As the world grapples with worsening climate issues, Tulane University students and administration are taking steps to combat carbon emissions on campus and cultivate a culture of sustainability. Student-founded initiatives like Trash to Treasure and Glass Half Full have made recycling efforts easier, specifically for glass and move-out waste. Tulane’s Office of Sustainability has also been transparent about its sustainability efforts and carbon emissions.  

Student Initiatives 

Tulane’s Trash to Treasure organization is a “student-led sustainability project” that collects donations of gently used dorm necessities during move-out and sells them during move-in for discounted prices. The sale has been an annual tradition since 2014 and all profits are donated to New Orleans-based nonprofits. In 2023, the club voted to donate to Eden House, Unity, Healthy Gulf, Compost NOW, LASPCA, Culture Aid, Gladewaves, Grow Dat Youth Farm and Rise St. James.  

According to Trash to Treasure junior project manager Laine Benard, this year’s sale was one of the most successful yet based on overall sales and in terms of positive feedback. Parents and students widely expressed gratitude for having a club that allows them to donate items they felt guilty throwing away.  

“We are seeing people turn away from the garbage and donate to us,” Benard said. 

The club hopes to expand its services outside of Tulane and to Loyola University New Orleans in future years and has already partnered with Goodwill to donate items they cannot store. Another student-founded initiative, Glass Half Full, extends beyond Tulane and into the Greater New Orleans Area. Originally founded by two Tulane students in 2020, the organization recycles glass into sand and gravel. These products are then used for disaster relief and prevention, Louisiana coast restoration and new glass products. The organization’s latest project is to restore Bayou Bienvenue by building sand islands. 

University Initiatives  

Tulane’s efforts to make buildings “greener” began with the construction of the Israel Environmental Sciences Building in 1999 and the renovation of Dinwiddie Hall under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard, known as LEED. A LEED certification recognizes building strategies that lower energy and water use and protect human health, among other criteria. Since then, five buildings have been certified LEED silver or gold, including Weatherhead Hall, Yulman Stadium and Mussafer Hall.  

In 2008, Tulane joined the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments, pledging to measure the University’s impact on climate change and develop a plan to minimize these impacts. As a result, Tulane adopted a Climate Action Plan, which presents goals to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. In following these missions, Tulane has published an annual greenhouse gas emissions report since 2016.  

The most recent report, from 2022, reveals a 13% decrease in carbon emissions since 2007, but a long way to go. In 2007, Tulane was 25,244 MTCO2e over its greenhouse gas emissions goal for 2025, and only reduced this number to 14,491 MTCO2e by 2022. MTCO2e stands for metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent, and is the measurement used for annual greenhouse gas emissions.  

Recently, Tulane also announced a partnership with Bernhard, an energy company based in Metairie. The partnership will include various improvements to campus infrastructure and “the construction of a 1-megawatt solar generation facility that will produce 10% of the university’s total electricity needs at its uptown campus.” These improvements include taking one or more campus buildings to “certified Net Zero Energy status by 2025,” and making significant progress towards Tulane’s Climate Action Plan.