Dear Editor,

The University of Vermont recently received its second gold STARS award.

STARS, or the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, is a system for universities worldwide to track and compare their sustainability efforts.

STARS reports are broken down into six sections: academics, engagement, operations, planning & administration, and innovation & leadership.

Each of these sections has detailed information ranking different sustainability aspects at UVM. Every college’s STARS ranking is available at www. start.aashe.org.

UVM ranked #1 for clean and renewable energy usage, which should come as no surprise, since Burlington was announced to be running on 100% renewable energy as of 2015.

Other impressive accolades include total greenhouse gas emissions dropping 37% from 2007 to 2015 and UVM’s strong engagement scores due to the Eco-Reps program.

The STARS rating is the most comprehensive measurement of sustainability on college campuses and is the basis for Princeton Review and Sierra Club green college ratings.

It considers numerous aspects sustainability. I’ve noticed that some universities tend to have high scores in academics and engagement, contributing significantly to their gold STARS ranking, while they often lack in other areas such as operations.

However, UVM has leading rankings across the most categories.

If you want to take a deeper dive into sustainability measurement on campus, attend the UVM Visions event during Earth Week on 4/20 at 1pm in DC Grand Maple Ballroom to hear the Office of Sustainability discuss details of the most recent STARS gold recognition.

Sincerely,

Matt Gelman

Senior