As a Vincentian institution, we must show by example that protection of the planet is part of our social responsibility. In 2007, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg challenged the City’s universities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent over 10 years. The University established an Office of Sustainability, and within just one month of its inception, St. John’s distinguished itself by becoming the first metropolitan area university to submit a plan that exceeded the Mayor’s environmental goals. ”It is fitting that St. John’s, given its strong Vincentian heritage centered on pursuing long-term solutions for key social issues, takes the lead in meeting the challenges of creating a sustainable future by aggressively achieving carbon reduction,” says Vice President of Facilities Brij Anand. “Our goal is to become nationally recognized for resultsoriented capabilities made possible by integrating functional expertise, service excellence and operational effectiveness.” The Office of Facilities has been working on many fronts, including: installing building-management system controls that cut back on off-hour energy use in some 35 percent of campus structures; initiating a recycling program; switching to alternative fuels; and exploring other energysaving opportunities including installation of wind mills and solar panels on the campus. All new construction will be subject to LEED standards. In addition, the University’s recycling program has received widespread media praise and has become a model for similar programs at other universities. Part of this success is due to the dedicated work of Student Sustainability Coordinators who monitor the campus for recycling compliance, create energy saving solutions and work to educate others. “ We’ve increased campus recycling compliance to between 40-50 percent,” says Student Sustainability Coordinator Sidharth Sharma, Tobin College of Business, Class of 2008. “I knew very little about recycling issues before I took this position. Now, I run student awareness programs and I understand why it’s so critical for our environmental future that these steps be taken. When I graduate I plan on going home to India with these new skills, and I hope to work with local communities to get them involved in recycling.”