Stories

Dear PRISE students,

As announced at this week’s Environmental Jeopardy studybreak, the FAS Green Labs Program has partnered with PRISE to promote sustainable research practices in the labs, through the PRISE Green Challenge. The FAS Lab Sustainability Reps will be available on Tuesday nights at dinner to answer any questions and provide advice for pursuing sustainable projects.

Harvard Law School celebrates Earth Day 2009 with dignity, style, and a farmer's market.

HKS has gotten a little greener this spring with the addition of the new HKS Community Garden on the Malkin Penthouse balcony. The idea for the garden came from a group of students in a food & policy group led by Zara Snapp. They teamed up with some HKS Green Team members who had gardening expertise, and the garden came to life in a matter of weeks.

Congratulations to CommuterChoice for winning a 2009 Bike Friendly Business award.  Boston Mayor Tom Menino hosted the awards ceremony at the Boston Children’s Museum on April 16.  Mayor Menino presented Manager of CommuterChoice Kris Locke and Associate Director for Parking Services Jim Sarafin with the award for their extensive efforts to promote bicycling on

On May 12, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the new bike shelter near the Divinity School. Transportation Services Director John Nolan, Associate Vice President for Facilities and Environmental Services Tom Vautin, Manager of CommuterChoice Kris Locke and others gathered for the event. The shelter, on Francis Street, encourages bicycling by providing a covered area for up to 74 bikes.

Want to know what’s going on at FAS in 140 characters or less? Follow the FAS Green Program on Twitter!

The Problem: peripheral devices, such as desktop computers, monitors, chargers and printers, that are plugged in to typical power strips draw “phantom power,” even when the devices are not in use. In a building with as many tenants as the Holyoke Center tower, this can quickly add up, both in terms of cost and energy usage.

Earth Week 2009 was a rousing success. Check out some of the photos in our new slideshow.

The office buildings at 46 Blackstone Street, home to Harvard's UOS Department, began composting in March 2008. Small green buckets were placed in every kitchen and kitchenette to collect compostable wastes and composting will take place at all Blackstone barbecues.

From plates to paints, the Ed School is looking a lot greener these days thanks to the groundbreaking Green Program. A partnership between the school and the Harvard Green Campus Initiative [now Office for Sustainability], the program is aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of Ed School operations and fostering environmentally conscious students, faculty, and staff.

Scientists at Harvard University have found that tropical cyclones readily inject ice far into the stratosphere, possibly feeding global warming.

Last October, Harvard developed a list of ten actions most of us can take to have a great impact as individuals on our collective environmental footprint.

This year, faculty, students and staff across Harvard modeled the Top Ten in a humorous poster series that's been sweeping the schools.

Training a New Generation of Scholars

The Harvard Graduate Consortium on Energy and Environment will foster a new community of doctoral students who will be well versed in the broad, interconnected issues of energy and environment while maintaining their focus in their primary discipline.

7 FAS Labs Undergo Comprehensive Environmental Assessments

Based on a successful program at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Green Labs Program has partnered with students to analyze science labs for resource conservation opportunities.

If all goes well, Stuart McNeil, building manager for the Department of Physics, will be well into retirement by the time someone has to change the light bulbs he has just installed in Professor Jene Golovchenko’s biophysics lab.

The second RC Section Sustainability Competition was due to be a challenging one. With just two public printers having duplex capacity, seeing which section would print the most case write-ups double-sided was sure to be daunting. That was until MBA IT Support Services came through with spooky timing.

Most of us take those important small steps that make a big difference: turning out our lights when we leave a room, recycling our bottles, cans and paper, and power-managing our computers. However, every now and then, a student, tutor, or House master goes one step further and takes on a larger personal project that makes the entire campus a little greener.

Hard as it is to admit, climate change won’t be stopped simply by turning out your lights, or by taking shorter showers. Those are certainly parts of the solution, but it’s going to take the innovation and creativity of a lot of our best and brightest.

A handful of staff at the Division of Continuing Education (DCE) claim to have climbed the vertical equivalent of Mt. Everest (29,029 feet), promoting good health as well as green-mindedness. Six years ago DCE photographer Jeffry Pike started a stair-climbing competition, drawing a chart of Everest against which participants could map their progress on a daily basis.

Van Gogh imprisoned stars like yellow daises smashed behind a sheet of blue glass. Winslow Homer abandoned a casual boater between angry waters and a bludgeoned cadre of clouds. Gerhard Richter stole and melted down the gray winter air into a series of polished mirrors. In each case, a painter sought to capture a small sliver of the dramatic and ever-changing atmosphere. Another kind of artist, an engineer, is also attempting to frame the sky in a box; in his case, the canvas is a laboratory.

The ground behind Andover Hall has been shaking off and on for months. A backhoe moves chunks of earth by the bucket load. Men and women in hard hats and jeans yell over the sounds of thundering machines and grinding metal. One year ago, Rockefeller Hall was home to a community of Harvard Divinity School (HDS) students, a refectory, and a few meeting rooms.

“Rock Hall” - the nickname for John D. Rockefeller Jr. Hall at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) - looks just like what it is: a spare, elegant building in the Modernist tradition.

But its straight lines, wide windows, and understated functionality nicely conceal what it has become: one of the most energy-efficient buildings at Harvard.

The end of November marked the public kick-off of SingleStream recycling at Harvard Medical School (HMS)! HMS recycles less than half its trash, 46 percent last year compared to 55 percent on Harvard's Cambridge campus. Per ton, recycling costs only half the disposal fees of trash, and in a better economy, it saves even more money.

At the urging of EcoOpportunity Team representatives, the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) Operations has provided additional composting stations on each departmental floor, making it even easier for everyone to do the right thing by composting!

As part of an ongoing effort to make the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) more sustainable, HSPH Operations announced this February that the school will no longer be selling bottled water in Sebastian's Café.

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it," reads a passage in the book of Genesis, the section of the Bible that describes the creation of the Earth. Many contend that this sacred poetry - and other biblical passages like it - underscores man’s responsibility as the planet’s chief steward.

Harvard has always made efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. But this summer, several Harvard schools added another waste reduction skill to their repertoire: composting at large events. Since May 2008, many annual Harvard parties have become “zero waste” events.

When super busy Harvard Law School (HLS) students dashed into the Harkness Commons for a bite between classes on a Wednesday afternoon this past September, something made them stop and slow down for once; ironically it was “slow food.” The slow food movement is one that emphasizes a diet made up of food that’s good for people and the planet.

Since its inception 3 years ago, the Harvard Program for Research In Science and Engineering (PRISE) has not only been affording students the opportunity to do research in the summer months, but also building a thriving community of individuals with a wide variety of interests. This year, at least one of those interests was green.

On St. Patty's Day (the perfect day to celebrate all things green), the energy conscious students of Morris Hall had a nice spread awaiting them at the 4th Annual Reduce Your Juice Award dinner. After winning the energy competition at the end of the fall semester, Green Living Rep Jenny Liu planned a tasty thank you for her friends and neighbors.

Here at Harvard, we try to insure that you leave with a good head on your shoulders; what you didn't know is that we’re also making sure you have a good head on your showers while you're here! Last summer, Harvard Real Estate Services replaced over 2,600 standard showerheads with water saving, low-flow showerheads and installed over 6,000 aerators in kitchens and bathrooms.

One of the things that the Graduate School of Education (GSE) Green Team is most proud of is the fact that their recycling rate is so high; over 60% of the waste at the GSE is recycled. In an effort to capitalize on the environmental ethos that so clearly pervades the school, the Green Team has a few events and collections to expand the program even more.

One look around campus and it is clear that bottled water is in hot supply. Perhaps we missed the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for tap water are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration's standards for bottled water.

There was something conspicuously absent from Harvard Kennedy School's (HKS) annual summer picnic on July 9–garbage. The "zero waste" event was one of the first of its kind held at Harvard and was organized by the HKS Green Team, a group of staff who are dedicated to the pursuit of campus sustainability.

Patrons of the café at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) are getting some effective green messaging along with their meals thanks to new signage spotlighting the environmental and social benefits of the products they buy.

Harvard is embarking on a University-wide effort to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and University Operations Services (UOS) is helping to lead the way. The scope of this initiative is substantial and every UOS employee has an important role in ensuring its success.

Harvard Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO) is sharing in the promising results of the recent Harvard Yard Soils Restoration Project. This pilot effort, which started last spring, clearly demonstrated that plant health could be significantly improved even in a highly traveled urban landscape using only natural methods…no chemicals or synthetic fertilizers!

Recycling at Harvard is now a whole lot easier. That’s because paper, cans, bottles, and cardboard can all be discarded into the same recycling bins. It’s a process known as Single Stream recycling and it’s sure to increase the amount of material that’s recycled here at the University.

Harvard's largest wind power study ever is now underway. Engineering and Utilities (E&U) began planning for the complex project back in 2006, and now the structure stands tall as a symbol of Harvard's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Students enrolled in the College’s Environmental Science and Public Policy 10 (ESPP-10) course are getting some real world experience, thanks in part to University Operations Services (UOS).

As part of Radcliffe's Lectures in Science series, the video of a talk entitled "The Changing Carbon Cycle: How Fast Will Atmospheric CO2 Increase?" is available on the Radcliffe website.

Inez Fung, Professor of Atmospheric sciences, Co-director, Berkeley Institute of the Environment, University of California at Berkeley
Monday, October 29, 2007.

On September 11, 2008, a total of 60 grill orders were left abandoned in Cabot and Pforzheimer dining halls. Plates of chickwiches, cheeseburgers, bean burritos, grilled chicken breasts, and Boca burgers all waited patiently to be claimed, but to no avail. Food was ordered but ultimately forgotten. This was food waste at its worst.

Harvard Real Estate Services is currently installing solar thermal collectors at two of our residential properties - 472-474 Broadway and 20-20a Prescott Street. When up and running by the beginning of June, the heat collected by the panels will be used to supplement the boilers in heating the buildings’ hot water.

Alaska biologist reviews far north climate change

Climate change is not only altering Alaska’s natural world, it’s also affecting how humans interact with it, particularly those whose culture and traditions have pointed the way for generations to survive in the sometimes inhospitable far north.

The Harvard Faculty Club is well known for its regal décor and sumptuous meals. Step beyond the swinging doors into the kitchen, and you’ll find a staff dedicated to delivering excellence and quality with a high degree of efficiency.

On July 8, 2008, President Faust issued a statement on the new report by the Harvard Greenhouse Gas Task Force. In her statement, she announced her intention to proceed with several recommendations from the Task Force.

People who drive to the Holyoke Center for work, a doctor’s appointment, or a jaunt in Harvard Square, might take the parking garage for granted. It’s safe, convenient, and always open. And that means its 120 light fixtures burn 24 hours every day of the year.

Restaurant Associates (RA) has planted a small herb garden in the Elements Café, as part of the Sustainable Dining Program that was initiated last year, which focuses on using local and sustainable produce in the menus.

Currently, the basil, tomatoes, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and various other herbs are growing nicely in innovative “Earth Boxes” that are specially designed for growing food plants in small spaces with minimal water usage.

On October 22, 2008, the Harvard community joined together to celebrate our commitment to progress toward sustainability, and to recognize work that's been done.