Celebrating Stories

UMD’s award-winning Dining Services program has served as a leader for sustainability initiatives on campus for over a decade. From reducing food waste to creating healthy and low-carbon menu options, Green Dining programs aim to educate the campus community while making strides toward the university's goal of carbon neutrality.

Forests and other green spaces provide important benefits to mental and physical health, education, and campus operations. Students and researchers at UMD partner with campus operations, the Maryland State government, and other international researchers to better understand forest carbon sequestration and flux.

The University continues to strive for excellence in climate action, aiming to achieve the visions embodied in campus, community, and global sustainability goals. The 2020 calendar year highlights the University’s unwavering commitment to sustainability and climate action even as financial and social challenges mounted with the impacts of the global pandemic.

Since sustainability is⁠—in essence⁠—about the future, thoughtful planning is an essential piece of creating a story that achieves the kind of visions embodied in campus, community, and global sustainability goals. At the local scale, UMD and partners in government and business are guiding that planning with a deep commitment to “smart growth.”

In 2021-2022, seven projects were awarded $200K to address sustainable food, student outreach, forest carbon, and more. New developments to the Sustainability Fund will increase grant opportunities.

 Terp to Terp encourages social responsibility by offering opportunities to reallocate useful items to individuals in need, preventing landfill waste and saving the University and students money.

In support of campus sustainability goals, Dining Services developed and adopted the Sustainable Food Action Plan in October 2012, committing to continuously provide more nutritious and environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable food to campus diners.

Despite the obstacles, UMD's departments have achieved major improvements in reducing waste and improving recycling, composting, and reuse systems. While tackling waste sources and systems is an ongoing process, each of us can contribute to progress towards much needed change.

UMD encourages students to think about and participate in sustainable living through courses and programs that integrate sustainability broadly across the curriculum and throughout student life. We asked young alums who lead SGA's Sustainability Committee and represented their peers on the University Sustainability Council to share their advice for current students.