Sustainability Press

On Tuesday, September 17, the Harvard Law School (HLS) Green Living Reps and the HLS Green Team manned an information table in the Hark to educate students, staff, and faculty about composting practices at the Law School. Students were able to chat one on one with their Reps to ask questions about “What goes where?”, pick up a “I composted today” sticker, and grab a magnet visually explaining what belongs in each bin. 

Couldn't make the event? Here's some guidelines for composting at the Law School. 

Want the awesome magnet? Download it now. 

Ten Harvard employees were honored at this year’s Harvard Heroes ceremony for their commitment and contribution to Harvard’s sustainability goals. As part of Harvard’s ongoing effort to institutionalize sustainability into the culture of how community members work and live on campus, the Office for Sustainability partnered, for the first time, with Harvard Human Resources to include recognition of the “Green Heroes” at the annual university-wide event.

Sustainability at Harvard has united the community and become a true One Harvard initiative, with action being taken by staff, faculty, and students across the 12 Schools and multiple administrative departments. The ten Green Heroes exemplify the breadth and depth of Harvard’s sustainability efforts as well as the strong collaboration and partnership that has come to define Harvard’s approach to building a healthier, more sustainable campus.

President Drew Faust recognized the ten Green Heroes with the following remarks:

Brandon Geller, Senior Coordinator, Office for Sustainability, Campus Services 

“In the nine years since you arrived as a freshman in the College, you have become a deeply engaged University citizen, energizing everyone around you with your passion for sustainable practices. Skillfully cultivating relationships across campus, you share your expertise with countless student mentees—turning even the greenest undergraduates into green ambassadors and champions of a healthier environment for all.” 

Jen Doleva, Endowment, Gift, and Chart of Accounts Administrator, Harvard School of Public Health

“You have saved paper and money for HSPH by encouraging departments across the School to redistribute and reuse interoffice envelopes. At your suggestion, people now compost paper towels. They take the stairs and share the elevator. They think about sustainability and their personal impact on the planet. It isn’t easy being green, but you make it easier.”

Kate Zirpolo-Flynn, Faculty Assistant, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

“A green guru, you have been instrumental in efforts to make Harvard’s newest School its most sustainable School. Freecycling and seed swapping are among the on-campus events you champion, and you are always advancing practices that are good for the environment. Colleagues are quick to comment on your positive attitude—as bright and long lasting as an LED.” 

Adelaide Connolly, Executive Assistant, Social Sciences Division, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

“Known around the office as ‘Addie,’ you inspired the Social Sciences Division to become a lean and green machine that tied for first place in this year’s University Hall recycling competition. You stir things up like the wooden stirrers you encourage colleagues to compost, an enthusiastic ambassador for the planet who inspires lasting change in others.”

Eric D’Souza, Senior Project Manager, HUIT, Campus Services

“You are a HUIT hero who crosses tubs in a single bound. Articulating a vision, planning for disruptive incidents, and ensuring that Harvard can bounce back faster than a speeding bullet are among your many skills. In you, hard work and acuity drives business continuity and super performance.” 

Karen Thomas, Staff Assistant, Harvard Law School

“You seamlessly switch gears between meeting the administrative needs of the First Year Legal Research and Writing Program and advocating cycling and other behaviors that create a more sustainable world. You make it easier for everyone around you to reuse and recycle, unobtrusively encouraging your colleagues to rethink their habits—and revive their office plants when necessary.” 

Stephen Obuchowski, Database/Applications Developer, Harvard Medical School

“You are a patient IT expert who is an H-I-T among the many people across the University who rely on you. Realizing that functions related to admissions and student affairs could be made more efficient by phasing out an all-paper system, you created a database that has turned, and I quote, ‘a nightmare of stress’ into a ‘slightly busier time of year.’ A green job well done.”

Mitra Nathasingh, Maintenance Manager, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

“Masterful manager of two complex laboratory buildings, you have led change that has yielded more than a million dollars in energy savings over the past four years. Your meticulous ‘to-do’ lists and ambitious action plans drive progress, and your approachability and good nature have earned you support from the ground up.” 

Michael Goodwin, Assistant Director of Operations, Harvard Graduate School of Education

“You introduced to the GSE community sustainable campaigns and programs that make Appian Way greener. You’ve provided local foods at Gutman Library and food for thought across campus, partnering with the School’s Green Team to launch a composting program that sheds light on the journey from farm to table and back again. You are truly an educator among educators.”

Read Harvard Gazette coverage of the Harvard Heroes ceremony.

Led by Carrie Ayers and Office for Sustainability staff, the Harvard Law School Green Team worked tirelessly with a student crew during Commencement to ensure that 92% of the total waste generated was recycled or composted instead of sent to the landfill.  Also, 12% fewer bags of waste were generated compared to last year. Kudos to all involved and special thanks to Green Team members, Anna Bennett and Steven Ramos, and to HLS staff volunteers, Jason McCann and Gail Harris. Congrats as well to Anna, who won six AMC movie tickets raffled off to Green Team Commencement volunteers!

In many places around the world, April 22 is Earth Day, an international celebration of the environmental movement. This year at Harvard, Earth Day was celebrated throughout the month of April. Various initiatives across the campuses reached out to students, faculty, staff and community members to get involved in why the natural world and sustainability is important to them. People were asked to take photos, post tweets, and fill in the blanks on community pledge blackboards, which asked “For the Future of the Planet I will...”.

View Harvard's Earth Month Storify Page for a visual story of Earth Month at Harvard. 

These ongoing projects were punctuated with Earth Day events and fairs held throughout the month, at different campuses.  The Harvard Law School held their fair on a rainy day, moving the festivities to inside the new Wasserstein Hall. With live music, lots of free local and organic food, the Green Living Reps said they saw a great turnout in spite of the weather. Representatives from Divest Harvard, Quad Bikes, Harvard Vegan Living Society, Boston Organics, and many other student groups and local food venues made this event a great success.  

The college also held an Earth Day Fair, where hundreds of students showed up to play recycling basketball, participate in a clothing swap, and receive water bottles for completing a scavenger hunt. Here the undergraduate Resource Efficiency Program also announced the winners of the sustainability “Green Cup Challenge”, a competition between the undergraduate residential houses to be the most environmentally friendly. Many students who don’t normally cross paths with the environmental groups on campus came out to get in on the fun, and learned about the Harvard Community Garden, Students for a Just and Sustainable Future, and many more active student groups.

Earth Day fairs were not the only exciting events to happen this year for Earth Month. Mt. Trashmore, a pile of trash that demonstrates of how much trash Harvard generates in one day, made an appearance at both the college and at HBS. A pole also shows how much higher the pile could be if we weren’t recycling- usually reaching more than twice the height of the mountain of trash! Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health also hold Sustainability Fairs, showcasing local, organic products and sustainability initiatives in the Longwood Area.  

Throughout the year, there are countless other projects that promote environmentalism in the broader Harvard community. April’s celebrations highlight the dedication of Harvard to the natural world, and building a community committed to sustainability.

On Friday, March 8, Harvard Law School's Green Living Representatives, Sarah Canby, Laura Wolf, Dave Joch, Gabrielle Hodgson, and Michael Gruben, along with HLS Sustainability Program Manager Anne Sargent and Supervisor of Recycling and Solid Waste Removal Rob Gogan, completed the law school’s bi-annual waste audit. 

The waste audit revealed both positive developments and some opportunities for improving HLS’s recycling and composting efforts. On a positive note, fewer pizza boxes were found in the trash, suggesting that people may be remembering to recycle pizza boxes more often. 

The audit also revealed that a large quantity of food waste and compostable take-out containers from the Hark are still ending up in the trash. Green Living Representatives will continue to work to educate the HLS community about compositing these items. Paper towels are another compostable item commonly found in the trash. This is likely because there are often not compost bins in places like bathrooms where paper towels are commonly used. The Green Living Representatives will work to continue to increase the availability of composting bins on campus. 

Overall, the waste audit was a “stinky” success, and the Green Reps look forward to continuing to improve HLS’s composting and recycling rates in anticipation of the next audit in the fall. If you are interested in becoming a Green Living Representative, apply by April 26,2013. 

Green Living Representatives and first-year law students at Harvard Law School are in full swing this semester, promoting sustainability across campus by competing in green challenges, hosting interactive and informative events, and encouraging the return of HLS FreeCycles.

Last week, students in first-year law sections completed the second challenge of the yearlong Green Cup Competition: bringing a reusable container to class. Green Cup is a participation-based competition designed to build awareness and engagement in campus sustainability initiatives and individual behavior change actions. A total of five challenges constitute the competition, with the section with the most points at the end of the series winning $500 toward a zero-waste event for the group.

Green Living Representatives also kicked off a composting project, pushing for all lunch-hour events to be compostable. In conjunction with an independent student project aimed at making compostable products more accessible to student organizations, the Reps created a video by interviewing students about whether or not they had ever planned a compostable event and what they like to compost.

This week, HLS brings back FreeCycles—community based events for donating and reusing unwanted goods. Kitchen and office supplies, books, CDs, clothing, toys, unopened cosmetics, non-perishable food, linens, tools and all other reusables will be accepted and available Wednesday, February 13.

Finally, Reps are hosting an event with Rick Culter of the Climate Reality Project, an organization co-founded by Vice President Al Gore and dedicated to spurring a global cultural movement demanding action on the climate crisis. Culter will give an interactive presentation Monday, February 19. Attending the event is also the third challenge of Green Cup for all first-year law sections. 

How you can get involved:

• • Stop by the Harvard Law School FreeCycle: Wednesday, Februray 13, 11 am–2 pm
• • Join the HLS Green Living Program for an interactive presentation on the Climate Reality Project: Tuesday, February 19, 12 pm

OFS will be awarding two student scholarships to this year’s NetImpact Conference: October 25-27, 2012.

Net Impact is a community of more than 30,000 changemakers who are using our jobs to tackle the world’s toughest problems. We put our business skills to work for good throughout every sector, showing the world that it’s possible to make a net impact that benefits not just the bottom line, but people and planet too.

The annual Net Impact Conference is the premier event for students and professionals using their careers for good. For our 20th anniversary conference, we are bringing together more than 2,800 changemakers from all over the world and 300 dynamic speakers from across industries, from Fortune 500 companies to emerging nonprofits. More information can be found here.

The scholarship will cover admission (a $380 value) to the conference and is only open to Harvard University graduate and undergraduate students. Participants will need to arrange their own travel and lodging. The conference is being held in Baltimore, Maryland.

Click here to apply. For more information, please contact sustainability@harvard.edu.

Harvard’s campus is a living lab – burgeoning with student projects designed to reduce Harvard’s carbon footprint, build community, and bring awareness to the possibilities of innovation and collaboration.

Innovation and collaboration can be seen in the bee habitat on the roof of Gund Hall, the harvest of the Divinity School garden, the enlightening podcast, Sense and Sustainability, and the Law School bike share. And this only scratches the surface.

Graduate and college students across campus have turned their creative ideas into a reality with the help of funds from OFS. Whether your idea is a podcast, an outreach program, a carbon calculator, or something completely different, we want to hear about it: www.green.harvard.edu/grants.

Get funding for your innovative project today. Applications due Thursday, October 18, 2012. 

**check out previously funded projects here.

***sign up for office hours to explore an idea or connect to staff, faculty, and other students who can help.

Two offices participating in the Harvard Green Office Program can now boast that they are not only taking steps to reduce the environmental impacts of their day-to-day office activities, but also that they are doing so in a LEED Platinum office. 

In August 2012, The Harvard Law School (HLS) Hauser Hall Basement Office Suite earned Platinum certification under the LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI), version 2009 rating system for the approximately 4,000 SF renovation carried out to accommodate the HLS Finance and Human Resources departments relocating from another Harvard owned building in Cambridge.

As the second Platinum certification for HLS, this project is a testament to the School’s commitment to sustainability and their support of Harvard’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal of reducing emissions 30% below 2006 levels by 2016, inclusive of growth. The ability of the project team to incorporate that commitment into the renovation is evidenced by the 86 points earned under the LEED rating system, which is the second highest number of points earned for a LEED-CI project at Harvard. To achieve this level the project team focused on sustainability from project conception through construction and analyzed sustainable alternatives to all materials used in construction and design.

"Hauser Hall was constructed in 1994 and won the American Institute of Architects achievement award that same year. It is notable for its curved geometry and refined details," said Sisia Daglian with Austin Architects. "The renovation of the basement for HLS Finance and Human Resources departments has been another award winning achievement for Hauser Hall - LEED Platinum for Commercial Interiors. Architecturally, the renovation honored the innate geometry of the building, as well as many of the original details and design intent. The thrust of the sustainability effort was made by careful selection and tracking of building materials, attaining 11 of the 13 credits in the Materials & Resources category including a first-time Harvard accomplishment: 2 points for Materials Reuse (MRc3.1-3.2, 10% of total material cost).  The end users were enthusiastic and supportive of reusing as much of their existing casework and furniture as possible, even embracing the repurposing of original Hauser Hall doors as wall paneling."

Select project highlights include:

1. 95% of the total percentage of construction waste was diverted from landfill.

2. 56% of the total material value came from materials manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.

3. Installing occupancy sensors on lights and setting back room temperatures and ventilation rates at night and when spaces are unoccupied for a predetermined period of time.

For more information, see the HLS Hauser Basement Offices case study on the Harvard Green Building Resource.

Led by Clinic Director and Clinical Professor Wendy Jacobs, Harvard Law School students have prevailed in a two-year battle to lift restrictions on the installation of solar power in Massachusetts.

For more than two years, Harvard Law School’s Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic has represented a group of general contractors who specialize in renewable energy projects but were being blocked from installing solar power by a state licensing board. Taking a position that was contrary to a host of state programs designed to promote solar energy, the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Electricians tried to prevent anyone other than licensed electricians from organizing, managing or installing solar power in the state. The clinic stepped in to defend the solar contractors in enforcement actions and challenge the Board's policy.

On July 18, the Massachusetts Superior Court granted summary judgment in the clinic’s favor, holding unequivocally that: “Plaintiffs may advertise and contract for PV System installations and subcontract with licensed electricians.” 

To read the entire story visit the HLS News site:

http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2012/08/08_environmental-law-clinic-rene...

When Christiana Figueres was asked at her session titled “The Good News on Climate Change” why she was so optimistic, she responded, “You are why I’m optimistic.”

The fiery Executive Secretary for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was at the Harvard Kennedy School on Friday afternoon to discuss why hopefulness is possible in the face of one of the most complex global issues of our time. While she discussed her confidence in future international policy, much of her talk focused on the exciting opportunities in business and technology. 

“Imagine a future in which technology moves us,” she said, and then, with her words, created for the audience a world with unlimited energy harnessed personally, self-sustaining buildings, electric cars with inductive power transfers, coast to coast travel that created energy rather than used it—a future in which developed nations help developing nations tie their economic growth to sustainability.

It might seem that most of her “good news” on the climate is based on future hypotheticals, but her expectations are not unfounded. As Figueres stated her in talk, renewable energy has grown to a $1 trillion sector, the cost of solar panels has decreased by 80%, Tesla is outselling all other luxury brands in California and here in Massachusetts, and there are an estimated 80,000 jobs available in the clean energy sector. In Figueres’ arena of international politics, the world’s number one oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is also the world’s largest investor in solar energy. From governments to businesses, moving towards green solutions is becoming more and more valuable. 

Figueres underscored that her vision depended on students. The take-away phrase of the afternoon was “eager minds of tomorrow.” Students in the audience studying physics, urban planning, technology and society, all listened intently to her call. 

“You have the responsibility to make choices about how you use your privilege of knowledge,” Figueres told us. Rather than being a burdensome message, her talk painted a vivid image of the future possibilities and emphasized our role. As future leaders, she said, we needed to advocate for climate policy, push for action in industry, and further technological innovation. 

As a student, I was struck by Figueres’ emphasis on the varied solutions necessary for climate change across multiple sectors. It reminded me of the importance of education in the battle against climate change. Education gives us the skills to create new technologies, the knowledge to understand the complexity of the problems, and the wisdom to orchestrate social, economic and political change. The kind of visionary change she described didn’t depend on a single discipline; it called on individuals from every area of life. 

I went to Figueres’ talk on “the good news on climate change” expecting to hear about progress in international or state politics. But I left with the powerful understanding that the good news is in the opportunities for the future and the commitment to progress that is already apparent in different areas of society. The good news is that leadership, like that of the UNCCC, has created an environment that beckons for the innovation of  “eager minds.” The good news is that we still believe in good news, and we strive to be a part of it. We are the good news.

This is an excerpt from a Harvard Gazette article by Colin Durrant posted on September 23, 2013. 

Half a dozen undergraduates took short, hesitant steps as they headed onto a small section of the Pforzheimer House roof. Li Murphy was the exception. The energetic junior moved directly toward a small, colorful hive brimming with bees, and quickly launched into an impromptu tutorial. 

As the minutes ticked by, several students inched closer to the hive, and a few even volunteered to help Murphy pull out a frame that was “dripping in goodness” (also known as honey). One of those volunteers, first-year student Amalee Beattie, left the roof feeling exhilarated by the opportunity to learn something new.

Read the full article. 

On Tuesday, September 17, the Harvard Law School (HLS) Green Living Reps and the HLS Green Team manned an information table in the Hark to educate students, staff, and faculty about composting practices at the Law School. Students were able to chat one on one with their Reps to ask questions about “What goes where?”, pick up a “I composted today” sticker, and grab a magnet visually explaining what belongs in each bin. 

Couldn't make the event? Here's some guidelines for composting at the Law School. 

Want the awesome magnet? Download it now. 

On Friday, September 20, students and staff from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Harvard Kennedy School temporarily reclaimed three parking spaces and converted them into public "parks" in honor of worldwide PARK(ing) Day. PARK(ing) day is an annual open-source, global event where citizens take back metered parking spots and transform them into one-day refuges. The mission of PARK(ing) day, which began in 2005, is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, spark debate around the process of creating and allocating public space, and bring awareness to the need to improve urban habitats. 

Students and staff invovled with each school's sustainability initiative brought lawn chairs, board games, frisbees, refreshments (in compostables), and even pink flamingoes to help transform the paved spots into welcoming gathering sites for question, connection, and conversation. Trey Grayson, Director of the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, and John Donahue, Raymond Vernon Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at HKS, donated their personal parking spots for the day's activities. Professor Donahue even biked to work!

The Harvard Office for Sustainability's undergraduate Resource Efficiency Program (REP) joined the College's Opening Days festivities, hosting or attending nine different events. The Program’s signature events, Move-in Day sustainability information tent, Green Tour of the Yard, and Freshmen Green Fair, helped inform and excite incoming freshman about Harvard's committment to sustainability. At the Freshmen Green Fair, and the College's first Brain Break, over 1400 Freshmen enjoyed delicious and healthy smoothies, learned about environmental clubs, classes, and jobs on campus, and received their own reusable mug. Harvard's newest class joined the REPs in taking a pledge to use their new reusable mugs on campus instead of paper cups. 

This year the REPs also introduced the Recycling Challenge, a new, interactive recycling, compost, and e-waste quiz designed to help introduce Harvard's recycling policies and inititatives to the new community. Over 300 students participated in the Challenge over the two weeks of Opening Days to win a “Sustainabilitas” reusable bag. The bags, made of 100% post consumer recycled plastic, were purchased with a grant submitted by Green ’16.

Every May, Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) alumni return to Cambridge to honor achievements, share ideas, and reconnect during Reunion Weekend. With a long-standing tradition of seeking innovative solutions to local and global-facing challenges, the Kennedy School community embodies their emblematic motto “Ask What You Can Do.” This year, alumni returning to campus, asked what HKS could do to reduce the environmental impact of Reunion Weekend. 

Seeking a solution to requests from the alumni community, Kristen Gallagher, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, led an effort to host the first-ever zero waste HKS Reunion Weekend. 

In true HKS fashion, the planning team went above and beyond to ensure that all materials were compostable, reusable, or recyclable. No bottled beverages or plastic water bottles were distributed throughout the weekend. Instead, all alums were given a reusable Nalgene bottle, and water filling stations were set up across campus. Bamboo plates and utensils, compostable napkins, and eco-products were used at all catered meals. Even paper from passed hors d’oeuvres was eliminated. Takeaway lunches were completely compostable and housed in a recyclable container; and during receptions, beverages were served in glass only and beer flowed directly from kegs, eliminating can and bottle waste. 

Tackling the waste accumulated from 600 Alumni was no small task. “Planning for the weekend was a hybrid evolution of collaboration and instruction,” said Kristen Gallagher. “Early on, I realized that the event wouldn’t truly be zero waste unless we ensured composting, and to do that I needed the help and participation of many departments.” Gallagher worked jointly with the Dining Services and Facilities and Maintenance teams to explore options that were less wasteful, to design a completely compostable menu, to provide adequate service for reusable materials, and to replace trashcans with ample recycling and composting receptacles. 

Additionally, signage and messaging reinforced the goal and the purpose of zero waste throughout the event, and a Green Statement along with directives was included in lunches. Paper and printed items were kept to an absolute minimum. Necessary signage and programs were printed only on recycled paper and any left over materials were recycled. This year flyers, folders, printed bios, and other miscellaneous, minor materials were not printed.  

“For our first attempt, it was a great success! We’ve already started planning for next year, and thanks to the discoveries we made along the way and the lessons learned, we’ll be able to make even more improvements to HKS Reunion Weekend 2014.” 

Polled after the event, alums responded positively and enthusiastically to the changes Gallagher and team implemented. One pleased alumus wrote, “Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion each year, but also uneaten food ends up rotting in landfills. Reducing food losses by just 15 percent would be enough food to feed more than 25 million Americans every year at a time when one in six Americans lack a secure supply of food to their tables. I’m so glad that the catering services could come up with a system that reduces some of that food waste!”

Gallagher noted, “The decision to host a zero waste event aligns effortlessly with the HKS mission which is all about preparing our students to go out and change the world. Instituting this type of sustainable initiative at Reunion Weekend will hopefully educate, motivate, and inspire our Alumni community each year.” 

In June, the University awarded Gallagher a “Harvard Green Hero” award for her work on making Reunion Weekend waste-free. Her efforts are part of a history and larger movement of sustainable practices at HKS. “Looking back, it’s not that hard to do!” Gallagher said about the event. “We made some minor modifications and took necessary steps to accommodate, but really it’s just about rethinking how you host an event.” She hopes that others will follow suit and make use of valuable partnerships and resources such as the University’s Dining Services and Facilities teams to hold their own zero waste events. 

Looking to turn your Reunion Weekend into a zero waste event?

Here are 5 tips from the HKS Office of Alumni Relations and Resource Development:

1. Start early. Planning further in advance will enable you to be intentional with your budget and will give you room to choose from a wider selection of quality environmentally friendly products. 
2. Identify your partners. Collaborative relationships with Dining Services and Facilities teams will help you maneuver logistics and accomplish goals. 
3. Make it easy and clear for your guests to figure out where they should compost and dispose of waste. Place signage throughout the event, and make sure you have staffed composting and recycle bins wherever your guests are, including multiple locations for larger catered events such as a reception. 
4. Make brief announcements or include instructions for the event at tables and or in takeaways. Connect the purpose of the event to the School’s larger mission or the University’s commitment to sustainability.
5. Review all printed materials and print any essential items with recycled paper. Avoid printing out speaker bios, single sheets of paper, and other instructions by creating a robust website with easy links, accessible with mobile devices and tablets to decrease need for printed materials.

To learn more about the HKS zero waste Reunion Weekend contact alumni@hks.harvard.edu. 

Harvard students may come and go, but since 1960 one hidden gem has remained constant: a family-owned food truck on Divinity Avenue outside the Biolabs building has been feeding home-cooked meals to generations of students and researchers.
 
Velozo’s Food Service is now operated by Dean Velozo who joined his father in the business in 1980. Theirs was the first food truck to appear on campus and at the time of its inception was one of the only retail food service options available on campus.
 
Today, even though Dean’s father has long since retired, the truck remains a family-run business. Dean’s wife helps him run it in the afternoon, taking money as he prepares the food. During the summer, you can even see their nine year old son out at the truck.
 
In a sign that no stone gets unturned when it comes to sustainability at Harvard, Dean’s food truck recently converted entirely to compostable plates and to-go ware. The switch was suggested by employees in the nearby Biolabs building after compost bins were added there. As a result of the change, researchers, staff and students can now eat from the food truck and compost their dishes in the bins throughout the Biolabs and other buildings.
 
Dean reports that his customers quickly noticed the compostable materials and not a day goes by that someone doesn’t express their appreciation for his role in helping the campus reduce waste.

The weather held out just long enough on Labor Day for the Graduate Commons Welcome Event to go off without a hitch. In its second year, the "Reduce Your Juice" Juice Bar hosted by Harvard University Housing’s Sustainable Community Team brought energy saving strategies and delicious juice to the record turnout of graduate students and their families. The Bar serves up one-on-one education, the opportunity to purchase lighting and power saving devices at reduced pricing, and organic and local juices courteous of Boston’s up-and-coming food truck, Mother Juice. 

It was a great day for Harvard Housing residents to meet neighbors, enjoy local food truck fare, and relax before classes resumed. Learning how to save energy, and dollars, at home was an added bonus!

Harvard University was recently recognized and ranked third on a list of 50 Colleges Committed to Saving the Planet by The College Database and the US Directory of Colleges. Harvard's Environmental Sciences and Engineering Program was recognized specifically for its degree concentrations in atmospheric sciences, microbiology, climate, oceanography, environmental chemistry, water management, and international environmental politics. Also recognized was Harvard's Environmental Economics Program. 

Identified were 50 US colleges and universities where environmental education takes center stage. Each college on the list offers a full suite of degree programs, or a single stand-out program, with clear focus on environmental protection, energy efficiency, sustainability, and more. Wes Ricketts, Vice President and General Manager of The College Database said, "Those [colleges] on our list stand out not only for unique concentration and scope, but also for going beyond the classroom, turning lessons learned into long-term, life-changing results.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Katie Hammer posted in the Harvard Gazette on August 21, 2013. 

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While studying climate change in the rural Himalayas, Catlin Powers was asked an eye-opening question by one local family: Why are all of these scientists coming here to study outdoor air pollution when indoor air pollution is so much worse?

A Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) graduate and current Ph.D. candidate in environmental health, Powers is the co-founder of One Earth Designs, a company that creates products that enable people to improve the quality of their lives by wisely using energy resources. She is one of the creative forces behind SolSource, a revolutionary, sun-powered grill designed specifically to answer that family’s question.

Powers began her journey by measuring the indoor air quality inside the Himalayan home where the question was posed, and found that it was 10 times more polluted than the outdoor air in Beijing. Subsequently, she found that more than half a million people each year die in China from the toxic smoke coming from household stoves used for cooking and heating.

...

During a recent question-and-answer session through the Office for Sustainability (OFS), Powers talked about her work.

Read the full article and Q&A.