Session Summary:

During our first meeting, we discussed the history of the Eco-Ambassador program and the role of Eco-Ambassadors, as well as the definition and meaning of “sustainability.” We also went through an overview of sustainability at Tufts and the goals for water, waste, and energy and emissions set forth in the Campus Sustainability Council Report. We then discussed waste and recycling at Tufts.  To round out the day, we talked about behavior change and the steps to creating a Community-Based Social Marketing plan, followed by an overview of climate change, its impacts, and how it will specifically impact the Boston area.

Assignments for next week:

  • Do your personal behavior change challenge! We will report back to each other about how it went.
  • Introduce yourself as an Eco-Ambassador to your officemates, your department, etc. This can be informal in person, or maybe you want to do a cute email?
  • Check that you have the proper Landfill and Mixed Recycling labels on your waste bins and that you have a blue lid on the recycling lid. Also, assess if you want a wall sign sticker or sign to go above your waste bins. Please bring a list of what you need to next week’s session. You can print your own wall signs here.
  • Start brainstorming behavior change ideas for your office (many of you have some ideas already!)

 

Additional Resources

Sustainability at Tufts:

 

Behavior Change:

 

Climate Change:

 

Waste & Recycling:

  • Requests: To request a compost bin for your office or a trash or recycling bin, or bin labels, go here.
  • Recycling at Tufts: Visit the recycling website (tufts.edu/recycle) for the latest recycling news or for a refresher about what’s recyclable. Check out the video!
  • Zero-Waste Events: Email recycle@tufts.edu to request that your event be zero-waste.
  • Freecycling: Sign up for the Tufts Freecycle Elist here.
  • Junk Mail: The University of Texas at Austin’s website has some good information about how to unsubscribe from unwanted mailing lists. There is also a great app called PaperKarma.
  • Tufts’ Waste Hauling Company: Learn more about Republic Services
  • Recycling in Massachusetts: Get useful tips for recycling at home and in your community at the MassRecycle website
  • Waste Disposal Bans in Massachusetts: Learn more at the MassDEP’s website
  • Living a lower-waste lifestyle: There are many bloggers dedicated to this topic. This site is one of the more well-known bloggers, Bea Johnson. If you always have a reusable water bottle on you, as well as a cloth napkin and a set of utensils, that will help you reduce a lot of waste! There are some lightweight utensils that are easy to take in your bag, see here and here, but also it’s not difficult to take a metal fork around.

 

Contacts

Shoshana Blank
Education & Outreach Program Administrator
Shoshana.Blank@tufts.edu
(617) 627-2973
Gretchen Carey
Recycling and Organics Coordinator, Republic Services

GCarey@republicservices.com
(781) 560-1412

Recycling (General)
recycle@tufts.edu
go.tufts.edu/recycle