Sustainability at the College of Menominee Nation

The College of Menominee Nation (CMN) is surrounded by a beautiful forest that has been sustainably harvested for over 150 years by the Menominee people. That proven capacity for sustainable development is prevalent at the college and is demonstrated by initiatives led by the students, staff, and faculty.

All College of Menominee Nation students are required to take the Introduction to Sustainable Development course and can partake in fellowship and internship opportunities available with the Sustainable Development Institute (www.sustainabledevelopmentinstitute.org). The student sustainability organization, SEEDS (www.esa.org/seeds/chapter), sells a unique blend of fair traded coffee to the CMN community. CMN students have also participated in national sustainability competitions such as National Wildlife Federation’s National Chill Out (http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/chillout/) competition and Recyclemania (http://www.recyclemaniacs.org).

CMN is one of the original signatories of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/) and is conducting a greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Benchmarking the college’s energy consumption is underway with the assistance of the US EPA’s Energy Star (www.energystar.gov) program. Sustainability indicators at CMN are being identified with the combined efforts of the student and campus sustainability advisory groups.

For more information on sustainable development, please refer to the Sustainable Development Institute’s website at www.sustainabledevelopmentinstitute.org.