The Saints of Sustainability
- Jeffrey Sachs confirmed as the Winter 2021 Issa Speaker for 4/28 at 7 pm
- Details under Issa Speaker Series
- 11th Environmental Documentary Series scheduled Online due to the worsening Covid-19 pandemic
- Schedule under Environmental Documentaries
- Be smart, stay safe and protect others!
- Recording of Project Drawdown presentation now available on Youtube
- Link under Issa Speaker Series
- SHU was awarded STARS Bronze rating for significant sustainability efforts
- More info under "Achievements and Plans"
- SHU's President Peg Albert signs Letter to President Trump and Members of United States Congress to reassert U.S. leadership in the global effort to address climate change
- More info under the tab "Achievements and Plans"
- SHU is a member of the National Sustainability Organization AASHE
- Take advantage of the membership benefits for all Sienaheights affiliates!
- More info under the tab AASHE
- Be gentle and kind to the planet and all inhabitants!
The Siena Heights' Sustainable College Committee was established in the fall of 2013 to promote sustainability into all college processes. In June 2019, we succeeded to submit our first report to The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) program of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) thanks to the diligent work of our sustainability interns during the last 3 years. After a review of our report, we were awarded with the STARS Bronze certification. The full report was published on the STARS website and can be accessed here.
The inclusion of sustainability into the instructional curricula of all departments is needed to stimulate and challenge students to get involved in creative solution-building in their personal and professional lives. As sustainability is not living in ideas alone, strategies are also needed to move towards greater sustainability in the maintenance and development of our Adrian campus.
The inclusion of sustainability into the instructional curricula of all departments is needed to stimulate and challenge students to get involved in creative solution-building in their personal and professional lives. As sustainability is not living in ideas alone, strategies are also needed to move towards greater sustainability in the maintenance and development of our Adrian campus.
Some of these projects include a comprehensive recycling program, enhanced energy conservation and utilization of renewable energy sources, a poison-free campus environment (e.g. no use of pesticides, fertilizer, coal and petroleum tar, etc.), enriched foods in our cafeteria (organically, locally, and humanely produced), and the integration of SHU into the global community of environmentally- and socially-responsible universities. Since these projects are campus-wide, the Sustainable College Committee includes faculty and staff members from many departments, representatives of the SHU administration, a number of students of various majors, and several Adrian Dominican Sisters.
This beautiful paragraph from Pope Francis’ Laudatio Si depicts the essence of sustainability:
159. The notion of the common good also extends to future generations. The global economic crises have made painfully obvious the detrimental effects of disregarding our common destiny, which cannot exclude those who come after us. We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others. Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us. The Portuguese bishops have called upon us to acknowledge this obligation of justice: “The environment is part of a logic of receptivity. It is on loan to each generation, which must then hand it on to the next”. An integral ecology is marked by this broader vision.
Contact us at: sustainability@sienaheights.edu
This beautiful paragraph from Pope Francis’ Laudatio Si depicts the essence of sustainability:
159. The notion of the common good also extends to future generations. The global economic crises have made painfully obvious the detrimental effects of disregarding our common destiny, which cannot exclude those who come after us. We can no longer speak of sustainable development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others. Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us. The Portuguese bishops have called upon us to acknowledge this obligation of justice: “The environment is part of a logic of receptivity. It is on loan to each generation, which must then hand it on to the next”. An integral ecology is marked by this broader vision.
Contact us at: sustainability@sienaheights.edu
