On July 26th, the Green Office team hosted the Green Office Luncheon in College Hall as a way for offices to network, learn more about the Green Office program, and recognize participants for their sustainable practices. Twenty offices who certified or recertified in the first part of the year received their 2018 plaque tiles.
The Green Office program is designed to help offices become more sustainable and also help them connect to resources and people interested in office sustainability. It involves an annual certification in which offices rank their sustainability efforts. Certification can range from “registered” to platinum, depending on the number of points earned on the checklist. The luncheon is one of the many perks of participating in the program along with receiving a plaque and earning a tile for each year of certification and recognition at the Green Carpet Awards. Offices also have access to many resources such as a composting guide, posters and, of course, each other!
During the program, veteran Green Office Liaisons shared their experiences as participants in the program and outlined the reasons why they continued to participate:
“A great benefit of the Green Office program is that it has afforded me opportunities to learn more and improve my own practices, and it has given me information and an avenue to engage colleagues in conversations of how to be greener themselves. Through the Green Office Program we have been able to improve toward a common goal,” Timothy Dungan, Gephart Institute for Civic and Community Engagement
“Our department has gone from silver to platinum. We feel very proud that we are making great strides in reducing waste. Along with that, we are making new friends across campus as we meet to talk about all things recyclable and compostable. One of the changes we have made is using silverware instead of plastic ware. Not only have we decreased waste in the landfills, but we have saved money. Our only issue is that people are taking the silverware home with them. I guess we’ll be starting a new initiative. Everyone bring your own silverware for lunch!” Maureen Kleekamp, Office of Arts and Sciences Alumni and Development.
“One of the most beneficial aspects of the Green Office Program is that it provides a brilliant method for disseminating campus wide (and even global) information on sustainability programs, initiatives and practices. The applicant is educated and provided resources at every step of the way through the actual process of completing the checklist. The group can find suggestions for how to achieve certain points and useful links for posters, websites, policies, guidelines and other informative documents. The Green Office Checklist process then helps them perform goal planning for improving their sustainable achievements in the next year,” Donna Hall, Environmental Health and Safety
This year the luncheon also featured a networking bingo activity which encouraged attendees to get to know each other as well as other offices sustainability practices, generating connections among offices. The game featured questions that mimicked some of the more difficult categories of the checklists, in order to help connect offices and figure out ways to score these points in the future. The first three to get to bingo went home with a reusable bamboo cutlery set!
Congratulations to offices who have RECEIVED 2018 CERTIFICATION
Platinum
- Arts & Sciences Alumni & Development
- Campus Card Services
Gold
- Accounting Operations
- Anthropology
- Aramark – Administration
- Biological & Chemical Safety Division of EHS
- Engineering Alumni & Development
- Office of the Ombuds
- Payroll
- Sam Fox Alumni and Development
- Summer Programs and Conference Services
- The Henry Edwin Sever Institute
Silver
- ECD Medical School
- Office of the Assistant Dean and Assistant Vice Chancellor for OFMD
- Film and Media Archive
- Office of the Dean of Faculty of Arts & Sciences
- Engineering Graduate Student Services
- Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center
Bronze
- CAM South County – Orthopedics
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences
- John C. Danforth Center of Religion and Politics
- Olin Alumni and Development
- Olin Library Admin Suite
- Skandalaris Center
Click here for a full listing of current participants.
The Green Office program is supported by a team of interns with the Office of Sustainability. This summer the team consisted of senior Brenda Alvarado, junior Jacob Plotkin and first-year student Kendall Fields. Together the team certified 12 offices including recruiting four new offices. They hosted four recycling genius training sessions on both the Medical and Danforth Campuses. We’d like to thank them for their efforts to connect with new offices and encourage early re-certifications!