The Commons Center is open and LEED certified, and more buildings are on the way. Recycling and sustainability are slowly but surely becoming institutionalized, with the recent hiring of coordinators Jennifer Hackett and Andrea George. And students seem to be participating — bins in residence halls have a tendency to overflow.

Despite all the efforts, though, Vanderbilt still received a C+ rating from the Sustainable Endowment Institute for 2007. It is partially related to the private nature of the endowment, but transportation and climate impact scores were low at a C.

And then there is the coal plant. It looms over campus, one of the most prominent landmarks, providing 40 percent of campus energy. Can Vanderbilt escape that reality on campus?

In the upcoming series of articles, the Driving Questions Team will explore the relationship the university and its students have with the “green movement.” This Driving Question is asking you to look carefully at your actions, and, maybe more importantly, your attitude concerning the environment on campus.

We are asking ourselves the same question as well.

Where does Vanderbilt stand on the environmental movement, how invested are students and what does the future hold?

It is a complicated if not impossible question to answer comprehensively, but here is our attempt. As always, send in your comments, blog on InsideVandy.com and let us know how we are doing.

—The Driving Questions Team