Bowdoin College

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

Bowdoin College has signed on to the Maine Governor's Carbon Challenge, committing to reduce its emissions to 11 percent below 2002 levels by 2010. A sustainability office has been established to fulfill the obligations of the College's environmental mission statement and is run by a sustainability coordinator and staff of student workers. The students work on specific initiatives such as clean energy, recycling, and composting, and are assisted by a campus environmental committee.

The College signed an agreement with a local, certified low-impact hydropower facility to match any non-renewable sources the College uses from the grid with hydropower energy. This means that, in effect, the College will run on 100 percent renewable energy. The College is also investigating the possibility of installing solar panels on the athletic center. Both of the College's boilers will reduce greenhouse gas emissions further by running on a mix of natural gas and #2 oil. A dorm energy conservation competition takes place on campus every October.

Dining services has a sustainability policy that entails energy conservation, a conscious choice of vendors for their environmental records, and composting food scraps. They also have a strong partnership with Farm Fresh Connections, part of the Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society, which works to bring fresh, local, and sustainably farmed produce to Maine college campuses. Dining services also maintains their own organic farm to supply fresh food to the dining halls during the summer and fall, and the garden is currently being expanded.

All new buildings and renovations at the College incorporate the LEED guidelines into the College's own sustainable design guidelines. A new set of dormitories were the first LEED-certified buildings on campus—although previous buildings had been designed to be nearly as energy efficient—and received Silver certification.

The College has no known policy of disclosure of endowment holdings or its shareholder voting record.

The College prioritizes investing to maximize profit and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The College has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy.