Boston University's official colors may be scarlet and white, but according to the Sierra Club, BU can go green, too.

In the September/October issue of its magazine, the Sierra Club ranked BU as 50th on the "Cool Schools: Top 100" list of greenest schools in the United States.

Sierra Club ranked the schools based on 10 categories, including energy supply and their commitment to sustainability, efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments and "other initiatives," according to the group's website.

The magazine consulted the club's conservation experts to reach its final verdict. BU trailed behind the University of Connecticut and beat Wellesley College, Willamette University and Villanova University, among others.

First on the list was Green Mountain College in Vermont for its "creativity" for using biomass and biogas to generate power and heat on campus.

In April, The Princeton Review's "Guide to 286 Green Colleges" also listed BU as one of the greenest schools in the country.

In recent years, BU has increased its green movement on campus by creating an environmental website and instituting green construction programs across campus. BU has also incorporated energy-saving lights and new trash, compost and recycling bins in the George Sherman Union.

Sustainability@bu partnered with Goodwill for Move Out 2010 from April 26-May 18, where they diverted 35.24 tons of clothing and household items from landfills, according to the sustainability website.

The group focuses on energy conservation, climate action planning, green building design, recycling and waste reduction, communications, outreach, food and transportation, according to its website.

Its main goal is to "reduce BU's environmental footprint through campus infrastructure upgrades and by connecting students, faculty and staff to participate in and support these efforts," the site states.

BU aims to keep a balance between its people, the planet, its prosperity and education, said Dennis Carlberg, the sustainability director at the facilities management and planning department, in an interview with The Daily Free Press this spring.