Students and faculty from colleges and universities throughout Maine and Atlantic Canada got together at Colby in April 2005 for the first Green Campus Summit, a two-day conference where they traded strategies for combating climate change and for adopting sustainable practices on their campuses. Colby was chosen as the host institution because of its leadership in environmental initiatives and the way that the broad campus community has participated in greening efforts.
In 2000 Colby formed the Environmental Advisory Group (EAG), a group including students, faculty, and staff brought together to raise environmental issues and help manage initiatives on campus. It has been extremely effective in efforts to adopt environmentally friendly practices wherever opportunities arise. The group helped with planning to reduce the adverse impact of storm water run-off from the campus as the College designed the new Colby Green district. It also participated in the decision to install geothermal heating and cooling in the new alumni center, which is the first academic building in Maine constructed to meet national “green building” standards.
