Green Team

Harvard Law School Green Team celebrate Earth Day 2011 (L-R): Top row - Mike Rozensher, Amrit Dhir, Sameer Birring. Middle row: Lee Fenn, Kate Cosgrove, Krystyna Wamboldt, Alyssa Lary, Carrie Ayers, Trisha Kingsbury. Front row: Carla Ganon, Jenny Lee, Myra Blake. 

• About the Green Team
• EARTH MONTH 2012 EVENT CALENDAR
• Green Team Meeting Calendar
• Green Team Projects
  • Bottled Water
  • Earth Day
  • Freecycling
  • Hark Waste Reduction
  • Recycling Outreach
  • Staff Survey

About the Green Team 

The Law School Green Team is a forum for members of the HLS community interested in taking action to improve campus sustainability.  We’ve been meeting monthly over lunch since February 2009.   The Green Team takes on projects aimed at expanding knowledge surrounding the environmental impacts of daily decisions about food, energy, and materials.  The group also seeks to make it easier for members of HLS to make more sustainable decisions about resource consumption.  Recent projects include a number of events, displays, and a staff survey. E-mail the HLS Sustainability Coordinator at sustainability@lists.law.harvard.edu if you’d like to join our e-mail list. 

The members of the HLS Green Team are:

• Innovators. We brainstorm, plan and implement campus sustainability projects, like our ongoing building composting project; the first of its kind at any Harvard school!
• Knowledgeable. We strive to be the most well-informed members of the HLS community about campus sustainability initiative implementation and successes.  We build our knowledge base through: monthly meetings with our group, the HLS Sustainability Coordinator and guests from campus administrative departments; best-practice sharing over our email list; participating in the University-wide Green Team Leaders network, and educational events, discussions with faculty, movie screenings and field trips.
• Communicators. We act as key liaisons to share information and receive feedback about sustainability initiatives and successes within our community, and perform outreach with our peers about sustainability best practices and behavior change.

Our Goals: 

The Green Team focuses on four key impact areas: 

• Greenhouse Gas Reduction: as partners in achieving Harvard's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal, the Green Team advises the administration on energy conservation opportunities and shares best-practice conservation and efficiency behaviors with the campus community. 
• Resource efficiency: The Green Team works on wide-ranging conservation and efficiency projects supporting Harvard's commitment to Sustainability Principles including water conservation, strategic procurement, and the reduction, recycling, re-use and composting of waste.  
• Community education & engagement: Through outreach campaigns, film screenings, and direct peer-to-peer outreach, the Green Team seeks to educate and engage the Law School community on environmental issues.
• Professional development: Green Team membership and project work is an opportunity for members to be leaders in their offices and throughout the campus community, network with a diverse group of faculty, staff and students and develop professional skills.

EARTH MONTH 2012 EVENT CALENDAR

Thursday March 22, 7-9 PM: Gasland Film Screening, Wasserstein B010. 

Join the Harvard Law School Green Living Program and Green Team for a screening of Gasland, the 2010 documentary premiered at Sundance and directed by Josh Fox.

About the film:
"The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."

Learn more at www.gaslandthemovie.com or watch a trailer here.

Thursday March 29, 12-1 PM: Food & the Environment Panel, Hauser 105.

Panelists will include Doug Rauch (former president of Trader Joe's), Ayr Muir (founder of Clover Fast Foods) and David Leslie (Food for Free Executive Director). Co-sponsored by the Harvard Food Law Society.

Thursday March 29, 7:30 - 9 PM: Graduate Student Community Earth Month Film Series: Garbage Dreams. Dudley House (Lehman Hall) 3rd Floor.

Join your graduate student community in celebrating with a Film Series!  4 Thursdays. 6 Films. Relax & snack on the 3rd floor of Dudley House. 

About the film: GARBAGE DREAMS follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. 

Brought to you by Dudley House, GSAS Housing, and Harvard SEAS Environmental Science & Engineering.

Saturday March 31, 8:45 AM - 12:30 PM: Brick Ends Farm Tour

Ever wanted to know what happens to your food scraps after you put them in the compost bin at HLS? Then join the HBS Sustainability Associates, the HLS Green Living Reps and Rob Gogan of Harvard Recycling for a tour of Brick Ends Farm in Hamilton, MA.  Brick Ends Farm processes Harvard’s organic waste, turning it into a valuable soil conditioner. For a preview of some of what you might see on the tour, check out this video. 

Free transportation by bus will be provided by Harvard Recycling and will depart PROMPTLY at 8:45 so please arrive a few minutes early. Pick-up and drop-off will be located at Boylston Gate on Mass. Ave in Harvard Square.

All are welcome - RSVP required: kathryn_cosgrove@harvard.edu; 617.384.6893. 

Tuesday April 3, 5:30-7PM: Climate Reality Project presentation. 5:30-7PM, Langdell Hall  - 225 Vorenberg Classroom North

Join us at Harvard Law School to hear a presentation by John Bullard of the Climate Reality Project entitled "Climate Change: What's Going On Here? What Can I Do About It?"

About the presentation:
Climate change is not your fault for the car you drive, the lights you turn on, or the food you eat. The climate crisis is our problem. Real solutions, systemic solutions, innovative solutions, can only come when we address it together. That’s what The Climate Reality Project will do. Without doubt. Without delay. And with your help. The Climate Reality Project is bringing the facts about the climate crisis into the mainstream and engaging the public in conversation about how to solve it. We help citizens around the world discover the truth and take meaningful steps to bring about change.  Founded and chaired by Al Gore, Nobel Laureate and former Vice President of the United States, The Climate Reality Project has more than 5 million members and supporters worldwide. It is guided by one simple truth: The climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it.

Thursday April 5, 7:30 - 9 PM: Graduate Student Community Earth Month Film Series: Bag It! Dudley House (Lehman Hall) 3rd Floor.

Join your graduate student community in celebrating with a Film Series!  4 Thursdays. 6 Films. Relax & snack on the 3rd floor of Dudley House. 

About the film: BAG IT! is an incredible investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and bodies 

Brought to you by Dudley House, GSAS Housing, and Harvard SEAS Environmental Science & Engineering.

Friday April 6, 11:30-1:30 PM: Spring Freecycle, Jarvis field (Rain Location Milstein West B). 

It's spring cleaning time! Clean out your offices and closets, and giving new life to re-useable items! Drop off items 9-11AM, browse/take items 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. We welcome office supplies, small furniture and electronics, kitchen items, toys, games, clothing etc - please do not bring large furniture or large electronics. This is going to be a HUGE freecycle, as there are many items left over from the recent WCC moves!

Thursday April 12, 3:30-5:00 PM: Harvard Green Carpet Awards, Sanders Theater Memorial Hall. 

Join the Office for Sustainability and the Office of the Executive Vice President at the annual Harvard Green Carpet Awards on to honor and celebrate HLS community members and their efforts to green our campus. This year’s event includes student performances, distinguished presenters including faculty and administrative leaders, and more – not to mention an opportunity to cheer on your colleagues who have been nominated to receive awards!
Reception to follow in the Queen’s Head Pub.

Thursday April 12, 7:30 - 9 PM: Graduate Student Community Earth Month Film Series: Waste Land. Dudley House (Lehman Hall) 3rd Floor.

Join your graduate student community in celebrating with a Film Series!  4 Thursdays. 6 Films. Relax & snack on the 3rd floor of Dudley House. 

About the film: WASTE LAND follows artist Vik Muniz, as he goes from Brooklyn to Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. 

Brought to you by Dudley House, GSAS Housing, and Harvard SEAS Environmental Science & Engineering.

Wednesday April 18, 11:30-1:30 PM: Harvard Law School Earth Day Fair, Holmes Field (Rain Location Milstein East). 

Live Music! Free food! Games and Prizes! Learn about sustainability and environmental efforts on campus at HLS’ 4th annual Earth Day Fair. Bring electronic waste, plastic bags, Terracycle items and Habitat for Humanity donations, incandescent bulbs to swap for free CFLs, and your bike for a free safety check! 

Thursday April 19, 12-1PM: Green Team Meeting, Hauser 103. All HLS students, faculty and staff welcome - no experience necessary! 

Thursday April 26, 7:30 - 9 PM: Graduate Student Community Earth Month Film Series: SHORTS Marathon (Warriors of Quigang, Pipe Dreams, and When the Water Ends). Dudley House (Lehman Hall) 3rd Floor.

Join your graduate student community in celebrating with a Film Series!  4 Thursdays. 6 Films. Relax & snack on the 3rd floor of Dudley House. 

About the film: WHEN THE WATER ENDS (short) is a film produced by Yale Environment 360 on water and conflict in East Africa [film website]

Brought to you by Dudley House, GSAS Housing, and Harvard SEAS Environmental Science & Engineering

Green Team Meeting Calendar

Thursday March 15, 12-1PM: Green Team Meeting, Hauser 103. All HLS students, faculty and staff welcome - no experience necessary! 

Thursday May 17, 12-1PM: Green Team Meeting, Hauser 103. All HLS students, faculty and staff welcome - no experience necessary! 

Thursday June 14, 12-1PM: Green Team Meeting, Lewis 301. All HLS students, faculty and staff welcome - no experience necessary! 

Thursday, July 19, 12-1PM: Green Team Meeting, Wasserstein 3008. All HLS students, faculty and staff welcome - no experience necessary! 

Our Projects

The Green Team hosts several major events each year, including a fall and spring environmental film screening or talk and Freecycles three times a year in the spring, summer and fall. In addition, we work on projects to reduce our campus environmental footprint. Check out the highlights of some of our recent projects below! 

Bottled Water

One Green Team project (implemented in 2009) was to get out the word about environmental impacts of bottled water and to promote the locations of tap and filtered water on campus.  To the right is the "HLS Water Map" the group developed; click for a larger view.  Tap and filtered tap water are closer than you think!  To read more about HLS Facilities Management's efforts to reduce bottled water use on campus, visit the Sustainability Highlights page.  To learn more about the environmental benefits of choosing tap water over bottled water, click here. 

Earth Day

The Green Team hosts an annual Earth Day fair with members of the Green Living Program, other environmental groups on campus and local and sustainable vendors to celebrate HLS sustainability successes with free food, live music and the opportunity to learn about campus sustainability and actions individuals can take to reduce their environmental footprint.  Read more and view a slide show from the 2011 event here. 

Waste Reduction and Re-Use

HLS Freecycle Listserv

One person’s trash is another's treasure.  Does your office have surplus supplies it no longer needs, but which would be useful to another office? Do you have books, furniture, and other items from home you’d like to donate?  Join the HLS Freecycling e-mail list; to subscribe send a PLAIN TEXT e-mail to majordomo@lists.law.harvard.edu containing the text subscribe hlsfreecycle.

 It is helpful to use the following general guidelines when posting to the list.  Use the following subject line keys: OFFER, WANTED, CLAIMED, RECEIVED.  Replies regarding an item should only be sent to the original poster.  As a courtesy, send a brief e-mail to the list when an item is no longer available.  Please also note that HLS-purchased items should be redistributed for HLS office/organizational use whenever possible.

 Freecycles

The Green Team hosts several Freecycle events each year, where community members can "freecycle" things they no longer need and get new gently-used items for free. Previous themes have included office supply freecycles, Valentines Day Home freecycles, and Spring Cleaning freecycles. Leftover items are donated to Habitat for Humanity and other local charitable organizations. Look for information about the next Freecycle on the Green Team calendar or News@Law. 

Valentines Day Cosmetics Drive

The Green Team sponsors an annual Valentines Day Cosmetics Drive to collect toiletries and cosmetics for a local womens' shelter. Look for a box near the Harkness cafe each February. 

Harkness Waste Reduction

When you're in the Hark, here are some key sustainability tips to be aware of: 

• Choose reusable plates, bowls, and utensils! Creating and shipping disposable containers is energy intensive, and reusable alternatives are readily available.  If you plan on working over lunch in your office or room, simply bring back reusable dish ware and silverware after your meal.
•  BYO Mug! Hot drinks, including all coffees and teas, cost only $1.00 if you bring your own reusable mug.
• STOP, don't scrape!  The Hark composts food scraps, napkins, and in-cafe compostable materials.  Just leave these items on your tray at the dishdrop window instead of trashing them.

A subcommittee of the Green Team focuses on conveying the above messages and reducing waste in Harkness Cafe.  We've worked to put up photo-based recycling and trash signs, conduct outreach on composting, and more.

Recycling Outreach

The Green Team helps get the word out about Single Stream recycling at HLS!  Past efforts have included drafting community-wide communications, revising recycling posters, and visiting offices with posters and recycling stickers.  Visit the Recycling page to learn more about Single Stream and to download recycling posters for your office or dorm.

Staff Survey

In July 2009 the Green Team sponsored a staff survey, designed to gauge awareness of environmental issues and prioritize future projects.  In addition, a $25 gift certificate was raffled off to one lucky participant.  Here are some highlights from the survey (100 respondents):

• 59% of respondents reported that they understand single stream recycling; 18% had never heard of it.
• Roughly half of respondents reported that they knew to leave food and napkins at the Hark dish drop for composting.
• 75% of survey respondents said that they always recycle at HLS.  20% reported that they "sometimes" recycle.  From those who reported that they did not always recycle, reasons cited were confusion over recycling guidelines (31%), inaccessibility of recycling bins (13%), and unwillingness to make the necessary effort (8%).
• 72% of respondents turn off their computers or send them into hibernate every night.  Only 7% report that they always leave their computers on.
• 7% of survey respondents turn off their power strips after every work day.  An additional 10% do at least one day a week.
• Respondents noted that it was "extremely" important for the Green Team to help the HLS community learn about recycling (74%) and conserving energy (72%).