Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. …[A] new ecological awareness is beginning to emerge. …

"The ecological crisis is a moral issue." Pope John Paul II T
The Ecological Crisis:
A Common Responsibility, nos. 1, 15, December 8, 1989.

Villanova has been focused on sustainability for several years, principally through the efforts of the President’s Climate Commitment. This important committee has established The Villanova University Campus Environmental Sustainability Policy, which includes a set of University-wide standards and goals:

Goal 1

Villanova University will strive to practice the principles of environmental sustainability and wise use of resources within the University community. Villanova University will make reasonable efforts to conserve resources. Methods to conserve may include, among other things:

• The promotion of water conservation
• Waste reduction and the conscientious use of materials
• The conscientious production and consumption of food
• The promotion of energy conservation
• The use of renewable energy resources
• Practicing environmental stewardship of its lands
• The acquisition of sustainable modes of campus transportation
• The adoption of green building standards

Goal 2

Villanova University will engage in appropriate learning opportunities with the intention of creating a community whose members (students, faculty, staff, and graduates) are environmentally literate and responsible. Methods to do so may include, among other things:

• Integrating social and environmental responsibility into curricular development
• Fostering further research and a deeper understanding of environmentally sustainable development
• Creating and promoting an informed network of Villanovans committed to the principles of environmental sustainability