换妻社区 continues to hold a STARS Gold rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The college has also been recognized for being among the top colleges and universities in the nation for research related to sustainability.
STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Hope was awarded a Gold rating last year (2023) after holding a Silver rating since 2017 and a Bronze rating from 2012 to 2017.
With more than 1,200 participants in 52 countries, AASHE鈥檚 STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university鈥檚 sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership. Hope鈥檚 STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website at
Within the overall framework, the report鈥檚 Sustainable Campus Impact recognizes top-performing colleges and universities in 17 sustainability impact areas, ranging from air and climate, to campus engagement, to grounds, to wellbeing and work. Hope is one of only 30 colleges and universities recognized for research, tied with 23 others for seventh place. All but four of the 30 are doctoral or research institutions.
Sustainability efforts at Hope are initiated and pursued by students, faculty and staff, and alumni, and take a variety of forms. They are supported and encouraged by an advisory committee known as the Green Team consisting of students, faculty and staff.
Student-organized groups at the college include Green Hope, focused on sustainability. In addition, each year about a dozen students participate in the college鈥檚 Hope Advocates for Sustainability internship program coordinated by the Office of Sustainability. An Alumni Sustainability Affinity Group has supported projects including tree plantings, retrofitting a college-owned residential cottage as a green facility and the installation of solar-powered EV charging stations at a residence hall.
In addition to familiar activities like recycling and upgrading windows and lightbulbs with energy-efficient replacements, projects and practices across campus range from the addition of beehives to provide pollinating insects; to reducing food waste and the use of water in the dining halls; to solar-powered charging stations for the electric golf carts used by the physical plant staff; to using environmentally friendly products in cleaning and groundskeeping. Hope makes a tradition of planting trees during national Campus Sustainability Month, each October, and Earth Week and Arbor Day, both in April. College buildings that have LEED certification are the van Andel Huys der Hope Campus Ministries house that opened in the fall of 2019 (LEED v4), the Jim and Martie Bultman Student Center that opened in 2017 (LEED Gold) and the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts that opened in 2015 (LEED Silver).
Hope also maintains a Green Revolving Fund that underwrites efficiency projects 鈥� identified by a team of students faculty and staff 鈥� that have both an environmentally positive impact and a positive fiscal impact. Established through seed funding from alumni and a matching commitment by the college, the fund is now self-perpetuating, with a portion of the savings that it helps achieve placed in the fund to support future projects.
The college also coordinates sustainability efforts with community organizations in a variety of ways. During the past several summers, for example, faculty and student researchers at the college have partnered with the City of Holland and Holland in Bloom on an Urban Tree Canopy Project to inventory trees on city property and campus.
In addition, Hope offers academic majors and minors in both environmental science and environmental studies. Multiple faculty-student collaborative research teams pursue environmentally-related projects, and programs at Hope include a Global Water Research Institute based on the college鈥檚 strong tradition of research on water quality in particular.
Hope has received several awards through the years for its sustainability efforts. For the past six consecutive years, the college has received Tree Campus USA庐 recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation. In October 2022, Hope was named a runner up for that year鈥檚 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year Award by the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. In October 2019, Hope received an Honor Award for exceptional grounds maintenance in the Green Star Awards competition of the Professional Grounds Management Society. In 2015, 换妻社区 Dining received Gold-level recognition in the SEED sustainability program of Creative Dining Services. In 2014, the college was certified by the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program for meeting the organization鈥檚 standards in overall grounds management practices.
More information about sustainability efforts at Hope and in the area is available at hope.edu/sustainability
AASHE is an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. AASHE鈥檚 mission is to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation. It provides resources, professional development and a network of support to enable institutions of higher education to model and advance sustainability in everything they do, from governance and operations to education and research. More information about AASHE is available at a