About Us

Founded in 1970by students, TheEnvironmental Center is the nation’s longest-standing, largest and most accomplished student-led center of its kind—and one of the six original CU student government centers.

The Environmental Center leads locally and globally by providing a variety of direct services and expertise to the campus community and beyond, including zero waste, sustainable transportation, energy and water conservation, climate and social justice, renewable energy programs, sustainability training and educational events. The Environmental Center, recognizing that diversity and broadersocial justice initiatives are key components of sustainability, strives for diversity, inclusivityand social justice in our staff, all programs, activities and outcomes.

Professional Staff

17full-time employees, 2 part-time employees

Student Staff

More than130 students

Volunteers and Interns

More than400 in a typical year

Facilities & Infrastructure

UMC (offices), bike stations (2), Recycling Operations Center (in patnership with Facilities Management), two all-electric trucks, rental bicycle fleet

Student Fee Budget

About$1 million

Transportation Student Administrative Fee Budget

About$6 million

Our Mission

Our mission is to catalyze and facilitate sustainability culture and practices for the campus. Striving for environmental conservation, social equity and economic vitality, the Environmental Center’s continuing purpose is to:

  • Innovate:We spark and foster entrepreneurship opportunities for students, staff and the campus.
  • Educate:We offer educational and applied learning opportunities for campus and community.
  • Empower:We provide a platform for student leadership, engagement and inclusion with increasing alignment with and service to underrepresented students and groups.
  • Collaborate:We cultivate and deliver sustainability programs and services with campus and community partners.

"Gold" Rated

The University of Colorado Boulder has a long history of global leadership in sustainability. From being the first university to establish a recycling program, to being the first university to rank “gold” through the.

compiles the many facets of sustainability on campus including academics and research, campus programsand how to get involved.

Our Values

  • Sustainability
  • Excellence
  • Leadership
  • Justice
  • Collaboration
  • Health & Wellness

Awards

The Environmental Center at CU Boulder is an accomplished program that has won a variety of awards that we are very proud of. Learn more about the awards we have proudly earned over the years.

Awards

History of the Environmental Center

The Environmental Center through the decades

The CU Environmental Center began in 1970 and has since made strides to make CU an environmentally friendly campus. With the launch of sustainability initiatives and programs, the Environmental Center has accomplished a lot in its history. Learn more about the history of the E-Center.

Campus Pollinator Garden

In the summer of 2014, CU Boulder installed the University’s first landscape designed for and dedicated to pollinators. The landscape consists of barberry, currant, monarda, spirea, rudbeckia, yarrow, gooseberry, catmint and lavender- all of which should tolerate and beautify the roadside conditions. The first phase was installed along Broadway and the bike path from 18th Street to the Regent bus stop. In 2015, the second phase of the campus pollinator sanctuary landscape was installed at the east entranceofmain campus, located on the north side of the new campus recycling building and west of the 28th Streetunderpass. Sustainable CU funded the initiative.Learn more about the Campus Pollinator Garden.

Compost history at CU

Since 2004, CU has composted in the dining halls, capturing over 170 tons of organic materials annually. A large portion of this material comes from the prep waste in the kitchens, and the rest is from the uneaten food sent back on the dish line.

In 2007, the University Memorial Center (UMC) started composting "behind the scenes" and began to capture over 20 tons of organic material each year. After a few years of success, the UMC Grill converted to all compostable "to-go” materials. With this conversion, we were able to set up compost bins for the public in the dining area. Compost bins were also added to the restrooms to capture the used paper towels. Now, the UMC composts over 35 tons of organic materials each year.

Learn more about the history of composting at CU and its success.