WCU is included in The Princeton Review Guide to 375 Green Colleges, which the educational services company recently released. The university has gained repeated recognition in part through its multi-tiered, comprehensive approach to recycling and wise energy use, led by the Office of Sustainability and Energy Management and the Sustainable Energy Initiative.

“Our journey to greenness has definitely evolved over time,” said Lauren Bishop, WCU’s chief sustainability officer. “I believe we were initially selected to be included because of our aggressive energy-savings measures. Our current story is about that and student engagement.”

Examples of green policies include the nearly 100 tons of cardboard that WCU collects annually and takes to Jackson Paper in Sylva for manufacture into top-grade recycled medium for corrugated cardboard box-makers. WCU recycles a wide variety of materials and works to inform the community of sustainable energy options, such as through the inaugural electric vehicle expo held Oct. 6.