St. Thomas infuses sustainability into every aspect of campus life, from academic programs and student activities to facilities and dining operations. We are working as a community toward a goal of carbon neutrality by 2035, which is why St. Thomas' Board of Trustees approved a university commitment to divest our endowment from fossil fuels.
Our understanding of (and commitment to) sustainability is grounded in our identity as a Catholic university. Our plans embrace the principles of caring for creation, environmental stewardship, and advancing the common good on a shared planet.
51%
reduction in carbon emissions since 2007
#17
Green Matters: Everyone Care about Conservation (2025, Princeton Review)
20%
of building square footage on St. Paul campus LEED-certified
By weaving sustainability throughout our curriculum, St. Thomas educates the next generation of morally responsible sustainability leaders. Here's how:
Each year, students elect a sustainability representative to Undergraduate Student Government. Students also participate in a Sustainability Living Learning Community through Residence Life and lead multiple clubs to champion sustainability. Off campus, St. Thomas students engage in sustainability via many ongoing initiatives.
The Sustainable Communities Partnership (SCP) collaborates with communities to integrate community-identified sustainability projects into St. Thomas courses across disciplines, engaging students in real-world and applied learning.
In a Sustainability Living Learning Community, you will engage in experiential activities to understand the complexity of key environmental themes while exploring sustainable solutions. You will grow together as you and your community examine important environmental issues.
The main hub of our university is set atop the eastern banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul. The St. Thomas Sustainability Club coordinates a cleanup that traditionally covers a 2.6-mile stretch of the neighboring body of water, between the Lake Street bridge and Ford Parkway bridge. This Tommie tradition has involved a number of groups and clubs dating back nearly 30 years.
Dining Services and Facilities Management are two key St. Thomas partners committed to advancing sustainability through greener procurement strategies, diversion of food waste, and ongoing education while partnering with all members of the campus community. Students are very engaged and often lead educational opportunities about waste reduction, recycling and composting. Ongoing efforts include:
As a centrally located university, students and visitors can easily use mass transit or pedal power to get around campus. Initiatives include:
We are called to be stewards of creation and to take intentional actions to care for our common home. Every member of the St. Thomas community has an important role to play in reaching our sustainability goals, and as an educational institution we have a unique responsibility to lead in the present and equip students with tools and inspiration to create a better future.
The Pollinator Path is a series of gardens, some planted to attract pollinators and some planted for aesthetic purposes. They provide critical food and habitats for a wide variety of pollinators and a "living laboratory" for students and the community to study pollinator activity and learn how to support declining pollinator populations.
St. Thomas has one of the only student-focused microgrid research facilities in the nation. Students help develop technology and are trained to shape the evolution of energy in the face of climate change.
Located on the edge of campus, the Stewardship Garden was created to help create a more just and local food system. The project creates research and education opportunities in urban agriculture for students and helps build community relationships on campus and with neighborhood residents. A portion of the produce from the Stewardship Garden is donated to local food shelves.
Designing new buildings for LEED certification is part of the university's larger plan to achieve carbon neutrality for 2035. The university is designing all new buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to a minimum of LEED silver standards. Frey Hall (featured here) became the first mid-rise building in Minnesota to receive LEED platinum certification.
reduction in annual potable water use since 2014
of expenditures on electronics for products that are EPEAT Gold registered
waste diversion rate in 2019
Gold rating received in 2021 for sustainability efforts
Committed to carbon neutrality by 2035
One of 3,900 U.S. organizations declaring support for climate action
Member of the Laudato Si Movement in response to Pope Francis' call to care for our environment
Placed 14 out of 103 in the waste diversion category and 14 out of 91 in the food organics category
Honored by the US Green Building Council for our commitment to designing new buildings to a minimum of LEED silver standards
The Office of Sustainability Initiatives facilitates campus sustainability by convening stakeholders from across St. Thomas and the Twin Cities to comprehensively assess, strategically plan, and implement sustainable innovations. We create academic programming for students across the curriculum through experiential, applied learning opportunities and we empower faculty to integrate sustainability into their courses.
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