Trinity College (CT)
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Trinity's Sustainability Action Plan includes the following goals:
- Support faculty initiatives to integrate sustainability into the academic curriculum and to utilize the campus as a living lab
- Conduct a faculty survey about sustainability as part of existing curriculum
- Maintain record of sustainability course offerings in the Bulletin, and publish list on the sustainability website
- Support faculty initiatives to integrate sustainability into academic research and co-curricular initiatives
- Maintain a faculty sustainability research inventory listing faculty, department, and research topic, and publish inventory on the sustainability website
- Create inventory of student research involving social, financial, and environmental sustainability, and highlight student research projects on the sustainability website

Trinity's Sustainability Action Plan includes the following goals:
- Recognize students for exceptional sustainability efforts at the spring Campus Life Leadership Awards and Honors Day ceremonies
- Feature sustainability efforts of students and/or employees on a semester basis on the Sustainability at Trinity website and social media
- Feature sustainability efforts and opportunities for students during Orientation for new students
- Feature sustainability efforts in publications to prospective students
- Develop and pilot sustainability orientation for new employees
- Communicate longitudinal usage data for energy, water, and waste management
- Publish updated STARS report data to the Sustainability at Trinity website each time a report is submitted to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
- Publish and distribute biannual sustainability progress report
- Create water bottle filling station toggle and other sustainability markers on campus map
- Develop green events guide
- Create a sustainability initiative sponsored by the ESC and NESC
- Individualized sustainability programs or co-sponsored events with three offices, departments, or student groups annually
- Create eco-rep positions, and hire students to offer peer-to-peer education programs and education programs for campus and community partners
- Feature sustainability projects with community partners in publications
- Share existing college resources available to community members through updated websites
- Encourage increased participation by students and employees in community partnerships that help advance sustainability efforts

Complete phase 1 of the heating/cooling utilities masterplan
Increase the percentage of food and beverage expenditures on products that are third-party verified under one or more recognized food and beverage sustainability standards or that are local and community-based from 2.5% to 5%.

- Creation of a Green Revolving Fund to be used for sustainability projects on campus
- Increase resources to support an increasingly diverse community of students, faculty, and staff
- Pursue and accomplish objectives established in the Office of DEI Action Plan, including a focus on racial justice, sexual violence prevention, intergroup dialogue training, and affinity groups
- Complete and update the Campus Pride Index on a regular basis
- Implement required DiversityEdu training for faculty, staff, and students, and provide annual faculty and staff training workshops on diversity, equity, and inclusion principles

"Trinity College’s strategic plan, Summit, calls for the college to build on its historic past to ensure a vibrant, sustainable future. As part of that goal and in support of our ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) principles, we are committed to embracing and promoting urban environmental sustainability as a fundamental value of the college. Summit builds on a foundation of past projects and efforts to support sustainability. We formalized our continued commitment to sustainability with the formation of the Summit Sustainability Committee in 2018. The committee was charged with assessing the college’s progress and developing an infrastructure to determine, track, and support our environmental goals. To lead these efforts, the college hired a full-time sustainability coordinator in
2018, and the committee began work on this Sustainability Action Plan.

This plan—the culmination of a multiyear collaboration of students, faculty, staff, and administrators — sets Trinity’s strategies and priorities to continue our sustainability efforts in the coming years. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Summit Sustainability Committee, college departments, and campus partners who have worked countless hours to develop and assemble this plan. Their thoughtful leadership and their desire and willingness to support sustainability on campus have resulted in a plan that provides a clear framework for our work ahead. This report identifies short-term goals and long-term challenges and opportunities, and it should form the basis for ongoing campus conversations as we raise our sights to even more ambitious sustainability goals. The plan’s success is dependent on the cooperative efforts of our entire campus community. To embrace urban environmental sustainability as a fundamental value of the college, we must integrate our shared responsibility to sustainability into all aspects of campus life. As part of our commitment to ESG principles, we recognize climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing today's society. Trinity is ready to face these challenges. Our campus community has a shared responsibility to its individual members and as global citizens to support sustainability. Whether through action-oriented faculty research or operational efficiencies in our buildings and infrastructure, our community represents a wide array of talents and skills that will be part of our broader solution. Our shared commitment to sustainability is the only way to achieve the vibrant, sustainable future we envision.

Trinity College defines sustainability as a dynamic process that ensures human and environmental health and integrates responsible financial stewardship and social justice into all decision making processes.