Tag: sustainable (Page 1 of 2)

Tips for a Sustainable Move-In

With August fast approaching, it is getting to be that time of year when students start thinking about moving in to their Tufts residence for the upcoming school year!

Whether you are a returning student or a incoming first-year student, the Office of Sustainability has a few tips to make your move-in a greener one! Read on for details, and some PSAs from our Recycling Fellow.

Only Bring What You Need

This one is self-explanatory, but it’s an important one! The less you bring, the less packaging you’ll waste. In addition, it may be one less box to ship if you’re moving in from far away.

At the end of the year, so many items are left behind during move-out, which may signify that students are bringing/purchasing too many unnecessary items.

Wait On Big Purchases

Definitely wait to check-in with your room/house-mates about bringing large items to campus. If you wait to discuss logistics, you may be able to split the costs for many purchases and save a lot of money.

Additionally, you may be able to find more affordable options for some dorm room items once you get to campus (see below).

Buy Used

Don’t miss out on the second annual Blue and Brown Pass It Down Sale hosted by Tufts Green House! Many items collected during the Spring Move-Out will be available to purchase at the lowest prices around. This is a great place to get lamps, rugs, hangers, and other items you might need for your dorm room.

Additionally, Tufts Buy/Sell/Trade is a private Facebook Group for those with tufts.edu email addresses to exchange items, where many useful items are often posted.

Ditch Cardboard Boxes

Why use a cardboard box when you could use items you need to bring with you anyways, such as backpacks, duffel bags, suitcases, laundry bins and other containers. Not only will you reduce waste, you’ll also save space!

If you need to use cardboard boxes (if you are shipping items, for example), consider breaking them down and storing them under your bed until move-out. View the Recycling Fellow PSA below about cardboard box recycling for more reasons to ditch the boxes.

Replace Your Lightbulbs

Bring any incandescent lightbulbs to the Office of Sustainability at 550 Boston Ave and we will replace them with LED light bulbs, free of charge.

This is a part of an effort to reduce energy emissions from Tufts campuses. LED lights last much longer than incandescent lightbulbs, but are often much pricier. Definitely take advantage of this sweet deal!

Recycling Fellow PSAs:

Please bring any recyclables associated with your move-in to a recycling dumpster. There will be signs indicating the locations of the nearest dumpster to each dorm. You can also view our online Eco-Map for outdoor recycling locations.

If you have any questions about what can or can’t be recycled, please ask one of the Eco-Reps who will be walking around the dorms.

Please do not discard cardboard boxes in any location in the dorms. You must bring broken down cardboard boxes to the nearest recycling dumpster (locations will be indicated on signs posted in each dorm). If you don’t bring or discard cardboard boxes you won’t have to make this trek, as an added incentive to follow our tips above!

Plastic bags and film cannot be recycled through the regular recycling stream. Please do not place these in the recycling dumpsters. Look out for signage regarding designated bins for plastic film recycling.

 

2018 Eco-Ambassador Grant Winners

Through participation in either two condensed half-day or monthly 2-hour educational sessions, Tufts’ faculty and staff Eco-Ambassadors are eligible to apply for a $100 grant to help realize a project that will further sustainability efforts on campus.

This year, there were 3 grant recipients: Chris Bishal from the Office of Student Affairs at Tufts School of Medicine, Misha D’Andrea and Brianna Florio from the Office of Admissions at SMFA, and Dan Birdsall from the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Fletcher School.

Read on to find out what the grants were used for this year!

Reusable Place Settings at the Tufts School of Medicine

Chris Bishal from the Tufts School of Medicine at the Boston campus proposed to purchase reusable small plates, bowls, cups, and silverware for the Office of Student Affairs conference room. These are now used for meetings and gatherings as well as for every day use by staff.

Previously in this space, light snacks, pastries, and coffee provided for various staff, Dean, and committee meetings as well as meetings between faculty advisors and student advisees were served on paper plates and consumed with plastic utensils. The new dishes purchased with the grant greatly reduce the amount of waste produced by these meetings.

A Greener Accepted Students Day at the SMFA

Admissions Assistant Misha d’Andrea and  Admissions Counselor Brianna Florio from the SMFA Office of Admissions are the first to receive Eco-Ambassador training at the SMFA campus. On April 20th, the SMFA hosted accepted students at their annual Jumbo Day, and they felt that this would be the “perfect opportunity to spread sustainable practices as well as have an eco-friendly lunch enjoyed by all.”

In order to make this year’s Jumbo day “as green as possible”, Misha and Brianna used the grant to purchase compostable plates, cups, utensils, and stirring sticks. As these items are more costly than paper and plastic items, it would have been difficult to budget for them without the grant.  By having attendees compost all their food waste in addition to their place settings, they were able to make the event zero-waste.

SMFA Eco Rep Maria tabling at Jumbo Day and getting future Jumbos excited about sustainability!

Not only did Misha and Brianna help minimize the waste produced by this year’s SMFA Jumbo Day, they were also able to get the future generation of Tufts students “excited about sustainability and composting at this campus” in coordination with Maria, the SMFA’s student Eco-Rep who tabled at the event.

New Compost Bin in the Fletcher School’s Hall of Flags

Molly and Dan with the new compost bin in the Hall of Flags at Fletcher.

Dan Birdsall, the associate director of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Fletcher School, along with Molly Haragan, a 2nd year Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy candidate, proposed to purchase a new compost bin for the Hall of Flags. The Hall of Flags is the Fletcher School’s highest-traffic area and main gathering location for students, staff, and faculty.

While there was already a compost bin at Fletcher in the Mugar Café, Molly noticed that a significant amount of food is also consumed in the Hall of Flags, where frequent receptions and admissions events occur. Additionally, food leftover from student-organized events are often placed in the Hall of Flags, and many students also eat in this space as well as in the rest of the building.

Previously, much of the food waste from the Hall of Flags often ended up in the garbage can rather than being transported to the compost bin at the Mugar Café. As a result, an additional compost bin at this location has significantly helped reduce food waste that will go directly to landfills. “Composting is now the obvious and easy option there,” Dan explains. Molly has just graduated and identified a few returning students interested in sustainability that will help monitor and empty the bins next school year.

 

 

5 Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas for the Holidays

5 Eco-Friendly Gifts graphic

The holidays are an exciting and busy time of year, and who doesn’t love getting gifts from family and friends? Every year, we receive all sorts of gifts that we don’t use, and eventually throw away. Instead, this holiday season, think about the planet as you think about what to give your loved ones! There are many ways to make gift giving more sustainable and just as much fun.

Give an experience:

Sustainable, thoughtful, and memorable! Try a new hobby, restaurant, etc. in your area with your loved one, or give them membership to a nearby museum or fitness class. Beyond reducing waste, this gift option will create a new, lasting memory with your family or friends.

Sustainable Products:

If you’re looking to give someone a specific product, make sure to pick a brand that will last. There are many websites that will help you pick items that won’t wear out quickly, like this one.

Buy local:

Support your local economy and reduce your carbon footprint by sticking to local shopping. Plus, you’re more likely to find something unique and special that your family member or friend won’t already have if you buy from one of your local small businesses.

DIY:

If you’ve got a tight budget this season, DIY gift giving could be for you! This could be any number of things: bug repellent for the outdoorsman, organizational tools for the home or office, and more! Need some inspiration or guidance? Many websites publish guides for DIY projects, like this post, or Pinterest.

Choose your wrapping wisely:

Once you’ve purchased your gifts you aren’t quite done! You can keep your wrapping sustainable by re-using old bags or wrapping paper, wrapping in newspaper, and avoiding products that come packaged in lots of plastic.

Happy Holidays!

Spanish-speaking Intern, Secure Fisheries (Broomfield, CO)

Secure Fisheries seeks a full-time Spanish-speaking fisheries science intern to help us scope a new project in Colombia promoting food and economic security through sustainable fisheries. The intern will conduct research on the sustainability of Colombian fisheries. The intern will create a bibliography of resources, and write a review paper of her/his findings. The intern will additionally create a summary of projects in Colombia, including but not limited to those led by non-governmental organizations, the government, and aid projects.

Internship would run 3-6 months with full or part time options available depending on candidate availabiltiy.

 

Apply Online

(ENVS Lunch & Learn) New England Groundfish: A Story About Managing People

New England fisheries date back several centuries, with the iconic Atlantic cod playing a key role in our countries’ development. In the 1970’s, faced with declining fish stocks, Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens Act to create sustainable fisheries that benefit our fishermen and our Nation. The Act created eight Fishery Management Councils made up of fishermen, along with state and federal managers to develop measures to manage fisheries within the legal requirements. The New England Council is responsible for developing a management plan for 13 groundfish species, including cod. The fishery is managed using a variety of tools, including catch limits, effort controls, and a catch share system. Despite being one of the most scrutinized and highly regulated fisheries in the world, several groundfish stocks including cod, are in extremely poor condition. A concoction of political, environmental, economic, and scientific factors has left cod and the fishing industry in peril, and fisheries management with few options. Brett’s presentation will cover the legal, scientific, and management process of New England groundfish, and highlight what has happened with Atlantic cod, and where the fishery might be headed.

Brett Alger is a Fishery Management Specialist for NOAA Fisheries in the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, MA, a region that extends from the Canadian border to North Carolina. He helps to manage commercial and recreational fisheries in Federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, including developing policy, implementing management measures, and monitoring catch. Before coming to NOAA Fisheries six years ago, Brett earned a B.S. in Biology from Central Michigan University, an M.S in Fisheries Management and Science from Michigan State University, and worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and several State agencies in the Midwest.

 

Every week during the academic year, the ENVS Lunch & Learn lecture series features speakers from government, industry, academia and non-profit organizations to give presentations on environmental topics. This is a great opportunity to broaden your knowledge beyond the curriculum, meet other faculty and students and network with the speakers.

Students, faculty, staff, and visitors are welcome to attend.

Food is generously sponsored by the Tufts Institute of the Environment.

You can’t make it to the talk? No problem!

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