Sustainability at WCU

The Sustainability Council and the Office of Sustainability work in all areas of campus academics and operations.

Three especially exciting initiatives will be supported by donations for the 2025 Day of Giving:

• Our Campus Gardens support WCU's educational mission by giving students, employees, and volunteers opportunities to learn about food production, soil health, and plant care, harvesting, preservation, and transformation. Vegetables produced in the gardens feed students through the campus Resource Pantry and WCU's neighbors through donations to the West Chester Food Cupboard and Safe Harbor. Other garden plants are transformed into natural pigments and dyes used in our Art + Design classes. Donations to the gardens will help expand access and production, protect garden beds from deer and groundhogs, and extend the growing season.
• The Bicycle Lending Library, managed by students and staff of the Francis Harvey Green Library, provides safe, convenient, and free access to bicycles, helmets and locks for the campus community. And it's not just lending bikes and equipment; the library also offers weekly bicycle maintenance workshops and occasional urban safe cycling training.
• WCU's Gordon Natural Area is 126 acres of protected forests, wetlands, streams, and meadows on south campus. Faculty and students spend time in the GNA studying dozens of subjects, including biology, botany, geology, writing, drawing, design, and public policy. Research projects extend our knowledge of climate change, local wildlife, native plants, other biota, conservation and stewardship.