Read the College's
Climate Action Plan (PDF)
Facilities Planner/Sustainability Coordinator
Luke Mowbray
lmmowbray@smcm.edu
240-895-2093
Sustainability Committee
sustainability@smcm.edu
SMCM Sustainability in The News
Student Spotlight
"I fell in love with the natural world when I was 13 and living on an open sailboat for two weeks. Since then, my environmental experiences have taken me across the country and around the world. I have been fortunate enough to study beach formation in Olympic National Park and teach students about marine life both in St. Mary's County and on Maui. I have also fought destructive coal mining practices in Appalachia and interned with the Gambian National Environment Agency. At. St. Mary's I am involved in SEAC and am currently its president. After I graduate in the spring with a degree in environmental studies, I hope to work on issues of sustainability in Africa."
Welcome to the St. Mary's Sustainability website. We hope that the College community will use this page as a resource for information about upcoming, ongoing and existing sustainability initiatives.
Recent News:
CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
The Sustainability Committee's regular meeting dates for the rest of the year are scheduled as follows:
- February 9th, 4:00 pm--Glendening 180
- March 30th, 2:45 pm
Reminder emails will be sent out one week prior to each meeting and shall include a list of agenda items and location details.
ARBORETUM EVENTS
Founded in the Fall of 2010, the St. Mary's Arboretum Association was established with the goal of building and identifying plant collections for scientific study as well as aesthetic appreciation, with sustainable maintenance and ecological awareness as guiding principles. The Arboretum sponsors many events every semester, including educational speakers and skills workshops. For a listing of these events, see the St. Mary's Arboretum Association calendar of events.
TRASH TO TREASURE - DONATION DRIVE DIVERTS UNWANTED GOODS FROM LANDFILL
During move-out at the end of the Spring 2011 semester, students donated 44 boxes of food, clothing, school supplies, and home goods to charity. In addition, the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity filled an entire box truck with donated furniture including several couches, office chairs, grills, book shelves, storage units and carpets.
FIFTY ST. MARY'S STUDENTS ATTEND POWERSHIFT
From April 15th to 18th, fifty St. Mary’s students attended PowerShift 2011, a historic youth climate summit where 10,000 youth leaders from across the country gathered to urge President Obama and Congress take action on climate change, stop funding dirty energy, and protect the health of American citizens and communities. Students participated in the largest organizer training in history, networked with activists and leaders from other colleges and universities, and spent a day lobbying in Congress and meeting with their elected officials to talk about climate change. Students returned to campus reenergized and empowered with the skills necessary to organize on campus and ensure that St. Mary’s College is a leader in campus sustainability.
STUDENT ST. MARY'S PROJECT FEATURED IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND NEWS
Aaron French ('11) spent the summer expanding the Campus Community Farm and improving relations between the College and the local community by bringing local church groups to farm at Bean Field in Historic St. Mary's City. For more information, check out this news article or the Community Garden blog.
ST. MARY'S CONTINUES WITH THE REUSABLE TO-GO BOX PROGRAM
In the Spring of 2011, St. Mary's conducted a very successful pilot program for the use of reusable to-go boxes in our campus dining facilities with 400 participants initially registered. The program expanded this semester, with more students, faculty and staff signing up to use reusable to-go boxes.
More information about the reusable to-go box program can be found on our "About Food" page.
