Sustainability

  • Four solar photovoltaic installations on campus add renewable energy to New England’s grid and prepare Wesleyan for long-term carbon neutrality.
  • Bon Appétit, Wesleyan's dining service, purchases at least 20% of ingredients from small, local, owner-operated vendors and farmers within a 150-mile radius of campus.
  • A student-run organic farm on Long Lane grows produce for the North End Farmer’s Market, the Amazing Grace Food Pantry, St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen, Food Not Bombs, Middletown Potluck, and Wesleyan’s dining halls. The Community Food Project connects families with children on free or reduced-price lunches to the farm, where they get an opportunity to help out, receive free produce, and have fun. The farm also hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival in the fall and a May Day festival in the spring for the public.
  • Citywide recycling signage was designed and printed in 2018 through a partnership between Wesleyan, Middletown, Middlesex Community College, and Middlesex Hospital.
  • A student-run co-op makes fresh local foods from farms in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York available to over 500 students, faculty, and staff.
  • Through the Food Rescue Program, students volunteer to deliver food that would otherwise be discarded from Wesleyan’s dining facilities to Eddy Shelter, a local emergency shelter. In addition, the Bread Salvage Program collects bread from Freihofer’s Outlet in Cromwell and delivers to families in need at Macdonough Elementary School.
  • Since 2009, the Waste Not program has collected unwanted items during student move out. Nearly all items are donated to organizations including Goodwill Industries, New Horizons Domestic Violence Shelter, Eddy Shelter, Amazing Grace Food Pantry, Grad Bag, and others, or sold at a large tag sale in the fall. Over $39,000 in proceeds has been donated to local organizations and Financial Aid.
  • Wesleyan’s student Sustainable Middletown intern has worked since 2018 with the City of Middletown to apply for its Sustainable CT certification, a statewide program recognizing municipalities that meet holistic sustainability criteria. The City received Bronze certification in October 2018 and a Silver certification in October 2019. This work continues with other Wesleyan students.