Princeton releases list of greenest colleges

Zero waste policies. Massive arrays of solar panels. Free use of bicycles. Farms that produce organic veggies. LEED-certified buildings. Organic landscaping.Hiking trails. Composting operations.

This is what life looks like on 16 college campuses that received the highest score -- a 99 -- in the Princeton Review's green ratings, released today.

Just one institution from Pennsylvania or New Jersey made the grade: Dickinson College in Carlisle.

Here's what the raters were impressed by:

"An impressive half of Dickinson College's energy comes from renewable sources. The 15-member Presidents' Commission on Environmental Sustainability focuses on how the campus can reduce pollution, preserve natural resources, promote environmental education, and develop initiatives to reduce both cost and consumption on campus. In line with this, in 2007 President Durden signed the American Colleges and Universities Presidents' Climate Commitment, moving Dickinson toward climate neutrality. All new buildings on campus must achieve LEED Silver certification, and Dickinson grows much of the produce that is served in the dining hall on its three-acre farm."

Also: "The Center for Sustainability Education was founded in 2008 to create learning opportunities that advance a sustainable world. Students and faculty receive hands-on learning experiences in renewable energy technology through Dickinson's Biodiesel Project, an initiative that also provides campus vehicles with an environmentally sustainable alternative to diesel fuel, essentially allowing the school to use a food service waste product to reduce air polluting emissions."

The others were:

American University in Washington, D.C.

Arizona State University in Tempe

College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine

Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass.

Northeastern University in Boston

Oregon State University in Corvallis

San Francisco State University

State University of New York at Binghamton

University of California–Santa Cruz

University of Maine in Orono

University of Washington in Seattle

University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point

Virginia Tech at Blacksburg

Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC