Sustainability Action Plan

Clemson University developed its first Sustainability Action Plan in response to President Emeritus Jim Barker signing the Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2009. The summary that follows is the newest iteration of our evolving Sustainability Action Plan. We understand that higher education has a unique role to play in addressing the climate crisis, so we strive to operate campus as a living laboratory and an exemplar for sustainable behavior.

This Action Plan provides a high-level view of efforts thus far and our goals for the future. The plan is divided into three main categories — academics, engagement and operations — and further into narrower subgroups. Each subgroup highlights select accomplishments and outlines goals for the future that are specific and measurable. This plan seeks to establish responsibility and ensure accountability. Enjoy exploring Clemson’s sustainability progress below. Email Jennifer Goree, chair of the Sustainability Commission, to learn more: goree@clemson.edu.

Academics

  • Curriculum

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Offers an undergraduate interdisciplinary sustainability minor with more than 60 classes available.
    • Collects small-scale sustainability literacy data.
    • Offers sustainability-focused graduate programs, such as:
      • Planning, design and the built environment.
      • Environmental health physics.
      • Engaging the Public in Issues of Climate Change.
    • Offers sustainability-centered study abroad programs, such as the Trier, Germany Sustainable Energy and the Environment program and the Sustainable Cities of Scandinavia in Kalmar, Sweden.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Expanding the opportunities in the sustainability minor.
    • Including sustainability as a focus in the new general education curriculum that involves the “Challenges” requirement.
    • Creating a formal network for faculty who incorporate sustainability into their course.
    • Providing incentives that encourage faculty to revise courses to include sustainability.
  • Research

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Provides support for sustainability researchers at Cooper Library.
    • Offers Creative Inquiries for students to come alongside professors to address sustainability issues on campus (ex. Food Waste Recovery Initiative).
    • Has 94% of researching departments engaged in sustainability research.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Creating an official research network that enables faculty and students to communicate with each other on sustainability work they are doing and advertise opportunities to get involved. The goals of this will be to:
      • Encourage interdepartmental research initiatives.
      • Provide opportunities for student research around the campus as a living laboratory for sustainability research.
    • Creating a program to reduce waste in laboratory settings, similar to the Green Labs certification.
    • Establishing a sustainable research grant for students (research corollary to the Student Initiative Fund).
    • Coordinating grant proposal writing into an “Institute of Sustainability.”
      • This will be a focal point for donors and research grants.

Engagement

  • Campus Engagement

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Educates students on campus about how to live in an environmentally conscious way with the EcoReps program.
    • Provides 100% of employees with sustainability orientation.
    • Offers a sustainability newsletter and green-living guide.
    • Provides a vibrant community of sustainability-related organizations, such as Solid Green, Tigers for Green Innovation, the Food Collective, Clemson Vegan Club, It’s On Us and Clemson UNICEF.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Providing sustainability education to all new students about how to live sustainably on campus.
    • Creating a guide and trainings for how student organizations can host sustainable events.
    • Creating a “Clemson Sustainability Fellows” program to encourage faculty mentorship of young environmentalists.
    • Creating a “Scope III” team of students dedicated to bringing down the University’s Scope III emissions.
    • Establishing clear avenues for sustainable fundraising (a focal point for donors).
  • Public Engagement

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Takes part in local initiatives to support sustainability as an integral part of the town-gown relationship (ex. Green Crescent Trail).
    • Has campus organizations in place to address needs in the community (ex. Clemson Habitat for Humanity).
    • Hosts service initiatives (ex. Clemson Days of Service).

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Establishing a more effective means to track community service among students.
    • Circulating a newsletter to all faculty, staff and students about opportunities to serve in the community and provide contacts for those interested.
    • Developing online sustainability courses for community members.

Operations

  • Air and Climate (GHG Emissions)

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson has:

    • Achieved a 35% reduction in emissions/user between the years of 2006 and 2018.
    • Created the Kite Hill natural gas plant to produce steam with significantly reduced site emissions.
    • Been a coal-free campus for more than 10 years.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Recommitting to and publicizing the goal to be “net-zero” by 2030.
    • Creating a subcommittee of the Clemson University Sustainability Commission comprised of faculty advisors to oversee undergraduate applications/uses of the Sustainable Energy Fund.
    • Forming a group of students/faculty/staff to focus on encouraging behaviors that will lower Scope III emissions.
    • Implementing carbon capture technology on campus through student/faculty research.
  • Energy

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson has already:

    • Achieved the goal of reducing energy consumption by 20% from the year 2000 to the year 2020.
    • Set a goal to increase energy sourcing from renewables by 10% by the year 2025.
    • Executed a large-scale solar canopy project in the R6 parking lot, which will provide clean energy to campus and vehicle-charging stations in R6.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Creating an energy incentive program for departmental spending.
      • This would encourage departments to adopt energy-saving habits by allowing them to spend less on energy when they use less energy.
    • Coordinating renewable energy grant writing and energy-specific donations to fund renewable energy projects.
    • Reducing the need for on-campus natural gas use.
    • Pursuing more opportunities for energy sourcing from solar projects.
  • Food and Dining

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Only uses compostable trays at Schilleter and McAlister dining halls.
    • Uses the OZZI system to eliminate single-use take out containers.
    • Runs a front of house (FOH) organics collection system.
    • Recycles 100% of cooking oil into biofuels.
    • Offers vegan dining.
    • Uses labeling and signage to educate students on sustainable dining.
    • Operates with a trayless dining system.
    • Participates in food donation programs.
    • Composts waste food.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Regularly setting and evaluating goals for purchasing of conventional animal products.
      • This could include developing a student internship focused on minimizing food waste and increasing local and plant-based purchasing.
    • Developing vegetarian/vegan/sustainable menu options for all catered events.
    • Relaunching the Meatless Monday campaign.
  • Grounds

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Has a policy in place to plant a new tree back in the same or nearby location whenever it is necessary to cut one down.
    • Uses an integrated pest management technique on 100% of managed grounds (558 ac).

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Increasing the proportion of battery-powered landscaping equipment.
    • Maintaining and enhancing native species on campus.
      • The Landscape Architecture department should be involved whenever possible.
  • Purchasing

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Has a Sustainable Procurement Policy that establishes preference for sustainable products.
    • Purchases janitorial paper products that are GreenSeal and US EPA Safer Choice almost solely (96%).

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Identifying and highlighting sustainable alternatives in buyWays (Clemson’s eProcurement system) so that it is clear which products are preferred.
    • Developing a training and education program to instill sustainable purchasing behaviors in departments.
    • Developing university-wide purchasing requirements that:
      • Prohibit Styrofoam, with exceptions where necessary.
      • Establish a maximum level of non-recyclable shipping material, with exceptions where necessary.
      • Make steps to becoming a paperless school (ex. encourage online assignment submissions/syllabi, etc.).
      • Require that electronics expenditures are all EPEAT gold certified.
  • Transportation

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Runs the CATbus and Tiger Transit systems to transport students and faculty.
    • Produces biodiesel on campus for use in the Clemson fleet (pilot scale).
    • Provides six electric vehicle charging stations.
    • Runs the Clemson Carshare Club reduce the number of cars brought to campus.
      • This involves offering a Zipcar subscription for low-cost transportation.
    • Incentivizes carpooling.
      • There is no cost for a carpool group of three or more people.
      • Carpooling parking spots are in preferable locations.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Adding charging stations and electric bike share to the R-6 lot.
    • Promoting the “Park-N-Ride” system to create a pedestrian campus and shorten commutes.
    • Further incentivizing public transit through a reward system based on rider history.
    • Reaching out to faculty that live in nearby zip codes and offering incentives to commute sustainably.
    • Transitioning TigerTransit busses from diesel to electric.
    • Promoting telecommuting and virtual conferences/meetings to reduce commuting when appropriate.
    • Pursuing a research partnership to implement autonomous/electric transit system.
  • Waste

    Area Spotlight

    Clemson currently:

    • Composts food scraps and recycle oil in dining halls (back-of-house).
    • Runs an award-winning tailgate recycling program.
    • Offers move-out programs to promote donation.

    Action Items

    Clemson will make progress by:

    • Improving communication of where recycling and composting is available to students on campus.
    • Eliminating use of Styrofoam and significantly reducing use of plastic on campus.
    • Maintaining a minimum 75% recycling rate for demolition and construction projects on campus.
    • Minimizing disposable item use through education and procurement to address the waste issue at the source.

  • How the Sustainability Action Plan Was Developed

    The work of the 2021 Sustainability Action Plan began with analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the existing plan, published in 2012. We have strived to incorporate its ambitious objectives and practical format, such as the designations of ‘ideas in action,’ ‘ideas in need of a champion,’ and ‘ideas moving forward,' but we saw opportunities to make the plan even more impactful. By updating the plan, we will develop greater accountability and reflect our current sustainability understanding.

    An electronic form was circulated among faculty and students to brainstorm appropriate metrics to track and action items to take. Particular effort was made to obtain the feedback of staff that are actively doing work in the field on which they report.

    This feedback was then sorted into appropriate categories and prepared. This involved removing duplicate items and adjusting phrasing to be consistent. These pages were presented to the commission for an initial round of feedback, followed by additional research for each category. The following sources were used to develop appropriate objectives:

    • Quantitative and qualitative interviews with campus experts.
    • Action plans at similar universities.
    • Analysis of data provided from the AASHE STARS report, Sightlines Sustainability Solutions report, and Clemson Energy Visualization and Analytics Center (CEVAC) report.

    Finally, for almost each subcategory, the items were presented to an expert (ex. Mr. Dan Hofmann for Transportation) in a virtual meeting and feedback was provided. The input of experts like Mr. Hofmann was used to guarantee that our data is meaningful and our objectives are practical. This plan has synthesized contributions from various academic departments, Clemson Facilities, Housing and Dining, Procurement Services and others in order to promote communication and ensure action.