This page is dedicated to the folks working in offices across campus who make sustainable decisions every day.

New Faculty Resource
Hey faculty--we have a new resource for you! EcoTeach is a new environmental and sustainability curriculum website that was designed by Peggy McKay ('10) to encourage collaboration and innovation. 

Getting Started
Write a statement of commitment to sustainability for your office.

• Designate a green representative or team for your office to be in charge of programming.
• Talk to those with whom you share an office about the importance of going green.
• Decide on your goals as an office and how to implement them.
• Encourage the office to start with the easiest tasks and behavioral changes, and work your way up to the more difficult ones.
• Run incentive programs to encourage changes in behavior.
• Create promotional materials to display around the office.

Solid Waste: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Reduce

• Cancel multiple subscriptions and share one copy.
• Stop junk mail.
• Share a phone book.
• Print double sided.
• Don’t print e-mails unless absolutely necessary.
• Centralize printing— personal printers encourage wastefulness. When there is one printer for the whole office (or floor), you’re more likely to think about whether you really need to print it.
• When color is not important, print in gray scale (monochrome).

Reuse

• Use a ceramic mug for your coffee. The Union Café gives a discount for a ceramic or travel mugs!
• Bring your lunch in reusable containers.  
• Use scrap papers that you no longer need for taking notes.
• Use and reuse interdepartmental envelopes for mail that stays on campus.

Recycle

• Recycle all types of paper: printer paper, junk mail, magazines, brochures, manila folders, envelopes.
• Plastic, glass and aluminum should always be recycled.
• Printer cartridges, plastic grocery bags and batteries can be recycled in the Union.
  • Designate a box for these items in your office and have someone take it to the Union weekly. 
• Computers, electronics and other office equipment can be recycled through companies like Office Max.

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Environmentally-Conscious Purchasing

Considerations for choosing a supplier

• Does the company have a policy to reduce and prevent pollution?
• Consider the cost of the item over its lifetime: raw material extraction, manufacturing, packaging, transport, energy consumption while in use, maintenance, disposal.
• How is the company actively working toward sustainability?
• Give preference to reusable items and those made from recycled material.

What to buy and where to buy it

• Energy Star appliances
• Office Max's "Guide To Buying Green" 
• Eco-conscious companies

Energy Consumption

Turn it off!

• Turn off the lights when you are not in your office.
• Use natural light augmented with a desk lamp instead of the overhead lights.
• Have meetings outside when it’s nice. 
• Plug appliances into a power strip, and flip it off when not in use. Many electronics draw electricity even when they are turned off—this is called a "phantom load." Power strips don’t have phantom loads.
• Turn off your computer at night; this can save up to $70 per computer per year.
• Turn off your printer, fax machine and copy machine at night, this can save over $100 per machine per year.

Efficiency

• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of traditional ones. The newest technology produces high-quality light just like traditional bulbs.
• In the summer, keep curtains closed during the day and open at night; in the winter, keep curtains open during the day and closed at night.

Specific Office/Room Energy Resources

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Water Consumption

• Bring a water filter to work instead of buying water bottles.

Transportation

• Walk or ride a bike to work.
• Carpool to work and lunch when you can.