January 2018 Eco-Ambassador Session #2 – Boston Health Science Campus

Session Summary:

We started off our second session by hearing from a current Eco-Ambassador, Nikki Lowe Lane, the Associate Director of Financial Aid at the School of Dental Medicine. She has been the driving force behind moving the Tufts Dental Financial Aid Office’s application process online, greatly reducing the amount of paper waste and allowing the office the opportunity to use more recycled paper.  The initiative has yielded significant cost savings in the office’s budget.

Then we discussed water, including where Tufts’ water comes from, water conservation projects at the university, and ways you can conserve water in your offices. Emma Groves from ABC-TMA joined us to talk about transportation options and resources available to Tufts employees on the Boston and Medford campuses. We reviewed ways to “green” meetings and events and looked at green event resources on the OOS website. We went over energy use and infrastructure at Tufts, as well as upcoming energy projects and ways to conserve energy in our offices. To end the day, we sorted “Eco-labels” and talked about which are reliable and unreliable and reviewed some purchasing tips and resources.

Assignments for next week:

• Introduce yourself as an Eco-Ambassador to your officemates
• Meet with your supervisor/Eco-Ambassador team
• Create a draft community-based social marketing plan using this worksheet. Email to Shoshana by Friday, February 16.

Next Steps:

• Now that you have more familiarity with these topics, it could be a great time to finish the green office certification checklist that you started before, to get your office green office certified.
  • Stay Tuned for a Green Office Challenge which will start in the coming weeks.

Additional Resources

Water:

• Water Conservation Tips: Visit the OOS website for information about conserving water in the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, etc.
• Reporting a Water Leak at Tufts: Place an online work order with Facilities.
• Tufts’ Drinking Water: Learn more about Tufts’ drinking water from the Environmental Health & Safety Department. For more information about water on the Boston and Medford campuses, visit the MWRA website. The MWRA regularly publishes drinking water quality reports.  Click here for more information and here for an example report from January 2016.
• The Water Cycle & General Water Information: The US Geological Survey (USGS) website has a lot of information about the water cycle and global water distribution. Their interactive water cycle diagram is particularly fun and informative!
• Drinking Water Regulations: Learn about how drinking water is regulated by the EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Drinking Water Health and Safety: Learn how the Mass Department of Environmental Protection ensures safe drinking water.
• Bottled Water: Check out this recent article about the safety of bottled water from the Chicago Tribune or this article about a bottled water recall in 2015 due to possible E. coli. The Story of Stuff has lots of great videos, including their original “Story of Stuff” video.  This video about bottled water and this one about Nestle Waters in California are particularly relevant given our conversation.
• Clothes Drying: Check out this information about clothes drying.

Transportation:

• Tufts’ Commuter Benefits: Visit the Commuting Benefits website for information about how you can get discounted transit passes.
• Transportation Incentives & Regional Programs: folks on all campuses can sign up for Bay State Commute to find carpool partners and earn rewards for your “green” trips.  Employees on the Medford and Grafton campuses, can sign up for MassRIDES’ Emergency Ride HomeABC TMA provides incentives to employees on the Boston Campus, including the Guaranteed Ride Home Program.
• Public Transportation: Visit the MBTA website for information on the rail, bus, subway, and commuter boat systems and access to helpful resources such as schedules & maps, reloading your CharlieCard online, and MBTA apps.
• Tufts Shuttles: Find information about Tufts’ shuttles, including schedules and the live tracker, here.
• Biking: MassBike offers a wide range of bicycle safety and maintenance courses as well as extensive online resources about bike laws, local bike clubs, guides for new bikers, and much more. Learn more about bike safety from the Tufts University Police Department. View the City of Somerville Bicycle Routes map here.
• General Transportation Info: Visit the EPA’s website for information about transportation and climate change, regulations related to greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, and how to calculate your greenhouse gas emissions.
• For guests traveling to campus: Provide information about how to travel to your campus via public transportation.  This page (and its subpages) have some good resources and language.
• Transportation Brochures and Maps: Visit the Office of Sustainability’s Publications Library for electronic versions of our various transportation-related handouts.

Meetings & Events:

• General Green Events Info: Visit our Planning Green Events and Green Event Resources
• Green Event Checklists: Use these checklists to help keep you on track when planning Small In-Office Meetings, Large Off-Campus Events, Large On Campus Events, or Formal Meetings.
• Conferencing Tools at Tufts: Check out the following resources from Tufts Technology Services website.

Energy:

• Energy at Tufts: Visit the OOS website for energy tips and information about electricity, heating, refrigerators, and computers.
• Tufts’ Utilities & Efficiency: Check out the Facilities Services website.
• Energy Ratings/Certifications: Learn more about EPEATand ENERGY STAR.
• Green Buildings: Learn more about LEED certification.

Purchasing:

• Purchasing at Tufts: Visit the Tufts Purchasing Office’s website.
• Purchasing Guides & Eco-Labels: Check out GoodGuide, EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, the Responsible Purchasing Network, and the EPA’s site on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP).
• Apps: The “Eco-Labels” app from Consumer Reports has good information about many of the labels we discussed (they also have a website).  The“Good Guide” app allows you to gauge a particular product’s performance in the areas of health, environment, and society.
• Green Printing at Tufts: Visit the Tufts Prints Green Also, more information about why the Konica Minolta Multi-Functional Device is better than a desktop printer. Don’t forget to send back your used ink and toner cartridges: go.tufts.edu/recycle

Additional Topics of Interest:

• The Environmental Studies program organizes weekly Lunch & Learns about environmental and sustainability topics that are open to all members of the Tufts community (free food is provided!) and they are recorded live each week to watch online – learn more and see a schedule of upcoming speakers here.
• There are CSA farm shares that deliver directly to the Medford and Boston Health Science campuses.  This is a great way to get fresh produce delivered conveniently to Tufts.  Click here for more information.
• Meet other Eco-Ambassadors at Tufts – click here for a list (you will be added shortly!).
• The Office of Sustainability/TIE chore chart detailing how we split up chores like washing the hand towels and putting dishes away.

Contacts