Berkeley ranked one of the coolest, greenest schools

Compostable containers are just one way the campus looks out for the environment. (UC Berkeley photo by Elena Zhukova)

Once again, UC Berkeley has made the list of the top 10 “Cool Schools” for its commitment to the environment and sustainability.

Berkeley ranked 10th on Sierra magazine’s annual listing of environmentally conscious colleges and universities, released today.

According to campus sustainability manager Kira Stoll, Berkeley’s ranking is due to the broad range of activities on campus.

“Thousands of people in the Berkeley community are taking action every day to be great stewards of the environment — it is really cool to be recognized for this passion and commitment,” she says.

Each day more than 40,000 people commute to campus by walking, ridesharing, bicycling and taking transit, efficiency efforts are saving lots of energy and millions of dollars and the Student Environmental Resource center is supporting a wide variety of student initiated co-curricular activities.

Four University of California campuses were ranked in the top 10 on the Sierra list. Number one was Irvine, Davis placed second and San Diego came in seventh.

They were among more than 150 schools that completed Sierra’s survey about sustainability practices on campus. Among the criteria were efforts being made to address climate change.

“The University of California absolutely dominates our ranking thanks to the system’s remarkable commitment to sustainability, and its in-progress plan to be carbon neutral by 2025,” said Avital Andrews, a Sierra editor. “Other systems should look to the University of California as an example of how to effectively set attainable environmental goals and standards.”

Read more on the website of Berkeley’s Office of Sustainability and Energy.

Read more on the University of California website.