Offices

On a dreary March afternoon, Roy Lauridsen, Harvard Divinity School’s Facilities Manager, stopped me outside of his office. A group of students, he told me, had gotten the idea of putting in a garden somewhere on the grounds of Harvard Divinity School–but most had never done any gardening. Would I be willing to help? I accepted without hesitation.

Thanks to an intrepid team of mid-evening adventurers, the enthusiasm of the building manager, and 77 new compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), Harvard’s Expository Writing building on Prescott Street has entered a future of big savings. The light bulb switch took less than an hour to complete and will save the University thousands of dollars in the years to come.

Allured by the sight of an array of office supplies and kitchenware, students, faculty, staff, and community members flocked to this academic year’s first “FAS Freecycle” on the Science Center lawn last Tuesday. To their astonishment, everything seen was free to take.

Not long ago, Dara Olmsted ’00 was a teaching fellow in a Harvard course about dinosaurs, a cast of creatures that disappeared 65 million years ago.

The Center for Health & the Global Environment (CHGE) at Harvard Medical School has been active in greening its office practices through the Harvard Office for Sustainability’s Green Office Certification Program.

Got extra office supplies, books, magazines, or mugs that you or your office doesn’t use? Don’t trash them–freecycle them! Need new office supplies? Don’t pay for new ones–pick them up at the Freecycle and save your office money!

Tuesday, September 15
11am-1:30pm (rain or shine)
Science Center Lawn

Christine S. Benoit, a contract manager at Harvard’s Strategic Procurement Office, was profiled in the August 2009 issue of the Harvard Gazette:

Harvard’s student-run radio station, WHRB 95.3 FM has become the first student organization to receive Leaf One certification through the university Green Office program, “…and it looks like achieving Leaf Two won’t be too much of a stretch” says Dan Thorn ’11, the station’s Chief Studio Engineer.

The FAS Green Program is giving out free plug timers (while supplies last!)

We have successfully installed them in five labs (hot plates, water baths, fluorescent lighting, and heat blocks) and water coolers in offices.

Interested in helping your office reduce its environmental footprint and reduce financial impacts? Join us for a workshop to walk through Harvard’s Green Office Certification Program and find out how your office can get started towards becoming "4 leaf" certified! (All schools, units, and departments welcome!)