About the Sustainability Center

McHenry County College embraces the definition of sustainability, as endorsed by The World Commission on Environment and Development:

Meeting the Needs of the Present Generation Without Compromising the Ability of Future Generations to Meet Their Needs.

MCC is in a unique position to lead the community as it strives to educate sustainably responsible citizens and reduce its carbon footprint. As an institution of higher education and a comprehensive community college, MCC strives to share its resources with the community and model sustainability. The College has a long history of providing community environmental education, and the goal is to continue on this path. Because of this, sustainability has been integrated into daily practices through the development of a Sustainability Center.

The MCC Sustainability Center is focused on three interconnected areas, which creates a holistic approach to sustainability:

  1. Green Campus including physical campus and campus operations
  2. Green Education includes curriculum development for a green economy and training for employees and students about sustainable practices
  3. Green Community including how MCC shares with the community resources that improve quality of life
  • Initiatives and Goals - 2024-2025
    1. Energy use, conservation and analysis
    2. Implement grant to support additional energy efficiency initiatives including replacing fluorescent with LEDs
    3. Implement grant to expand the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning program to include a teaching unit on lower impact coolant
    4. Continued work to identify and publicize sustainability within the curriculum
    5. Installation of additional Electric Vehicle charging stations
    6. Continued management of the ReUse It Corner which supplied students and staff with over $15,000 worth of supplies in Fiscal Year 2024
    7. Co-Advisor for the Student Environmental Action club – meetings, field trips, conferences, guest speakers, restoration volunteer work, advocacy options
    8. Create and publish the 2025 Green Guide Recycling Directory
    9. Campus and community events, emails, calls, speakers

Donate

To support the programs of the Sustainability Center, please consider a donation to the Lou Marchi Total Recycling Institute, which is part of the Friends of MCC Foundation.

Donate to the Lou Marchi Total Recycling Institute
Choose "Other" from the designation drop-down menu. In the "Optional" field, enter Sustainability.

Board Reports and Accomplishments

The Sustainability Center provides monthly reports to the MCC Board of Trustees. Visit the Board to review reports. If you would like a hard copy of the report mailed, please email sustainability@mchenry.edu.