South Florida students going greener.

The other day I wrote about a Miami high school, MAST Academy and its efforts to go carbon neutral with the help of Dream in Green, a group of enlightened green professionals.

It seems South Florida universities are also on the same track, according to an article in The Miami Herald.

Students are consulting with Native Energy to see if they too can become carbon neutral. (Native Energy has a program that calculates CO2 emissions and lets you purchase offsets by investing in wind farms.)

The University of Miami is building the area's first certified green building, the Clinical Research Institute, and plans three more. UM President Donna Shalala is said to be highly supportive.

The university has a recylcing program, uses electric transportaiton carts, and offers half-price parking to hybrid vehicles.
UM also houses a Clean Energy Research Institute, a Renewable Energy Lab and the Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy.

The article also mentions green policies at Florida International University (which is hosting an ethanol conference next month), the University of Florida, and the University of Central Florida and St Thomas University.

To learn more about green student activities at UM you can visit Sustainable U.

Click here for the Southern Energy Network.

Click here for Campus Climate Challenge.