Did You know that Boston University has an "Earth House"?

Posted by: Allison Friedman // Rate It Green Admin

18 Boston University students are living at BU's Earth House this year as a part of a pilot living-learning community, that combines students' academic interests and studies.

“All that stuff that we have to get out of the way, like brushing our teeth or putting the coffee on—all those actions have consequences for the environment,” says Earth House Director Nathan Phillips, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of Earth and Environment. “Where did that water come from? Where did the electricity come from?....”

Students take sustainability courses while living in the house and after, and they complete a related independent study as well, in the second year of the program.

An interesting aspect of this experience is that Earth House is not a green, renovated building but a conventional building where students can study a typical environment and the implications and effects of how we live.

According to Professor Phillips, “We don’t want a museum,” he says. “We don’t want something where students come in and marvel at an environmentally sustainable house and then go back to doing what they’ve always been doing. We’re a planet of conventional homes, by and large. There are a few of us who have the solar rooftops, who have the electric vehicles, but it’s something we all need to do.”

Let's hope Professor Phillips and his students find some great ways to share what they are learning!