Sustainability

What sets PrinCIPIA apart?

Our 2,600-acre campus offers opportunities in research (pollinator habitat, water and resource use, carbon sequestration), native landscaping, tending to a food forest, harvesting from the Community Garden, becoming involved in the Solar Farm, and much more. Connections in the Riverbend community, metropolitan St. Louis, and the globe provide unique internships, research partnerships, and leadership opportunities.

Whether you travel on a study abroad to the Himalayas of Nepal to examine the unfolding realities of the climate crisis or help local businesses attain green certifications, you’ll find Principia’s sustainability courses and experiences robust and varied. You’ll also:

• Develop transferable skills, such as systems thinking, “triple bottom line” problem solving, cost-benefit analyses, and leadership and communication skills.
• Design and implement sustainability projects on campus such as our Bike Rental & Repair Shop, Clothes Closet, energy auditing, recycling, composting, and community outreach.
• Get involved in operational policies by developing green purchasing standards, plant-based meal options, zero-waste road maps, and greenhouse-emission targets.
• Travel to regional, national, and international conferences.
• Visit and network with a variety of organizations involved in sustainable business or product design, green building, renewable energy, social entrepreneurship, conservation biology, and sustainable development.
• Participate in amazing career-related internships and community-service opportunities, both domestically and around the world.
• Partner with faculty on research projects, such as studying renewable natural gas markets or cost-benefit analyses of campus options including freight farming, in-vessel composting, and localized supply chains—and international research related to ecotourism, biodiversity conservation, microenterprise development, and peace-making.
• Join the student-run Sustainability Club, help plan the annual Earth Day Fair, serve as an EcoHead in your dormitory, or represent sustainability programming on the Student Senate.
• Have the option to earn professional credentials, such as the LEED Green Associate credential, Permaculture Design Certificate, or Home Energy Auditor license.
• Become part of Principia College's Center for Sustainability.