Deeper Shade of Green

Written by Susan A. Kidd Wednesday, October 07 2009

With 2,000 trees on campus, Agnes Scott College has been called the neighborhood’s Central Park. Yet, this green, beautiful campus is located in metro Atlanta, one of the most rapidly sprawling regions in the United States and the heart of a state that daily gains 106 acres of paved surface.

Even with the undeniable, physical greenness of the campus, today Agnes Scott has the challenge of taking our buildings, our landscape, our curriculum, and all our activities to a deeper shade of green. We are going beneath the surface of this urban forest to a deeper and wider approach that expands our very way of thinking and working.

Agnes Scott College: Central Park in Atlanta

We will be asking questions of ourselves about change and how we can reduce our impact on the world’s natural resources. This is what Agnes Scott calls sustainability. Why is the college committed to sustainability? Because we believe it is one of the most pressing global issues of our time, and we believe that we must be stewards of the campus’s and region’s natural resources, as well as teachers about how to be sustainable. These are critical life skills for today’s students.

Agnes Scott’s sustainability mission currently focuses on the environment, but we recognize there are three Es of sustainability: Equity, Economy, and Environment. The college is coordinating sustainability with other goals of the college’s strategic plan, as well as different aspects of the college’s operations, with the goal of keeping all three Es in sync.