The national magazine of the Sierra Club says Arizona's largest university is also one of the greenest colleges around.

Sierra magazine, in its annual "Cool Schools" ranking released late last month, ranked Arizona State University fifth in the country out of 269 schools that participated in the ranking of North America's greenest colleges and universities.

The organization says the schools ranked in the top 20 "have displayed a deep and thorough commitment to protecting the environment, addressing climate issues, and encouraging environmental responsibilities."

Researchers for the Sierra Club ranked the universities based on their commitment to high environmental standards, the group says.

The top spot on the list was a tie between the University of California-Irvine and Vermont's Green Mountain College. There were no other Arizona schools on the list, but others in the region included Colorado State University (fourth), California State University-Chico (ninth), Santa Clara University (13th) and Loyola Marymount University (19th).

You can view the full rankings and learn about each of the schools on the list on the Sierra Club's website.