When I was looking at which college to attend, there were several factors that influenced my decision. My biggest concern at the time was which school would offer me the most financial incentives in the form of scholarships and grants. For many of my friends, majors offered and a fun night life were more important. But I don’t remember any of us basing our decisions on how eco-friendly the campuses were.

That’s changing these days, and if you are in the market for a college education, the Sierra Club has just released a list of the “Most Eco-Enlightened Universities.”

The magazine factored in academics, administration, efficiency, energy, food, purchasing, transportation and waste management. They also gave bonus points.

Here are the top 20:

1. University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, Colorado)
2. University of Washington at Seattle (Seattle, Washington)
3. Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont)
4. University of Vermont (Burlington, Vermont)
5. College of the Atlantic (Bal Harbor, Maine)
6. Evergreen State College (Olympia, Washington)
7. University of California at Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, California)
8. University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley, California)
9. University of California at Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California)
10. Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)
11. Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
12. University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire)
13. Arizona State University at Tempe (Tempe, Arizona)
14. Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)
15. University of Florida at Gainesville (Gainesville, Florida)
16. Bates College (Lewiston, Maine)
17. Willamette University (Salem, Oregon)
18. Warren Wilson College (Asheville, North Carolina)
19. Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
20. New York University (New York, New York)

None of the colleges I seriously considered even made the list. I’m hoping as the push for green living continues to grow, that more and more colleges will make this list and will make higher scores.

How about you? Is your college on this list? Was that part of your criteria when looking for a college?

Related articles:

Students seek a “green college”

Going green while living in a dorm

Grand Canyon

Here at BeGreenMinded.com we want to make sure that not only are you protecting your environment, but that you are getting out there to enjoy nature too! So as summer finally warms up most of the country, it’s time to get outside and enjoy yourselves.

This weekend, consider finding a local trail to hike. The Sierra Club is putting together a new website database of favorite trails around the country. If your favorite isn’t in there, add it for others to enjoy. You can search all states and even search by the trails difficulty. This is a great way to try something new and check out the path less traveled.  Maybe there is a trail nearby you didn’t even know about – this site offers a great way for you to learn more about your natural recreation options, so get out there and enjoy the outdoors!

Just in case you needed even more reason to get out there, how does FREE entry to our nations’ national parks sound? For the first time in more than two decades, the National Parks Service is opening up parks which normally have entrance fees for free on two more weekends (July 18-19, 2009 and August 15-16, 2009) this summer. In some parks, even the concession stands will have discounts for visitors.

It’s expected that millions more visitors will be encouraged to go to parks on these weekends so be prepared for crowds if you take part in this excellent opportunity to see America’s natural beauty. Planning on camping? Make your campsite reservations early as they may be full. The Park Service expects this to help gateway communities surrounding national parks as visitors are likely to stop by the local restaurants and gift shops. Sure the stimulus plan is supposed to help us all out of the economic mess, but it may be the Parks Service that really helps some communities.

Most Americans live within a less than a day’s drive from a national park so find a park and take the kids for a day of family fun and a lifetime of memories. You can get a list of which parks are waiving the fees here. There are a total of 147 parks that normally charge entrance fees. The other 244 are always free.

So tell us, what are you doing this summer to not just conserve and protect the environment but enjoy it too? Send us a comment below or tweet.