a
consistent and comprehensive approach to this data collection, to increase regular campus-wide
collaboration on sustainability efforts, and to restructure existing data collection and
management procedures and division of tasks among staff at the Miller Worley Center of the
Environment.
Description
Keywords
sustainability, higher education, institutional sustainability, climate change, Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, water use, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, curriculum, data collection, recommendations, Miller Worley Center for the Environment, AASHE STARS