Davidson has implemented many sustainability initiatives in an effort to reduce  greenhouse gas emissions. In the 2008-2009 academic year, Davidson hosted it's first themed year, the Year of Sustainability. Many of the goals and accomplishments of that year served to kick off other projects Davidson has completed. The programs implemented in past years are outlined below. The newest sustainability initiatives can be found here.

Operations & Infrastructure

• Established an Energy Star procurement policy for all future appliance purchases (Spring 2008).
• Replaced the windows in The Ridge Townhouses and Akers, Irwin, and Knox dormitories with energy efficient ones (Summer 2008).
• Energy Star purchasing request included in new student mailing from RLO to encourage the incoming class to buy sustainable products (Summer 2008).
• Purchased a new Energy Star air cooled ice machine for Baker Sports Complex training room, saving over 1,000 gallons of water per day (Summer 2008).
• Planted 31 trees spring semester.
• Installed solar powered parking lights along Faculty Drive (Spring 2008).
• New bright green outdoor recycling bins for plastic, glass, and aluminum (Spring 2008).
• On-campus diesel fuel tank is a 2% bio-fuel mix.
• Purchased a diesel trash hauling toter, to run on bio-fuel mix.
• Turned off all automatic run switches on generators. Will check the MCEP website to know when ozone alerts are code orange or higher before manually test running our emergency generators.
• New photocells will turn lights on later in the evening and turn them off sooner in the morning.
• Replaced metal-halide light fixtures with LED units, which will last 16 years and use less than half the power used now. 
• Mechanical shop purchased a listening device that detects and assists in diagnosing problems with steam traps, one of the most significant losses of energy dollars on campus. Repair and replacement of bad traps will improve efficiencies.
• Created Chill Out, an energy conservation resource for students, faculty and staff.
• Duke Dormitory achieved LEED Certified status (Fall 2008).

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Consumption & Waste

•  Participated in RecycleMania (Spring 2008, 2009, 2010). See the recycling page for our results!
• Davidson Dining Services is committed to supporting sustainability programs at Davidson College. From product offerings to the handling of waste, dining services strives toward sustainability. See their website for details.
• As of May 4, 2009 all paper purchases will be at least 50% post consumer recycled content.
• Business Services no longer prints monthly budget reports, saving 10,000 sheets of paper per month.
• Plant prints only a monthly summary page for work orders, instead of printing every work order.
• ITS implemented PawPrint, a print management system, in Belk Student Computing Lab, the E.H. Little Library, and the Alvarez College Union to help control student printing. This program has saves tens of thousands of sheets of paper per year.
• The Office of Sustainability teamed up with RLO to provide individual recycling bins for each dorm room on campus, and larger bins for Martin Court apartments.
• Athletic events now have recycling bins, sponsored by Coca-Cola.
• Additional outdoor recycling bins have been added around Patterson Court.
• In the summer of 2009 Davidson installed a full-scale food and yard waste composting facility at Physical Plant. This facility composts 90% of food waste from Dining Services, and makes up to 100 tons of compost per academic year. This compost is then used in campus vegetable and flower gardens on campus.
• Much Ado Catering group discontinued the use of disposable plastic water bottles entirely, contributing significantly to the campus-wide reduction in water bottle use of 85%.
• Reduced the number of Office Max deliveries to campus by consolidating orders.

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Transportation

•  Physical Plant installed a water reuse system in  the campus car wash which significantly reduces water use.
• All future vehicle purchases are to be hybrids, where applicable.
• Electric and diesel (for future bio diesel plans) carts and grounds equipment are prioritized.

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Curriculum, Research, & Student Outreach

• Signed the American Colleges and Universities Presidents Climate Commitment (November 2007), a pledge to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and educate students, faculty, and staff on how to achieve climate neutrality.
• Joined the Climate Registry (April 2008), a nonprofit organization that develops an accurate, complete, consistent, and transparent greenhouse gas emissions measurement protocol that is capable of supporting voluntary and mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting policies for its members and reporters.
• Established a Sustainability Council (Spring 2008) of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members. Its purpose is to assist the President in prioritizing the college’s environmental direction over the next few years.
• Established an Environmental Studies Concentration (Fall 2007).
• Established the Eco House (Fall 2007), a sustainable housing option for 10 students who commit to living sustainably and educating the college community about their efforts.

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