It’s the fifth anniversary of the Chancellor’s Commission on Sustainability at Penn State Brandywine.

The Commission has brought sustainability into the campus landscape, operations, classrooms, and faculty and student research, writes Christina Billie for Penn State Brandywine.

Launched in 2020 under the leadership of Regional Chancellor Marilyn J. Wells, the commission was established to recommend, promote, and support sustainability initiatives across campus that uphold the value of sustainability.

“Our campus community continues to value our Chancellor’s Commission on Sustainability as shown by the enthusiastic participation of our faculty, staff, and students in their initiatives, and in bringing forward new opportunities and partnerships to grow the sustainability of our planet, people, and prosperity,” said Wells.

The commission is made up of faculty and staff who collaborate to make the campus more sustainable and mindful of the environment.

In the past five years, the commission has led or influenced a range of meaningful changes across Brandywine, including:

• Fair Trade: The commission has been making efforts to put fair trade items on campus, including cookies, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, pancakes, Perfect Bars, Sambazon açai bowls, and more.

Fair-trade cookies are offered during Global Dialogue lunches, pancakes are available during Pancake Palooza in the spring, and the various frozen treats are offered year-round in the Blue Apple Cafe.

• Recycling efforts: The commission put a marker and pen recycling box in the campus library to encourage members of the Brandywine community not to throw away any broken or dried pens and markers.

• Community clean-ups: The commission has done various cleanups, not only at Brandywine but in the community as well. Most notably, the commission participated in a cleanup at the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek (CRC) Watersheds in Newtown Square.

• Clean energy: The commission has promoted clean energy on campus by installing electric vehicle charging stations on campus (located next to the John D. Vairo Building) and completing a carbon footprint data analysis.

• Campus garden: The commission has collaborated with the campus garden to implement and grow a seed library for the Brandywine community to use. Classes have participated in activities in the garden, and Brandywine community members have partaken in the garden’s weekly harvest days.

The commission plans to increase recycling and composting at Brandywine.

Now under the leadership of the Center for Social Impact, it also has an ongoing project in collaboration with the CRC Watersheds Association to plant trees along the creek on campus.