Office of Sustainability

Timeline of Accomplishments

Year Actions and initiatives
2007
2009
  • First Climate Action Plan created.
  • Bottled water use restricted at campus-at-large events.
2010
2013
  • Solar thermal installed at Charles River Apartments.
  • First electric car-charging stations installed.
2015
2016
  • Dining hall compost program launched.
  • Sustainability starts being included in new-employee orientation.
2017
2018
  • Short-term carbon reduction goal exceeded.
  • Skyline residence hall built with campus' first geothermal system.
  • First in region to install electric car-charging stations from Electrify America.
  • Reusable takeout boxes launched at the Faculty Club.
  • Campus-wide switch to 30% recycled content paper.
  • Green Office Certification program launched.
2019
2020
  • Plastic Waste Reduction Initiative removes plastic bags and reduces straws and bottled water on campus.
  • Climate Action Plan rewritten to include climate resilience planning.
2021
  • President announces several additional goals and initiatives based on revised climate action plan.
  • Brandeis joins the Cool Food Pledge.
  • Brandeis wins the 2021 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award for our advances in sustainable dining.
2022
2023
  • Brandeis commits to a 50% carbon reduction by 2030 based on the outcome of the decarbonization study.
  • Brandeis is featured in the AASHE 2023 Sustainable Campus Index for our Year of Climate Action.
  • Launch of reusables-by-default for dining takeout, aimed at reducing 25,000 single-use disposable containers per month.
  • Established another food waste reduction effort with the donation program to Food for Free.
  • Brandeis commits to the expansion of organic land management practices in phases throughout campus.