The Middlebury College Store is committed to sustainability and helping the campus achieve our Energy2028 sustainability goals. We’ve outlined below some ways you can join the mission!
[bg_faq_start]Adopt your course materials on time
- This gives our off-site warehouse ample time to stock materials and helps reduce the need for expedited last-minute shipping
- This ensures students can order early during the bulk shipping period and be prepared for the first day of class
Email students and encourage them to order their books during the 2 week bulk shipping period
- Bulk shipping is FREE and books are shipped together on a pallet, reducing the carbon footprint of multiple shipments and unnecessary packaging
- Bulk shipping arrives prior to the start of class so students are prepared on the first day. It’s a win-win-win for students, faculty, AND the environment!
Consider choosing alternative course materials
- Only using a small portion of a book? PDFs are a fantastic alternative to requiring students to purchase and ship and entire book
- OpenStax is an excellent resource for free digital textbooks
Allow students to choose the version that best suits their needs (printed book, e-book, Kindle, etc)
- Allow students to utilize technology (including laptops/tablets) in the classroom to ensure equitable access for students who may choose to use digital vs printed materials
- Utilize the library’s E-Reserves program to ensure digital content is available to all students with no permissions fees
Create digital course packs instead of printed course packs
Course packs are a large contributor of paper waste on campus. They are also often a wasteful use of resources, including their creation, students paying for them, and the College Store paying to print them, regardless of whether students purchase. [bg_faq_end]
Remind students to sell their books back at the end of the semester. Again, be sure to have your books adopted for the next semester by the deadline so we can gauge supply and demand at buyback.
