Campus Initiatives

Our campus is dedicated to doing it's part in conserving our planet! Read on to learn about some of the incredible efforts being undertaken by various campus units and partners!

Campus Grounds Department

Our campus grounds department is focusing efforts to continue removing some invasive species and planting more native plants throughout campus. Going native means more landscaping with plants that are naturally attuned to the surrounding environment, reducing the need for extra water & fertilizers, that can runoff and pollute our bays.

Harte Research Institute: Oyster Conservation Program

Oysters are an important ecological and economic resource, but oyster reefs, once dominant habitats in estuaries worldwide, have experienced greater losses than any other marine habitat. The dramatic loss of oyster reef habitat across the Gulf impacts us all — we lose valuable benefits of oyster reefs as hurricane protection, natural water filtration, and fisheries habitat. HRI is working in three key interlocking areas to restore our degraded oyster reef habitats: Establishing an aquaculture industry in Texas that can take vital pressure off existing reefs; researching the best practices for restoring degraded reef habitat; and teaching the public about the value of recycling oyster shell to build new reefs.

Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) Community Garden

Right infront of the ECDC there is an experimental community garden where students and parents help maintain, grow and harvest vegetable, fruits, flowers and herbs all year around.

Dining Hall

The Islander Dining Hall has been certified as Ocean Friendly by the Surfrider Foundation. What this means is we provide eco-friendly choices in our dining hall through certain criteria below: no use of Styrofoam, follow proper recycling practices, reusable tableware is used for onsite dining, no plastic bags are used for take-out or to-go orders with utensils provided at request, paper straws are used and only at request, offer vegetarian and vegan friendly options, and use energy efficient lighting and appliances. We accomplished all these criteria to reduce our carbon footprint and leave a more positive impact on our environment. Our dining hall was officially approved as an Ocean Friendly Restaurant on October 30th, 2019 and is one of two dining halls in the nation to take this initiative

Islander Green Team

The Islander Green Team's mission is to spread awareness about environmental issues within our community, to promote opportunities and events for students, faculty and staff to become engaged and educated about environmental conservation along with striving for socio-ecological justice.

Our 3 main goals are:

  1. To be stewards of the environment
  2. Work side by side with the environmental council of TAMU-CC
  3. To strive for environmental sustainability on campus and lead by example

The Green Team was developed to publicize the growing number of projects and programs that promote sustainability through environmental initiatives taking place around campus. If you sponsor programs, research, or know of other activities that promote environmental stewardship/green initiatives, tell us your stories by: providing photos, web site links, and other applicable information. To have your green initiative postings included on this Web site, please e-mail them to us! Together we are able to ensure our University Environment stays Green and Clean!