Warren Wilson College to Partner with Asheville on Climate
The college, which was also just named the greenest college in the Southeast, will join with the city in a first-of-its-kind to work together on reducing the region's carbon emissions and further their mutual climate protection goals.
Warren Wilson College and the city of Asheville have announced a joint partnership to work together on achieving their mutual climate protection goals.
The partnership is believe to be the first of its kind between a city and college, and is a result of several months' work from both groups. In 2005, Asheville signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and earlier this year, Warren Wilson president Sandy Pfeiffer signed on the the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.
Each of these initiatives are intended to encourage signatories to develop concrete goals to reduce GHG emissions, increase the energy efficiency of buildings and facilities, promote public transit and car-free transportation options, increase recycling and resource management programs, and work to educate students and the public about environmental stewardship.
"This partnership makes sense," said Asheville's mayor, Terry Bellamy. "The city and college share a common concern about the scope of global warming, and we share a belief in the power of community to overcome this challenge."
The collaboration will likely include the city and college exchanging best practices for monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing educational resources about climate change, and using the Warren Wilson College campus as a demonstration site.
The campus, located about 10 miles outside of downtown Asheville, was recently voted the Southeast's greenest college by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. In announcing the title, the magazine wrote that "Warren Wilson is more than a liberal arts college, it's a 300-acre working farm and 700-acre forest that operates as a laboratory for sustainable practices. The college uses environmental sustainability to inform every aspect of campus life, from composting the cafeteria scraps to using bio-diesel car fleets. The farm is antibiotic free, nurturing grass-fed pork and beef, and it also boasts an organic garden that supplies the campus cafeteria."
The partnership is believe to be the first of its kind between a city and college, and is a result of several months' work from both groups. In 2005, Asheville signed the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, and earlier this year, Warren Wilson president Sandy Pfeiffer signed on the the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.
Each of these initiatives are intended to encourage signatories to develop concrete goals to reduce GHG emissions, increase the energy efficiency of buildings and facilities, promote public transit and car-free transportation options, increase recycling and resource management programs, and work to educate students and the public about environmental stewardship.
"This partnership makes sense," said Asheville's mayor, Terry Bellamy. "The city and college share a common concern about the scope of global warming, and we share a belief in the power of community to overcome this challenge."
The collaboration will likely include the city and college exchanging best practices for monitoring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing educational resources about climate change, and using the Warren Wilson College campus as a demonstration site.
The campus, located about 10 miles outside of downtown Asheville, was recently voted the Southeast's greenest college by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. In announcing the title, the magazine wrote that "Warren Wilson is more than a liberal arts college, it's a 300-acre working farm and 700-acre forest that operates as a laboratory for sustainable practices. The college uses environmental sustainability to inform every aspect of campus life, from composting the cafeteria scraps to using bio-diesel car fleets. The farm is antibiotic free, nurturing grass-fed pork and beef, and it also boasts an organic garden that supplies the campus cafeteria."
