Sustainable Stanford collaborated with Stanford’s “Design for Extreme Affordability” course to tackle two important sustainability challenges on campus – addressing food insecurity by reducing food waste and increasing recycling in labs.
Students in the course, led by Stuart Coulson, collaborated with operational staff to learn about these issues — both on a global scale and in the context of Stanford — and, using design methods, prototyped solutions that can be tested for effectiveness and scalability. By leveraging the campus as a living laboratory for sustainability, students in the course have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to on-campus sustainability initiatives — gaining real-world experience and helping advance Stanford’s operational sustainability goals.
From sustainable beats and food recovery leaps, the year 2025 set a new standard for Stanford traditions and operations.
We’re building our zero waste playbook—starting with the stats. By hand-sorting our trash, we’re uncovering strategic cuts to the landfill.
The university earns STARS Platinum in version 3.0, the highest score under the sustainability rating system.
