University of Tennessee-Knoxville Announces Enviromental Policy

On Earth Day (April 22) 2004, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville announced the adoption of its environmental policy. According to the administration, the goal of the policy is to “establish the Knoxville campus as a model of environmental stewardship.”

The Environmental Policy
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Promulgated April 22, 2004

• The University of Tennessee aspires to serve as a model of environmental stewardship and integrity and to follow principles of good environmental conservation, waste reduction, and design on its Knoxville campus.
• The faculty, staff, administration and students will strive to increase awareness of environmental problems and will promote sound environmental practices.
• UTK will encourage consideration of environmental impacts in all decisions made by university faculty, staff and students.
• The university will ensure full compliance with existing environmental laws and regulations and will seek to lead the community in developing beneficial laws and regulations.
• In its daily operations, UTK will attempt to conserve energy and to promote the use of renewable energy sources at the same time that it champions waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.
• University growth will occur in ways that respect the surrounding human and natural communities.
• UTK will cooperate with other local, national and international organizations to promote sound environmental policies.

UTK will hold a campus-wide environmental semester in spring 2005 that will feature prominent speakers, including environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and biologist E.O. Wilson, as well as the 2005 Southeast Student Renewable Energy Conference. For details, go to their website:
environmentalsemester.utk.edu