Sustainability

For its commitment to campus sustainability, George Mason University has earned a Gold rating in the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) Assessment. STARS is a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance and is offered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Mason Korea student Yoonseo Cho is a rising senior in George Mason’s Global Affairs Program and a greenhouse research intern for University Sustainability.

Three Virginia municipalities will see lower energy costs and lower emissions thanks to the Schar School’s Local Climate Action Planning Initiative’s Energy Action Plans. More are coming.

Helping the community understand the parameters of recycling and composting is one of the biggest challenges in recycling and waste management, according to Kevin Brim, supervisor in Facilities Management at George Mason University. “It can be confusing trying to decide what is recycling, trash, or compostable,” said Brim. His team is working hard to change that.

Jeremy Campbell, associate director for strategic engagement in Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth, says that at the current pace the Amazon rainforest, in five to 10 years, could pass a tipping point in which it could transform into grasslands. That process, fueled by deforestation and climate change, has already begun and is a threat to the biodiversity and socio-cultural aspects that define the region.

The Office Supply Swap at George Mason University launched in Spring 2023, thanks to the efforts of the Staff Senate and University Sustainability.

In November 2023, Mason students, faculty, and staff gathered to help transplant 1,700 plants of more than 50 native species into two groves near the stream behind Student Union Building I between Aquia Creek Lane and Patriot Circle.

Mason students are taking pictures of the campus flora, fauna, and fungi with their smartphones—sometimes in the dark—to capture the university’s biodiversity. They are trying to record as many species as possible in this fall's Bioblitz 2023, which continues through Nov. 19.

A Mason research team is developing a CropSmart Digital Twin to support farmers with increasing crop production and decreasing environmental footprint.

With nearly 1,000 acres of land, waterways, forests, and buildings, George Mason University’s campuses are a dynamic, living learning environment of hands-on applied research.