Lawrence University named a "green" school

APPLETON - Lawrence University has been named one of the country’s top “green” colleges in new rankings just released by the Sierra Club.

Lawrence was ranked 44th in the club’s list of 118 schools. The university scored 61.91 on the club’s 100-point scoring system. The system gave each school scores in energy supply, efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments and what it called “other initiatives.”

• Click here to see the complete rankings

School officials credited several factors for Lawrence’s jump from 106th in 2010: 

• A five percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the past year — and a 41 percent reduction since 2002 — through energy efficiency changes.
• A 100 percent use of recycled paper on campus for photocopying and letterhead.
• A 15 percent commitment of the campus food budget on locally (within 100 miles) produced foodstuffs.
• The diversion of 30 tons of kitchen waste to the student-run sustainable garden on campus for composting.
• A total of 12,000 pounds of electronic waste collected and recycled in the campus’ first “e-sweep” last May.
• A first-place finish in the 2011 Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability’s “Campus Energy Challenge” with an overall energy reduction of 12.86 percent.
• A 10th-place finish in the 2011 Recylemania national recycling competition (per capita category) with an average of 39.15 pounds per person.

Two other Wisconsin colleges made the list. Northland College in Ashland was ranked 22nd and the University of Wisconsin-Madison was ranked 77th.