Environmental studies is the fastest growing major in four-year colleges, with schools having increasing difficulty in meeting the demand. More and more students, over 70 percent in some surveys, say they volunteer for various community projects and organizations. More and more newly graduated Ph.D.'s are demanding to teach at institutions that encourage incorporating environmental issues into all disciplines. And more and more colleges and universities are using the environment as the primary focus of required writing and beginning language courses. Campus activists organize to protect and clean up the environment.
Recycling is by far the strongest area of campus environmental reform.
Over 2,700 colleges and universities have recycling programs, compared to 50 in 1980. At the University of Arizona, students blocked construction of a new telescope on Mt. Graham, sacred ground for the San Carlos Apache as well as the habitat of an endangered species of red squirrel. All 22,000 undergraduates at the University of Georgia must fulfill an environmental literacy requirement in order to graduate. In addition, institutions are now discovering that energy efficiency can both save money and helpthe environment. This late blooming realization is prompting campus-wide changes in purchasing,energy use, the design of new buildings, and the engagement of students, faculty, administrators, and communities in the creation of environmental learning centers and practices that shrink the ecological footprint on their campuses and in their communities.