Author: Betsy Byrum (Page 1 of 2)

Join the Tufts Freecycle Elist

 

In the 2013 Campus Sustainability Council Report, Tufts committed to increasing the amount of items that are reused at the university as part of its broader waste reduction efforts and commitment to fostering a cradle-to-cradle economy. Tufts’ Freecycle Elist was created by Eco-Ambassador Stacie Simon and is an important tool for increasing the reuse of items at the university by diverting still functional equipment, furniture, and supplies from the waste stream.

The elist provides a platform for exchanging items that individuals or offices at Tufts no longer need but might be of use to others, and it is open to all members of the Tufts community. The elist can be used for the exchange of work-related items or personal items – all for free.

Examples of items that might be exchanged include the following:

  • AV equipment (not owned by TTS)
  • Lab equipment (not owned by school)
  • Office lamps
  • Bookshelves and filing cabinets
  • Computer chairs
  • Appliances for kitchenettes/breakrooms
  • Personal copiers/printers
  • Office workstations and desks
  • Conference tables
  • Area rugs
  • Office supplies (e.g. printer cartridges, file folders)
  • Children’s items and toys
  • Personal electronics (e.g. printers, TVs)
  • Home furniture

Click here to sign up for the elist, and search for the Freecycle list. Once you have subscribed to the list, you will be able to send messages to the group regarding items you would like to freecycle and receive messages from others. Messages should include an item description, location, and photo (if available).

Tufts Sustainability Program Intern

**This position has been filled**

Position Description:

The Tufts Office of Sustainability is seeking an undergraduate student intern to work during new student orientation in the Fall of 2015 through the 2015-16 academic year. This position will assist with day-to-day office activities and projects, such as planning and gathering materials for events and creating documents and outreach materials. The program intern will also help support office programs such as the student Eco-Reps, employee Eco-Ambassadors, and the Green Office Certification program. The student will be expected to research and support sustainability initiatives that might be undertaken on any of Tufts’ three campuses (Boston, Medford, Grafton) and to help the Program Director, Education & Outreach Program Administrator, and Communications Specialist with any projects they are currently working on.

Hours & Timeframe:

The ideal candidate will be an undergraduate student who can work both during new student orientation in Fall 2015 through the 2015-16 academic year. Interns typically work ~8 hours per week during the academic year, though hours may be longer during orientation.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

  • Reliable, with good time management skills
  • Exceptional organizational skills
  • Excellent research and writing abilities
  • Interest in sustainability
  • A can-do attitude
  • Comfortable talking to and working with faculty and staff from across the university in person and via email or phone

Preferred Skills & Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of sustainability efforts at Tufts
  • Experience organizing events
  • Undergraduate students preferred

Pay Rate: $10/hour

Please contact Betsy Byrum, Education & Outreach Program Administrator, with questions or for more information at betsy.byrum@tufts.edu.

All applicants should submit a cover letter and a resume and apply through JobX.

Tufts Sustainability Program Intern – Academic Year (2015-16)

Position Description:

The Tufts Office of Sustainability is seeking a student intern to assist with day-to-day office activities and projects, such as planning and gathering materials for events and creating documents and outreach materials. The program intern will also help support office programs such as the student Eco-Reps, employee Eco-Ambassadors, and the Green Office Certification program. The student will be expected to research and support sustainability initiatives that might be undertaken on any of Tufts’ three campuses (Boston, Medford, Grafton) and to help the Program Director, Education & Outreach Program Administrator, and Communications Specialist with any projects they are currently working on.

Hours & Timeframe:

This position is for the 2015-16 academic year and will start in September 2015. Interns typically work ~8 hours per week.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

  • Reliable, with good time management skills
  • Exceptional organizational skills
  • Excellent research and writing abilities
  • Interest in sustainability
  • A can-do attitude
  • Comfortable talking to and working with faculty and staff from across the university in person and via email or phone

Preferred Skills & Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of sustainability efforts at Tufts
  • Experience organizing events
  • Undergraduate students preferred

Pay Rate: $10/hour

Please contact Betsy Byrum, Education & Outreach Program Administrator, with questions or for more information at betsy.byrum@tufts.edu.

All applicants should submit a cover letter and a resume and apply through JobX.

Zero Waste Week Challenge Day 2

I was ready – I remembered to buy only Larabars for breakfast because the wrappers can be Terracycled as opposed to Kind Bars which, due to their clear wrappers, were not. I remembered to choose the Celestial Seasoning’s tea, wherein the little twin teabags come neatly layered in a wax paper wrapper, instead of the other brands which have their pampered teabags individually wrapped in metallic envelopes – NOT RECYCLABLE! I remembered to bring my own plate and utensils to the Environmental Studies lunch and learn about pig farms. I even sat for a spell outside Rancatore’s in Lexington contemplating whether or not ice cream cups could be recycled in the paper bin (they can if they are made like hot coffee cups). However, I forgot about the big items – the bag of catfood that was only one meal short of empty, the granola bag that had only enough for one more bowl of yogurt, the tortilla packet with two tortillas left. Arg! It is the curse of the almost empty bag.

On the other end of the spectrum there are the waste-bespeckled new products – the little clear plastic ‘sealed for your protection’ ring around the organic, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar bottle; the white plastic circle that pops off a new carton of soy milk; the sticky price tag that falls off a new can of cat food. There’s no winning apparently.

Often time, when I talk to my colleagues with kids about the Zero-Waste Challenge they say, “I could never do that – we have too much trash – I couldn’t fit it into a one gallon bag” and I think they’re right, it would be very difficult to carry around the accumulated Styrofoam trays and those little wet diapers that raw chicken comes on from the deli section; the plastic bags frozen vegetables come in; the box liners holding cereal, not to mention the impossible-to-open hard plastic cases that enclose all electronics that one collects throughout the week.

We are drowning in packaging. The world’s oceans and lakes are even slowly turning into a slurry of tiny plastic pieces (I would’ve linked to the NOAA site but it’s unavailable due to the government shutdown). Plastic, because of its handy ability to float, often collects in Texas-sized floating islands in the Pacific. Hmm… don’t even get me started on plastic – did you know that over 190 million barrels of liquid petroleum gases (LPG) and natural gas liquids (NGL) were used to make plastic in America? And you thought fossil fuels were only bad because of climate change.ZWWphoto

How to reduce plastic use and packaging in general? Well, you can start by using a cool reusable water bottle, a handy reusable bag (Huff post can even help you identify the perfect one) and making yourself rad reusable containers for your lunch from clean beverage containers (so cool).  Can one live life without plastic? Well, disregarding the fact that humans did it for the six million years between the emergence of humans and 1940, this woman has not used new plastic since 2007 (and she even started a week-long plastic challenge oh-so-similar to the zero-waste-week challenge!). What do you think – is it not possible for families to reduce their trash? Only college students?

–Tina Woolston

President’s Campus Sustainability Council Releases Report

Campus Sustainability Report Cover 02The Campus Sustainability Council, which was convened by President Tony Monaco in January 2012, has released its report outlining recommendations to reduce the university’s environmental footprint.

The Council’s report both renews Tufts’ commitments to greenhouse gas reduction goals and sets new goals focusing on energy and emissions, waste reduction, and water conservation – areas where Tufts’ operations have the greatest impact on the environment.

This document will be the starting point for the next phase in the process: implementation planning, which will be overseen by Vice President of Operations Linda Snyder. The Council, co-chaired by President Monaco and Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell, was comprised of students, staff and faculty representing all Tufts campuses in Massachusetts.

When implementation planning gets underway, we are counting on the Tufts community to stay engaged and participate in creating the change needed to build a sustainable university!

Check out the report now to learn what Tufts has done in the area of sustainability and what is being considered for the future.

 

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