UW-River Falls makes Sierra Club’s ‘Cool Schools’ list

September 21, 2017 -- The University of Wisconsin-River Falls has been named to the Sierra Club’s 2017 list of “Cool Schools.” The “Cool Schools” ranking serves as a guide for prospective students to compare schools’ commitment to sustainability. The 2017 rankings reflect sustainability activities through June 2016.

“Making this list is a culmination of multiple efforts of our faculty, staff and students. We take great pride in furthering our sustainability efforts and this ranking highlights our areas of success,” said Mark Klapatch, sustainability and custodial supervisor at UW-River Falls. “This ranking also provides us direction for how we can work to become a more sustainable campus and community.”

The Sierra Club’s list of “Cool Schools” is open to all four-year, degree-granting undergraduate colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Once schools submitted their data, researchers scored each response and ranked each of the participating institutions. The rankings serve to spur healthy competition among schools, raise environmental standards on campus and publicly reward sustainability efforts on campuses.

The “Cool Schools” ranking evaluates 62 aspects of sustainably. The scoring system reflects the broader priorities of the Sierra Club, with a significant percentage of points being awarded in the areas of campus energy use, transportation and fossil fuel divestment. The Sierra Club is the largest grassroots environmental organization in the United States.

For more information about the Sierra Club’s List of “Cool Schools,” visit http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/cool-schools-2017/cool-schools-2017-full-ranking.

For more information on sustainability practices at UW-River Falls, email mark.klapatch@uwrf.edu.