People & Policies

The Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) is the governing body of environmental action at Carleton. Its role is to advise the Vice President and Treasurer of the college, as well as engage and support student sustainability projects. It is composed of three faculty, three staff and four student members (three students-at-large, one senator liaison). The EAC meets bi-weekly in the facilities conference room. Meetings are open to the public, and are a great way to stay informed on the environmental decisions being made at Carleton.

For more information, visit the Environmental Advisory Committee’s website.

Sustainability work at Carleton is supported by a director, coordinator, and Sustainability Assistants (STAs). The Energy Manager coordinates on campus energy projects. STAs currently lead projects in the areas of food, waste, energy, transportation, events & outreach, and environmental justice.

Contact information:

Sustainability Office Staff & Students

The Center for Community & Civic Engagement offers a wide array of opportunities for students to deepen their learning, broaden their knowledge, and create reciprocal partnerships by engaging with local, national, and global communities. The CCCE encourages students to pursue their passions by participating in co-curricular programs, academic civic engagement courses, and paid student work positions. Some programs specific to sustainability include:

• Food Recovery Network
• Carleton Student Farm
• Clothing Recovery Network
• Green Thumbs
• Swipe Out Hunger

ECO is a student organization dedicated to promoting environmental awareness and activism at Carleton and in the greater Northfield community. Every week we meet Wednesday night at 8pm in Sayles 253 for discussion and action while working towards our goal of helping to increase environmental stewardship and sustainability in the world around us.

Divest Carleton aims to change the way the public, governments, and investors view fossil fuel companies in order to create a political atmosphere where large-scale climate action is possible. In an effort to achieve this, Divest Carleton calls upon Carleton College to remove its direct holdings in the top 200 fossil fuel companies. Continuing to hold fossil fuel stocks is a tacit statement of support for the industry’s extractive practices, political agenda, and egregious misinformation campaigns. Divest Carleton works to change public sentiment about the fossil fuel industry and to bring attention to the disproportionate impact that climate change has on marginalized communities. By joining the 60 educational institutions that have committed to fossil fuel divestment, Carleton can work to uphold its institutional values and become a true leader in the transition towards a sustainable future.

The Carleton Association of Nature and Outdoor Enthusiasts (CANOE) is a group of students who love the outdoors and want to share that experience with other students. We are one of the largest student organizations on campus, with hundreds of students going on trips every year.

Our recently completed Utility Master Plan advanced our 2011 Climate Action Plan which is the guiding document supporting our goal of making Carleton’s campus carbon free by the year 2050. Our new utility system will utilize four forms of renewable energy – wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and geothermal – and is flexible enough to take advantage of future advancements in renewable energy technologies. Carleton has a cutting edge geothermal system and two wind turbines. We have reduced 68% of our scope one and two emissions

For more information about the Utility Master Plan, explore this website.

Carleton’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) was approved by the Board of Trustees in 2011. The CAP set a goal of becoming a carbon-free campus by the year 2050. The Sustainability Working Group os now working on plans to exceed this goal.

A committee of faculty, staff, and students worked hard over the 2019-2020 academic year to develop a draft plan for campus circulation (traffic flow for bikes, cars, and pedestrians, parking and deliveries, and accessibility). View the entire plan.

Over the past few years, the Sustainability Office has been working on environmental justice issues. New planning underway by the sustainability working group offers opportunities to accelerate how we address justice through operations and education.