We may be known for our orange and blue, but the University has been on an ongoing mission to go green.

There’s a variety of both student and University sponsored initiatives on campus that seek to increase our campus’ sustainability — an effort that we find wholly worthwhile.

Beginning this month, University Housing’s Coffee Ground Repurposing Project collects 100 percent of the coffee grounds from dining halls. 

While this may seem strange, those grounds are being used as fertilizer all over campus, and students who are interested in a bucket of their own can grab one for free.

What many students may not know is that we already have a hand in these kinds of initiatives. Every semester we pay a $12.06 sustainable campus environment fee and a $2 cleaner energy technologies fee. 

With these fees, the Student Sustainability Committee has allocated almost $1.1 million towards campus sustainability projects.

So even if we, as students, are not constantly keeping track of how much waste we’re producing, we are helping pay for projects that can make our campus a cleaner, more eco-friendly place — a concept that we like. 

The Student Sustainability Committee also had a hand in raising money for one of the more recent, larger additions to campus: the ECE Building.

 It was constructed with a net-zero energy goal, which means at it aims to produce as much energy as it consumes. 

Thankfully, this is not just a one-time conservation construction project. 

The University actually updated its guidelines to require that all new construction and major renovations over $5 million must be at least Gold level certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. 

Even older buildings on campus are getting a green makeover. 

The University’s Facilities & Services has an ongoing retrocommissioning project that improves the sustainability and energy conservation in the buildings’ heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems. 

We applaud the University’s continuing mission to become greener through its differing and abundant projects. 

With so many news reports about how we’re increasingly destroying our planet, it’s refreshing to see our campus take so much initiative.

Creating these projects and supporting initiatives sets a good example, hopefully one that our students and maybe even other universities can follow.

So tomorrow morning when you make your first of many cups of coffee, maybe think twice before you throw out those leftover grounds. You could be doing a lot more good than you think.