Who We Are

Quaker roots.
Open minds.

Founded in 1837, Guilford is a community built on Quaker values — integrity, equality, and a stubborn belief that every voice matters. Meet the people, the history, and the ideas that make this place itself.

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Est. 1837 · Greensboro, NC

Sustainability on Campus

Good Stewards of the Earth

At Guilford College, we are conscious of the impact our actions have on Earth. We're dedicated to creating a campuswide commitment to responsible stewardship that includes recycling and practicing energy conservation and composting, and we have created a culture that holds each of us accountable for sustainable practices. Together we are making a difference.

Eco-Friendly Practices

We’re lowering our carbon footprint, saving money, and spreading awareness about the effects of our decisions today. Listed below are a few of the many ways Guilford is incorporating sustainability across campus.

Composting: Guilford has two commercial-grade Earth Tubs to churn waste into incredibly rich compost. The tubs create huge amounts of compost we use across campus as fertilizer. We’re diverting an average of 800 to 1,200 lbs of waste from area landfills every week.
RecycleMania: Each year, Guilford College participates in RecycleMania, a friendly competition that helps colleges and universities benchmark their recycling efforts. During the eight-week competition, schools report recycling and trash amounts each week, then use those numbers to rally students, faculty, and staff on their individual campuses to do even better the next week.
Dual-Flush Toilets: By installing low-flow toilets and opting for dual-flush, high-efficiency mechanisms, we're saving about 18,000 gallons of water per toilet each year.

Sustainable Food Systems (SFS)

The SFS major challenges students to explore the intersection of food, society, and nature.

Food Waste Management

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the composting process at Guilford, which helps us save thousands of pounds of waste monthly.

The Guilford College Farm

The mission of the Guilford College Farm is to serve as a learning laboratory while producing fresh, locally grown produce for the community in an economically viable framework. And it's a popular site for work-study students plus a wide range of volunteers from the off-campus community.

The Farm has seen steady growth. It encompasses three cultivated acres, including a 5,000-square-foot tunnel enabling year-round production of more than 10,000 pounds of food a year. Nearly all the crops are started from seed in our propagation greenhouse. The Farm produces a wide variety of vegetable crops utilizing sustainable farming practices, and all soil amendments and pesticides used are Organic Materials Review Institute approved.

The Farm serves the greater Guilford community by providing fresh vegetables for the College’s Dining Hall, a student operated farmers market, a steadily growing CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, a few local groceries, and a couple of local restaurants.

50,000 pounds

That's the amount of compost recycled each year on campus.

Voted “Top 30 Sustainable College-Run Farms”

College Values Online

10,000-plus

That's how many pounds of produce are grown each year on the College Farm.