At UMass Amherst, we're focused on making sure you can practice sustainable living here.
Sustainability guides our decisions about everything, from the food we eat to the buildings we inhabit and the way we think about the future.
Student Story: 'Why Do People Care Only Part-Time?': An Interview with Lucca Kikuti Mancilio
Lucca Kikuti Mancilio is a PhD student in microbiology at UMass Amherst. He started a recycling program for lab materials to help make sure sustainability research is done as sustainably as possible.
We don’t have a good excuse to not do better. Fossil fuels make plastic. Scientists here care about sustainability. It’s low-hanging fruit to do better with recycling.
—Lucca Kikuti Mancilio
Transportation
UMass Amherst makes it easy for you to choose sustainable transportation options, whether that means public transportation options, bikeshare programs, or discounts on permits for electric vehicles.
Food and Permaculture
UMass Amherst's No. 1 ranking in Best Campus Food is due in large part to a focus on sustainability—you'll find loads of locally sourced foods that provide a unique dining experience all over campus. But that's not all that makes food at UMass special: We also boast a permaculture garden where education and food come together to create a meaningful educational experience.
Green Building Projects
Green building isn't new at UMass Amherst—we've been focusing on sustainable building projects for decades, and we have lots of exciting building projects in the works.
Energy
Energy production is both the biggest sustainability challenge we face as a campus and our biggest opportunity for success. We've already come a long way with major gains in solar energy production and green building practices. We've also got some big plans for the future as we move toward our ultimate goal of carbon zero.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
At UMass Amherst, when we talk about reducing our waste, trash is just the beginning of the story. From furniture to lab equipment to our on-campus thrift store, we've got programs in place to make sure our practices match up with our values.
Green Grounds, Green Campus
Our Gold-level Green Grounds Certification from Re:wild Your Campus (RYC) means UMass Amherst is one of a limited number of colleges and universities where at least 90 percent of managed areas are maintained without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. According to RYC, the certification also signifies that UMass Amherst is working to make sure native plants thrive on campus, reducing water use through landscape management, and reducing the use of synthetics on sports fields.
Steward for the Common Good
We have a long tradition of land stewardship and also a responsibility to include all communities into the conversation about finding sustainable solutions for everyone.
