It’s Not Easy Being Green, So Debbie Steinberg Simplifies Sustainability

The thing Debbie Steinberg enjoys most about her role as green practices and sustainability manager at Carnegie Mellon University is creating “aha!” moments.

“It’s inspiring when I can educate somebody and see that ‘aha!’ in their eyes when they understand that (sustainability) is more complex than what they originally thought,” Steinberg said.

Steinberg smiled as she recalled a tabling activity when she quizzed students with lighthearted green-practices trivia. While the questions seemed simple, Steinberg had an ulterior motive.

“I’m actually trying to teach them something,” she said, grinning.

One student paused, thought for a moment, then said, “Oh, wow, I learned something new!” Minutes later, Steinberg saw her run back to a group of friends to share her newfound knowledge.

“I knew that I didn't just impact one person,” Steinberg said. “I impacted those five and who knows how many more after that if they all went and told more of their friends.”

In her role, which is part of Facilities Management and Campus Services, Steinberg focuses on engaging with and educating students, faculty and staff — encouraging small but meaningful lifestyle changes. “It’s about getting them to think about the impacts of their choices and getting them excited about sustainability,” Steinberg said.

“This is Debbie's fifth year on campus, yet she has the relationships and cultural understanding of someone who's been a Tartan for 25 years,” said Steven Guenther, assistant vice president for facilities management. “Just like the principles of sustainability, she seems to be everywhere and embedded in everything at CMU.”

In the 1970s, American school children learned about environmentalism from Woodsy Owl, whose motto was “Give a hoot! Don’t pollute!” By the 1990s, when Steinberg began her career, the movement’s mantra had become the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle.

“In the 2000s, when the world started reacting to climate change, we shifted to more of a sustainability perspective,” she said. “Climate change is about how we're using energy, what we make our energy from, and the impact that has on our world and our resources.”

Today, the list has expanded to seven Rs: rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle and rot (compost). 

“It can be overwhelming,” Steinberg said. “People ask me, ‘What if what’s better from a waste perspective isn’t better from a climate perspective? What do I do?’ I tell them to pick what’s more important to them and make choices around that value that will make an impact.”

Carnegie Mellon participates in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), a voluntary, self-reporting program through the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. STARS measures performance by rating a university’s operational programs, curriculum, research and governance.

In the latest STARS report, released in January 2025, Carnegie Mellon received a score of 75.88 and a gold rating, the second-highest designation of sustainability leadership. The next round of reporting, scheduled for 2028, will include more stringent guidelines. Steinberg is already working to improve how CMU collects and analyzes its sustainability data in preparation.

Steinberg leads CMU’s participation in the annual Campus Race to Zero Waste, a friendly competition among colleges and universities to promote waste reduction on campus. Working with students and Staff Council, Steinberg organizes events during the eight-week campaign, including social media initiatives, lunch-and-learn programs and hands-on workshops such as turning old T-shirts into tote bags. CMU has participated in the Campus Race to Zero Waste every year since 2004. 

“As a university, we have a particular commitment to educate the next generation, empower staff and lead by example,” Guenther said. “Debbie has brought a unique blend of skills and the infectious inspiration to do all three while advancing sustainability at CMU."

Before she came to Carnegie Mellon, Steinberg was director of sustainability at Knox College in Illinois. She earned a bachelor’s degree in resource ecology and management from the University of Michigan, a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois Chicago and a master’s in landscape architecture from Chatham University.

Outside Carnegie Mellon, Steinberg is on the board of the College University Recycling Coalition, a nonprofit that helps colleges and universities share technical knowledge and best practices for recycling and reducing waste. She previously was a member of the Clean Pittsburgh Commission, a group that works to improve the city’s environmental quality through litter prevention, illegal dumping response and recycling education. 

Steinberg also extends CMU’s sustainability mission beyond campus. In 2024, she hosted a visit from Bethel Park High School’s Student Sustainability Design Challenge (SSDC) team, which researched stormwater drainage solutions for its campus. Touring CMU’s green infrastructure, including roof and rain gardens, gave the students a tangible view of sustainability in action. 

“It might inspire these students to do this kind of work, maybe come to school here, or remember this in the work they do in the future,” Steinberg said. “I’m always excited for those kinds of opportunities to engage with the community and represent CMU.”