Sustainability Timeline

1969: Former physical plant manager starts recycling program through student services

1973: PSU introduces nation’s first multidisciplinary environmental science Ph.D

1992: Students form the PSU Recycling Coalition, later renamed PSU Recycles!

1994 PSU begins tracking student and employee commuting habits

2001: First sustainability coordinator hired using student fees

2002: Campus Sustainability Office founded

2003: Class completes first carbon inventory

2003: Social Sustainability Colloquium formed

2004: New policy requires LEED certification for all new construction and major renovation of campus buildings

2005: PSU kitchens begin composting

2005: Graduate Certificate in Sustainability launched

2005: Declaration of Support for Sustainability at Portland State (view pdf)

2005: Broadway Building earns LEED Silver

2005: Epler Hall earns LEED Silver

2005: ReUse Room opens

2005: Chuck it for Charity launched

2006: PSU becomes the first Salmon-Safe certified university campus

2006: PSU places fourth out of over 90 schools in Recyclemania’s waste minimization competition

2006: PSU’s sustainability vision established

2006: Engineering Building earns LEED Gold

2006: Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices (CSP2) established, and facilitates $100,000 in funding for sustainability research proposals

2007: First Annual Conference on Business and Sustainability

2008: PSU launches campus-wide strategic planning process for sustainability

2007-2008: PSU begins tracking energy use and business travel for climate planning

2008: Annual Bike to PSU Challenge launched

2008: Miller Foundation gives $25 million challenge grant to catapult PSU as a regional and national leader in sustainability research, education, and outreach

2008: “Idea Generator” established to fund student proposals

2008: EcoWiki launched

2008: Trayless dining is introduced at Victor’s dining hall to conserve water and energy and reduce chemical cleaners

2008: Biology Research Greenhouse earns LEED Silver

2008: Entrepreneurial Leaders Program launched

2008: First full-time recycling staff hired

2009: Campus-wide sustainability learning outcome adopted

2009: Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability established

2009: Student Sustainability Leadership Center established

2009: Initial development of EcoDistrict

2009: Green Building Research Lab established

2010: NSF awards PSU $3 million for nation’s first IGERT around ecosystem services for urban areas