Overview
Sustainability at Loyola
Sustainability at Loyola is driven by our Jesuit tradition of social justice, our service to humanity, and our role as an institution of higher education. It is embodied in an educational experience for our students and activities that seek to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We are committed to an inclusive process considering social, economic, and environmental impacts and exemplified in a transformative education for our students.
Sustainability across Loyola
Academic and research integration is a cornerstone of sustainability efforts at Loyola. It is our societal obligation and commitment to our students that they graduate with a deep understanding of environmental issues and their personal responsibilities to respond.
- 65% of academic departments offer at least one sustainability course
- 58.5% of students graduate with a degree that comes with a sustainability-related learning outcome in its core requirements
- 52% of academic departments have a sustainability researcher
- 12.1% of researchers incorporate sustainability into their research
Learn more about Loyola's sustainability-related academic programs.
Involvement in sustainability initiatives is ingrained in our campus culture with students, faculty, and staff as part of our Ignatian spirituality to seek God in all things, including the natural world.
- 82.5% of students are engaged through peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and programs
- Over 10,000 hours in 2023 were dedicated to peer-to-peer sustainability outreach
- All incoming students are provided the opportunity to participate in sustainability-related activities
- 41.5% of students are involved in over 377,000 hours of community service annually
- Student-led sustainability campaigns at Loyola include UnCap LUC, Plastic-Free LUC, Sustainability Investment Policy, and the Environment and Social Responsibility Graduation Pledge
- 100% of all new employees are reached by a sustainability program as part of onboarding
Learn more about how our community takes action across campus.
Loyola pushes the boundaries of how campuses can shrink energy footprints. We are committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025 through our massive conservation efforts, renewable energy installations, and living green roofs.
- 79.4% GHG emissions reduction (per weighted campus user) from our 2008 baseline
- Annual EPEAT recognition for leadership in sustainable electronics purchasing each year since 2015
- 79% of students and 50% of employees use a mode of sustainable transportation to commute to campus
- 24% of food purchases come from plant-based foods
- Almost 90% of the campus grounds are managed organically, without additional chemical pesticide or fertilizer
- Loyola has reduced water use by 17.8% (per weighted campus user) from our 2008 baseline (reduced 34.3% when considering per gross square foot)
Learn more about the campus initiatives reducing our carbon footprint.
Loyola’s Sustainability Committee consists of students, staff, and faculty working together to guide sustainability efforts on campus and oversee the implementation of the Climate Action Plan.
- Loyola is on track to meet 2025 carbon neutrality goals due to high-performing facilities, energy efficient projects, and the purchase of clean energy
- Loyola has measurable sustainability goals for curriculum, engagement, operations, diversity and inclusion
Learn more about Loyola's global and local commitments to action.
Our Community
Two Decades of Sustainability
A commitment to the planet's health has become a lodestar for Loyola's leadership, influencing decisions massive and marginal
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Trash Talk
At Loyola University Chicago's Gentile Arena, every sporting event is zero waste.
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Loyola Commits to Green Power in Illinois
A new solar project will provide 100 percent of the University's electricity needs.
Learn MoreLoyola's Office of Sustainability
The goal of the Office of Sustainability at Loyola is to support the faculty, staff, students, and alumni in making the University a leader in the Chicago region and internationally among Jesuit institutions. Loyola University Chicago is embracing sustainability through our campuses, curriculum, and community.
The Office of Sustainability also supports Loyola’s sustainability commitments by administering the University Sustainability Committee, comprised of students, faculty, staff, and administration.
Loyola’s sustainability initiatives are guided by the following principles:
- We seek to have the lowest environmental footprint in Illinois
- We support sustainability across the curriculum
- We believe sustainability is about Social Justice
- We facilitate the campus as a learning laboratory
- We support a pathway to careers (that empower a just future for all)
- We envision the campus as a community change-agent
Degrees Offered
Sustainability at Loyola
While our School of Environmental Sustainability leads the way in training students for lifelong, rewarding careers across fields and industries—every campus at Loyola is dedicated to bringing green-thinking to the forefront. Discover why we're one of the nation's greenest.