Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts Environmental Education and Outreach - Green Teams

SCHOOL Founded in 1636, Harvard University is a private research institution made up of 10 principal academic units - nine faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Approximately 1,900 faculty teach a student body made up of 6,700 undergraduates and more than 12,000 graduate and professional students.

ABSTRACT At Harvard a “Green Team” is a forum for staff, students, and faculty to discuss and implement sustainability projects in their schools, departments, or buildings. Groups generally meet at least once a month for an hour, and may conduct additional discussions in subcommittee meetings and over e-mail, as necessary.

Green Teams develop sustainability projects and goals based on the unique conditions facing their intended areas of impact. Projects at the school level have included office supply swaps, film screenings, information fairs, resource conservation competitions, composting and recycling awareness efforts, and environmental awareness surveys. Projects at the department or building level have included the removal of bottled water systems, the installation of energy efficient lighting or plumbing fixtures in cooperation with Facilities/Operations, the adoption of office policies for resource conservation, and the purchase of environmentally preferable office commodities or equipment.

GOALS AND OUTCOMES Goals When formed at the department or building level, Green Teams aim to meet any number of goals set by members. In addition to reducing environmental impacts, these may include strengthening workplace community, maximizing cost savings, and reducing program waste.

School-wide Green Teams are facilitated by coordinators from the Harvard Office for Sustainability and/or members of Facilities/Operations. They were formed to provide a viable structure for long-term community engagement on green work place issues. Like departmental Green Teams, school-wide Green Teams focus on the issues which are of most immediate concern to staff and students. These may include reducing food waste, instilling correct recycling and composting practices, and promoting office supply reuse.

Accomplishments and Outcomes Right now there are about twenty-five Green Teams at Harvard. Ten Green Teams are in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and each of the following schools has at least one team: Harvard Business School, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Law School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Harvard School of Public Health. There are also Green Teams at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard Real Estate Services, and in University Hall and 1033 Massachusetts Avenue. Over 250 Harvard students, faculty, and staff are involved with these green teams

As part of broader community engagement efforts coordinated by the Office for Sustainability, Green Teams help increase recycling rates, promote reuse, communicate administrative policy changes (such as the addition of cafeteria composting or the institution of campus energy policies), and distribute university wide outreach materials and campaigns. Green Teams also greatly enhance the efficacy of school sustainability coordinators by contributing feedback, creative ideas, and volunteer time.

In addition, Green Teams serve to strengthen relationships between staff, students, administrative departments, and Facilities/Operations.

To learn more about Green Team activities, visit http://green.harvard.edu/green-teams.

An Office for Sustainability Green Team ‘Start-Up’ guide and ideas for projects can be found here. http://www.green.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/fas/GreenTeamStart-upGuide.doc

Challenges and Responses It is difficult for Green Teams to plan and implement projects rapidly. Green Teams are volunteer organizations, as such, their activities must accommodate staff and students’ busy schedules. Lunch meetings scheduled well in advance can help insure that members can attend. Forming subcommittees around specific issues is another way to solve this problem; it is much easier to schedule meetings and planning is often best done in smaller groups. Projects still benefit from group feedback when effective communications between subcommittees and the entire Green Team are maintained (generally by reporting subcommittee decisions to the group over e-mail). Even so, although Green Teams can accomplish great things over the long term, it is generally unreasonable to expect rapid progress.

An additional challenge facing Green Teams is the tendency for unanticipated work to fall to the group facilitator to complete. It is important for this individual to delegate tasks whenever possible and to emphasize that the success of the Green Team depends on individual contributions. This is an expectation that should be set from the beginning.

Campus Climate Action: Your School’s Carbon Footprint Harvard University is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2006 levels by 2016; Green Teams are part of grassroots community engagement efforts designed to create a culture of sustainability across the university.

Commentary and Reflection Being an active participant on a Green Team is often personally rewarding for staff and students; members are generally happy to have the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to resource reduction efforts in their work/study spaces. Green Teams also provide validation for staff members who, prior to getting involved, may have felt like lone advocates for resource conservation. With validation, members are more likely to speak to their peers and colleagues; Green Team discussions can also provide specific knowledge about campus sustainability efforts to make these conversations more effective.

ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT Leaders and Supporters Because Green Teams are a collaborative effort, the long-term success of a Green Team depends on the time that members are willing and able to contribute in addition to their regular office duties. Meetings benefit greatly from having a core group of members who attend a majority of meetings; it is more important to have fewer numbers of vocal contributors than large numbers of more reticent individuals. The group facilitator generally serves in an administrative capacity by recording discussion notes and

National Wildlife Federation • Campus Ecology • 2009 2 distributing them, planning meetings and booking spaces, researching project ideas, setting up sub- committee or follow up meetings, and recruiting members through school or department specific communication channels such as e-mails, newsletters, and websites. The development of outreach materials and the duties associated with event planning are divided among Green Team members, with additional support from School Sustainability Coordinators as necessary.

At Harvard, several Office for Sustainability staff members facilitate school Green Teams, and are therefore able to share outreach materials between schools.

Funding and Resources Green Teams operate at low costs. Expenses may include food for events, audio/visual equipment rental, posters, stickers, and outreach material printing costs, and other miscellaneous fees such as online survey services. Funding comes from school sustainability program budgets or departmental operating budgets.

Education and Community Outreach The Harvard community is in general very receptive to peer-to-peer outreach efforts implemented by Green Teams. Methods of outreach include e-mails, posters, stickers, events, tabling, and websites.

CONTACT INFORMATION Contacts For a list of Green Teams and contacts at Harvard visit http://green.harvard.edu/green-teams

Case study submitted by: Cara Ferrantino, [email protected]

MORE ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL Campus Sustainability History Harvard University is dedicated to confronting the challenges of climate change and global sustainability both through academic research and by translating that research into action on campus.

Harvard’s efforts are driven by three flagship sustainability commitments: Sustainability Principles that provide broad vision to guide University efforts; Green Building Requirements that require Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver plus additional energy requirements; and a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal to reduce emissions 30 percent below a 2006 baseline by 2016 including growth. These commitments are administered through the Harvard Office for Sustainability.

As a result of these commitments, Harvard now has 62 building projects in process toward achieving LEED certification, a 55 percent recycling rate, renewable energy projects on campus, composting in residential and commercial dining halls, organic landscaping in Harvard Yard, and a drive-alone rate of only 16.5 percent, to name just a few examples.

Harvard’s Office for Sustainability is advancing these efforts by bringing together thousands of students, faculty and staff across the University to translate knowledge into action. By successfully integrating sustainability principles into all Harvard practices, the University delivers tangible, positive contributions to the global environment and human well-being.

Please visit the Harvard Office for Sustainability website for more information at http://www.green.harvard.edu.

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