The University of Michigan’s Sustainability Attempts
Are U-M’s sustainability efforts effective?
—By Veronica Sorter
Plastered all around the University of Michigan’s campus are signs about recycling, composting, and saving energy by turning off lights, but does the university practice sustainable actions beyond these frequently overlooked signs? Or are they just greenwashing?
Greenwashing is the practice of making a product seem sustainable without truly being sustainable; it is a sad, yet common practice among corporations. An example of this that is commonly done is when companies have “compostable” packaging, but beneath the compostable exterior is plastic inside. Is the University of Michigan taking part in this practice?
Lack of sources
At first glance, it appears that the university is actively taking sustainable measures. This is evident on websites such as Planet Blue and the Office of Sustainability, which describe how sustainability is implemented at the university. The websites include numbers on their carbon emissions, waste reduction, fuel efficiency, and many other sectors of sustainability. Upon closer examination of these pages, however, there is little transparency as to how this data was collected. Without this information, there is no way to tell if the numbers they are using are accurately reported. Moreover, it also doesn’t allow an individual to conduct further research on the numbers provided. People have to just take what the university gives them at face value. Lexa Jones, a sustainability steward for one of the Ann Arbor co-ops, observed, “It’s a little bit concerning they don’t give their sources, and a little ironic since they expect students to cite their sources or it’s considered academic misconduct. Like what are they trying to hide?”
To find more information, I talked to Katrina Folsom, the Sustainability Program Manager for the University of Michigan. Folsom and a colleague, Adam Fisher—the Sustainability Communications Manager, helped answer my questions about the university’s data collection methods, specifically for the university’s 2023 Climate Action Report. Their response was, “[The data] is tracked by groups including Student Life Sustainability, the Graham Sustainability Institute, and Planet Blue Ambassadors.” Although this does give promising insights, it is important to note that all of these organizations are affiliated with the university, which could lead to potential biases.
Ann Arbor’s take on the university’s sustainability
The university is a big part in shaping Ann Arbor’s culture so it’s important to include some non-university-affiliated personnel in this discussion. To do so, I talked to the Sustainability and Innovations Director for Ann Arbor, Dr. Missy Sults. When asked if she thought the university was sufficiently addressing sustainability she responded that “doing enough” is not something you can quantify and no one is truly “doing enough” in regards to the climate crisis. However, she does think the university is maximizing its efforts with the tools it has. In regards to what the university could do to improve its efforts, Dr. Sults mentioned collaboration on joint purchases, with Ann Arbor, of more/better technology and resources. She said this would be relatively “easy” to accomplish since the university has such a vast purchasing power. “[It] would really be beneficial for the local communities in which they operate.”
The university’s carbon emissions
The university’s carbon goals consist of having net zero emissions from purchased electricity by 2025 and having zero metric tons of emissions by 2040. Considering their 2023 data, I don’t have faith that they will reach these two goals. To be able to accomplish the first goal, they would have to eliminate 205 thousand metric tons of carbon emissions in one year. They list multiple ways they plan to achieve these goals but vaguely; for example, “After it reviews proposal responses and selects a vendor, U-M, aims to have solar installations fully operational within the next few years.” Assuming they do find a vendor soon (or even if they have already found one), by the time they get the solar panels set up and functioning, 2025 will have started. And if they struggle to reach this modest goal, how do they expect to reach their ambitious goal by 2040?
The University of Michigan vs other college’s sustainability
According to the Princeton Review, the College of the Atlantic was the top green college for 2024—the University of Michigan is not even on the list of 50 schools. Their primary sustainability focus is renovating old buildings to make them more sustainable. Their renovations include using recycled cellulose as insulation, bird-safe and solar glass, composting toilets, solar panels, and even VOC-free paint (paint that has few or no volatile organic compounds). In addition to renovations, they also don’t use fertilizers or chemical pesticides on their landscapes, are a host site for Ameri-Corps members with sustainability goals, and passed their “Energy Framework” in 2017.
Since the College of the Atlantic only has 366 full-time students, I thought a fairer comparison for the University of Michigan would be New York University, the third-place winner of the top green colleges. To compare NYU’s efforts to UMich’s, I looked at their most recent climate reports. NYU’s report is more detailed, with more concrete evidence of how they will be reaching their sustainability goals in the next few years, and what they are currently working on, and they even include the goals they already met.
UMich’s report only includes their 2023 progress and goals for the future and has little information about what goals they have already reached. This could just be due to variances in the organization of public information between the two schools. However, a climate report should include a substantial amount of information since it is the report, but U-M’s seems to lack this well-rounded information. Looking at the actual numbers, the schools do have pretty similar goals. Yet once again, NYU gives more tangible evidence on how they intend to achieve these goals, while UMich asserts their goals, expecting trust from the community that they’ll follow through. For example, NYU’s report includes information on their cogeneration plant and they explain how it helps them lower their carbon emissions—it has already helped reduce 30% of their emissions from 2006 to 2012. Not only do they provide these numbers, but they also link information on the cogeneration plant and how it works! As far as UMich, they say they reduced carbon emissions by 28% since 2010 but give no information as to how this was achieved.
Although comparing the two schools’ physical numbers is challenging as they might prioritize different sectors of sustainability, it’s clear that NYU is more transparent and renders its sustainability initiatives more reliable. Due to the lack of this transparency on UMich’s part, it appears to be a less sustainable institution.
Future of sustainability at the university
The university has set numerous sustainable goals to reach in the future. For example, they aim to install solar panel roofs on top of parking garages and create a new facility allowing the university to have 100% renewable purchased electricity by 2025. Folsom mentioned that although the goals are ambitious they are “possible if we all come together.” She also mentioned that the university hired an associate vice president of sustainability in 2023 and is hiring an inaugural vice provost for sustainability and climate action. Having these leadership positions is crucial to ensure the university stays on track and true to its word for sustainability commitments.
I also asked Katrina Folsom what measures the university was taking to ensure the new buildings being constructed on campus would be environmentally friendly. In response, Folsom said that both buildings are pursuing a Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) Platinum certification, which is a globally recognized certification given to buildings that have substantial environmental efforts. The university also implemented new “maximum emission standards for all new construction and renovation projects.” Additionally noted, Hadley Family Recreation & Well-Being Center (the new CCRB) would use half as much fossil fuel as a traditional building and the new Central Campus Residential Complex would be one of the first all-electric facilities of this kind in the nation. This shows great promise!
One individual who is not too keen on these new builds is Elliot Wall, a student at the School for Environment and Sustainability at U-M. Elliot stated, “I think it’s great they are making these buildings more sustainable, but do they really need a whole new dorm building when we already have so many? I feel like fixing the ones we have and making them more sustainable would be way better” He also said, “I think this one [the new CCRB] is necessary to rebuild since the old one has asbestos, but was it really necessary to ruin Palmer Fields for that ugly onion tent?” Although some are not fond of the new buildings, the university is taking extensive actions to ensure they are sustainable, a silver lining if you will!
Why sustainability is so important
Some may believe climate change is an issue reserved for the future, but this notion is false. The world is actively witnessing the impacts of climate change firsthand. One study mentioned that it is already changing ecosystems, introducing more illnesses, accelerating the chances of microbes becoming resistant to medicines, and many other health issues. They stated, “Despite the positive momentum in recent years, barriers to implementation still impede action in all sectors and across scales.” The Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission said climate change was the “biggest global health threat of the 21st century,” in 2009—before the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (and other thousands of climate-damaging incidents). So, it is important that big institutions, such as the University of Michigan, do as much as possible to ensure they aren’t vastly contributing to climate change. They are also the ones influencing the “leaders and best”, so they should with a clean (literally) conscious to better influence the future. In an article on “Climate Change, Health and Existential Risks to Civilization,” the authors state, “It is not the continued existence of Earth that is in doubt, but instead the existence of a high level of function of civilization.”
So…greenwashing or not?
So is the University of Michigan greenwashing? The truth is I don’t know, but I’m leaning towards no. The university seems to have a commitment to sustainability and making the institution a more sustainable place, but the lack of transparency and accountability is worrisome. The absence of sources and data collection methods can raise doubts and make it hard to determine if the data is credible. Along with this, the lack of concrete evidence for how they will reach their goals for the future makes me uncertain if they will follow through. They are making steps in the right direction but I think more needs to be done to prove these steps are being taken.
Like Dr. Missy Sults said, “doing enough” is a hard bar to set when it comes to sustainability, but I think the university has the money and resources to do more. Or at least cite their sources!
Feature photo: University of Michigan’s Composting Sign, by Veronica Sorter