HLS Green Team and Green Living members celebrate Earth Day 2011
On April 22, 2011, community members from Harvard Law School came out in droves to celebrate Earth Day on Holmes field in the culmination of a week’s worth of Earth Week events including a screening of the Bag-It movie and compost and recycling awareness outreach.
The Earth Day celebration gathered thirteen local, sustainable vendors and ten student, staff environmental organizations and administrative groups to share ideas, sample local and organic foods and products, and learn about environmental happenings on campus.
The fair's great turnout of students, staff and senior administrators is a testament to the Law School’s enthusiasm for and engagement in campus sustainability efforts and global environmental stewardship. HLS community members at every level contribute to our efforts to participate in the achievement of Harvard University’s commitment to sustainability principles, including the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2016 from a 2006 baseline. Thanks in large part to the actions taken by each individual to conserve energy, as of fiscal year 2010 HLS had reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 21% including all new growth, and we are committed to continue our progress towards achieving this goal in future years.
Learn more about participating vendors and HLS groups:
Veggie Planet is an all-vegetarian restaurant that uses organic and local ingredients when possible. We compost and recycle all of our waste, and have completed an environmental audit that resulted in us being awarded the title of "Sustainable Business Leader" by the Sustainable Business Leader Program of Greater Boston.
Harvard Law Students for Reproductive Justice (HLSRJ) is part of a national network of law students committed to ensuring access to medically accurate, age-appropriate, culturally competent sex and sexuality education, as well as comprehensive reproductive information and services for women and men, free from coercion, discrimination and violence. Reproductive justice overlaps with environmental issues in several ways, and issues include the effects of various chemicals on individuals' reproductive systems.
The Harvard Environmental Law Review (HELR) has been published semi-annually, in winter and spring, since 1976. HELR publishes articles on a broad range of environmental affairs, such as land use; air, water, and noise regulation; toxic substances control; radiation control; energy use; workspace pollution; science and technology control; and resource use and regulation. HELR draws upon environmental experts from government, academia, private practice, industry and public interest groups to cover legal developments at the local, state, federal, foreign, and international levels.
The Harvard Food Law Society represents students interested in the humanitarian, environmental and public health implications of food law and policy as well as those interested in pursuing careers in the burgeoning field of food law and policy. It provides students with hands-on exposure to the numerous issues in law, policy, science and management that confront professionals in the field of food law. Members participate in clinical projects and conferences, host speakers, take trips and collaborate with groups throughout the University and the world in their effort to address food issues.
Save That Stuff, Inc. knows how to channel resources in ways that reward both the environment those who recycle. We’re here to help you put together a program that ‘s effective and efficient. Save that Stuff offers a program that you can live with and one that ultimately gets us closer to our collective goal of achieving zero waste.
Iggy’s Bread of the World is to makes breads of the highest quality and delivers them daily to our customers with the highest standards of service and integrity. Our priority is to learn to work well together, and to create an environment that fosters communication and personal growth. Honesty, mutual respect, sharing and caring for the people and the planet are the values on which our business is based.
Greenward is Cambridge's friendly neighborhood eco-boutique, selling a wide variety of merchandise that is recycled, organic, sustainable, energy efficient, biodegradable, or all of the above. We have something for everyone: housewares, cleaning products, handbags and accessories, baby gifts, jewelry, stationery, composting supplies, bicycle accessories, and more.
HLS Events Management Office: The HLS events team is committed to helping event organizers “green” their events, by offering Green Events tips and making composting available for any event.
Stone Hearth Pizza Co. is dedicated to green business, using only plates, cups and utensils that can be composted for our delivery and take out. We are a member of the Sustainable Business Leaders Program and have reduced our landfill destined waste by over 90% with a single-stream recycling program, and composting all food waste, and the only pizza restaurant in Cambridge that offers re-usable pizza boxes.
Carolina Recycled Glass Jewelry: Carolina appreciates the opportunity to create something new, unique and artistic out of recycled materials that might otherwise go unused. Her crafts include colorful paper earrings made using reclaimed flyers and random throwaway cardstock, and jewelry made out of recycled glass. The glass is cut and assembled, then fired in a kiln to fuse. When the glass fuses, each design becomes a one of a kind creation.
Boston Organics is an independent organic produce and grocery delivery service currently serving the greater Boston area. From farm to table we strive to be as sustainable as possible, including extensive waste reduction, recycling and composting, delivery route optimization and geographically focused produce buying.
The CommuterChoice Program is committed to providing the best and most sustainable commuting information and planning services for Harvard employees who work in the Cambridge Allston/Brighton campuses, regarding their commute to work.
MassRIDES: CommuterChoice is partnering with MassRIDES, the statewide travel options program, to bring you a new employee benefit program— NuRide (www.commute.com/nuride). NuRide is the free and easy way to get rewards for taking greener trips when you take public transportation, bike, walk, telecommute, carpool, vanpool or work a compressed week. NuRide also allows you to track emissions prevented, gas conserved and money saved!
The Harvard Environmental Law Society organizes social and career development events on campus for students interested in environmental issues. We host hikes and other outings, environmental film screenings, and speakers on a variety of environmental topics.
Metro Pedal Power offers eco-friendly solutions for last mile delivery in urban areas. Our emissions-free pedal-trucks work in all weather, carrying up to 500 lbs. We provide local parcel service, route delivery and on-demand trucking services for businesses such as wholesale manufacturers and distributors, printing and reprographics services, restaurants and caterers, local farms, retail stores and more.
Grillo’s Pickles is an all natural company bringing gourmet pickled products to the masses. We use no chemical preservatives in any of our products. All of our products are hand packed.
RelayRides is the world's first neighbor-to-neighbor carsharing service. We provide the technology and support for owners to be able to safely and easily share their cars with their neighbors - which in turn allows the borrowers an affordable and convenient alternative to car ownership. RelayRides leads to fewer cars on the road, less driving, and cleaner air for us all.
The HLS Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) is a group of students who care deeply about animals and the many issues facing them. We are a student chapter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, a national organization of lawyers who engage in litigation and legislative efforts on behalf of animals. One of our major goals is to promote awareness about the animal welfare, human health, and environmental issues surrounding our society's reliance on factory farms and other methods of mass food production.
Peace o' Pie has a number of sustainability initiatives, the foremost of which is serving food that contains no animal products whatsoever. When possible, we source organic and local produce. Our take-out boxes are 100% post consumer recycled paper and can be folded into four plates in order to limit waste. We also have an extensive compost and recycling program and strive to be as close to zero waste as is possible given the packaging some of our ordered goods use. Our counter is made of recycled newspaper and the paint in the store is recycled latex. And, finally, all of our lighting uses CFL bulbs.
Restaurant Associates, Harvard Law School’s food service provider, is dedicated to being on the forefront of sustainability as well as social and environmental responsibility. RA is acutely aware that our thoughts and actions directly impact not only our customers, but a much larger community. Because of this, RA has taken steps to continually improve how we run our business, serve our guests, and preserve our natural resources. At Harvard Law School, RA is determined to impact both the health and wellness of our guests, and the quality of our community and the environment. With that effort in mind, we have banned the use of Styrofoam and plastic in all food service disposable items. All of the new food service disposables are compostable and will be sent to a commercial composting facility. We have also instituted the following initiatives and are continually researching new practices and policies: organic options, 30-70% local food from farms within 150 miles, sustainable seafood, zero trans-fat, fair trade coffee, cage-free shell eggs, wellness, back-of-house composting and front-of house composting and recycling stations, green signage.
Zipcar is wheels when you want them. We are changing the way people think about consumption. We care deeply about our world and impact on the environment. We offer a practical and actionable example of sustainable living that decreases the adverse effects of transportation. We make life more rewarding, sustainable and affordable. We enhance urban lifestyles by maximizing our members' most precious resource - their time. We demonstrate our commitment to the greater good, finding ways to make positive changes in our communities and society. We inform public policy through leadership. We integrate our transportation innovations with urban planning and development.
The HLS Facilities team is committed to reducing HLS’ energy consumption by upgrading buildings and systems to be more efficient, including lighting upgrades, variable frequency drives and heat recovery systems, and we promote energy conservation among all HLS community members. We also focus on conserving resources by installing low-flow faucets, toilets and urinals, running a comprehensive recycling and composting program, and incorporating Green Building practices.
Quad Bikes is the non-profit bicycle shop for the Harvard Community. Our mission is to encourage people in the area to understand, use, and appreciate bicycles through bicycle repair, sale of parts, accessories, and refurbished bicycles, classes, and a workspace rental service. We are the on-campus source for bicycles and service.
Wasserstein-Caspersen-Clinical Building project is on target to receive LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and is taking steps to promote sustainability during construction by using variable frequency drives on ventilation equipment to reduce energy consumption, limiting site lighting to what is necessary for safety and security to reduce energy consumption, and metering and reporting during construction so that energy use can be measured and additional ways to save energy determine as construction proceeds.
The HLS Green Team is a forum for members of the HLS community interested in taking action to improve campus sustainability. Green Team members strive to be the most informed members in the HLS community about campus sustainability issues and to be source of information and resource for their peers. We stay current by focusing on key departmental partners to develop sustainability initiatives and improvements and spread the word through outreach events within the HLS community. Current and ongoing projects and events include Freecycles, film screenings, environmental speakers, Green Events outreach and building composting program development and outreach.
The Green Living Program is in its sixth year as a peer-to-peer education program that promotes sustainable living in the Harvard Law School dorms. Six Green Living Representatives connect with fellow residents about energy and water conservation, recycling, and waste reduction through activities and information sharing and suggest infrastructure and policy improvements to empower student conservation.
by
The fair's great turnout is a testament to the Law School’s enthusiasm for and engagement in campus sustainability efforts and global environmental stewardship.
