Long regarded as national leader in campus sustainability, Warren Wilson College has received yet another environmental accolade: No.1 in the South on The Princeton Review list of “Top 50 Green Colleges.”

The top 50 nationwide, including Warren Wilson at No. 17, are highlighted in The Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition. The guide “profiles colleges with the most exceptional commitments to sustainability based on their academic offerings and campus policies, initiatives and activities.” Data were collected from a 2013-14 survey of campus administrators, asking them to report on their school’s sustainability-related policies, practices and programs.

Stan Cross, interim director of Warren Wilson’s Environmental Leadership Center, said the lofty ranking comes as no surprise considering the college’s longtime commitment to sustainability across the College’s Triad of academics, work and service.

“It’s great to see ‘green’ going mainstream in higher education,” he said. “But no one does it like WWC has for decades – engaging students in researching issues and implementing solutions in the classroom, on the campus and out in the community everyday.

“There’s no better national liberal arts college for students who want to get their hands dirty and learn how to do sustainability.”

Warren Wilson’s profile in the green colleges guide states, among other notable facts, that the College’s waste diversion rate exceeds 50 percent, as does the percentage of its dining services budget spent on local/organic food. In fact, much of the food served on campus comes from the 275-acre Warren Wilson College Farm and the 6-acre College Garden. The campus also is home to several LEED-certified buildings including the Platinum-rated EcoDorm, a pioneering model of energy-efficient building designs and renewable-energy technologies.