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TOWN GREEN
The Borough of Swarthmore was honored by the Environmental Protection Agency in January with a 12th-place ranking among green-power communities nationwide. Of the top 19 communities earning a place on the list, Swarthmore was the only town so recognized east of the Mississippi River—other towns in the top 12 are located in California, Washington, Utah, and Colorado.
With a long history of environmentally responsible behavior, the Ville boasts an unusually high number of residents who have signed up for wind power provided by energy supplier PECO at a slightly higher monthly rate. Many others have opted for solar energy. And, of course, the borough’s most important green-power customer, the College, positively impacts the borough’s environmental record by its own considerable renewable energy consumption.
GOWN GREEN
In fall 2008, Earthlust, the College’s longstanding student environmental group, was invited to join the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, in recognition of its efforts to promote the use of green energy on campus. The Green Power Partnership comprises a wide variety of organizations nationwide, including a growing number of colleges and universities as well as Fortune 500 companies and local, state, and federal government agencies.
In a Dec. 21 e-mail message to Maurice Eldridge ’61, the College’s vice president for college and community relations and executive assistant to the president, Earthlust member William Zein Nakhoda ’12 wrote: “The partnership will help publicize our current green energy initiatives and provide resources to improve our environmental performance. We are very excited about the recognition Swarthmore will receive for its sustainability as well as the opportunities to improve.”
—Carol Brévart-Demm
