Tag: tisch

Eco-Rep Update

Anyone pumped about the environment, which ought be everyone, should apply to be an Eco-Rep for the Fall of 2013!  We are looking for a diverse group of people looking to make an positive impact on the environment!  Do it now! 

Get excited!  Recyclemania is coming to a close with only a week left for all the dorm to step up the recycling!  Make sure to check out the website if you are not sure what is and is not recyclable, or, ask any Eco-Rep!  Go green and help support Tufts in the national competition!

A call for old cloths: do you have cloths that you don’t wear any more?  Do you have no more space in your closet?  It’s about time to let go of your old cloths by donating it to the Eco-Reps for the upcoming clothing swap!  There are boxes in each dorm for cloths (but no shoes) so make sure to get some Spring cleaning done and stick some of your old cloths in the labelled boxes!

This week at our meeting the Eco-Reps learned about environmentally friendly ways to get around.  Too often we rely on our personal cars to take us places.  We found that in reality, public transportation tends to be cheaper, stress free, and easier.  The T is always a reliable way to get around the Boston area, and buses are very dependable too!  There are a lot of helpful applications for your phone to track buses and the T.  We came to the conclusion that buses are a great way to get around: bus drivers are great, they are cheaper than the T, and you can even hitch your bike to the front of the bus( just don’t forget to take it down when you get off!).  Getting a ZipCar and carpooling is also often very cost effective and convenient.  If you are a Tufts student, there are special rate!  Check out the website to learn more and to see how to register.  But, let’s not forget the lovely Tufts Bikes group on campus that allows us to borrow bikes from Tisch library for up to 8 hours!

Fun fact: L.A. could have potentially been the most eco-friendly county.  But, because of the political and economic power of big oil companies, much of the plans to implement awesome public transportation was not made possible.  It was quite surprising to many of us how great energy-efficient technology has been developed in the past, but has been destroyed or overlooked because of the multi-billion dollar industry that capitalized on oil and fossil fuels.

Earth Day is coming up so get excited for dorm and school-wide events!  There are going to be flyers and posters all around campus, but if you want to get more details RA’s and Eco-Reps are always happy to tell you all about the exiting upcoming events!

Tisch Library receives the first Green Office Gold Certification

Carol Ellis accepts the certificate for Tisch Library

This spring, the Office of Sustainability finally  launched a new program to recognize, support and promote offices that are engaging in sustainable practices.

The Green Office Certification program has four levels of certification allowing offices to be recognized for their current conservation actions, while still providing a goal to work towards (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum). On Tuesday, May 8th, at the annual luncheon for Eco-Ambassadors, four offices were awarded a certificate that will be displayed in their office to reflect ongoing efforts in energy reduction, waste conservation and sustainable purchasing.

Congratulations to the Tisch Library for being the first office to achieve Gold level Green Office Certification, and to the Department of Environmental and Population Health, Ginn Library at the Fletcher School and Tufts Renewable Energy & Applied Photonics (REAP) Labs for achieving the Bronze level of office sustainability!

If your office or deparment would like to participate and begin the process of Green Office Certification, just follow this link! Any office or department on all three campuses can participate. Every year, your office can resubmit the survey to evaluate improvements made in the workplace and help Tufts University become a more sustainable campus!

Good luck! We cannot wait to award more Green Office certificates.

Eco-Ambassador Laurie Sabol: a green champion within and beyond Tufts

Laurie accepting the Bridge Builder Award from President Emeritus Larry Bacow

Last June at the 2011 Tufts Distinction Awards, the Office of Sustainability was proud to note that former Eco-Ambassador Laurie Sabol (FY 2009-10) was recognized* with a Bridge Builder Award for “bringing out the best in others”. It is easy to see why: apart from being the Social Sciences reference librarian at Tisch Library, Laurie has long been a “green advocate” within and beyond the Tufts community.

During her stint as an Eco-Ambassador, she wrote a proposal to start the Tisch Sustainability Team which has since received support and recognition from library administration. The Team has started several initiatives such as office composting and becoming a TerraCycle recycling site for chip/granola bar bags and writing implements. (Proceeds from TerraCycle benefit the Eco-Reps program.)

On being an Eco-Ambassador, Laurie says she really enjoyed networking with people she otherwise would not have met. She found the session on “Social Marketing and Communicating Change” most helpful because she found that the biggest challenge is convincing people to actively participate in sustainable initiatives.

In 2000, Laurie answered a call for board members at the statewide recycling coalition Mass Recycle and became involved with the organization for six years. She served as the board’s secretary, doing a lot of “grunt work” but also looked for speakers and spoke at a conference herself two years ago about the Tisch Sustainability Team. Of her time at Mass Recycle, she humbly remarks that “I learned how much I didn’t know.”

Before joining Tufts, Laurie worked at Chicago Public Library and Bowling Green State University (Ohio) where she had also started recycling initiatives. “At Chicago Public Library, we just had a laundry cart that we filled with newspapers and I found a local recycling organization who would take them.” There was no formal organization or recognition, as was the case in Bowling Green where the library staff began recycling cans and hauling the lot themselves to a recycling facility nearby. “It was fun and very low maintenance,” Laurie recalls. “We’d bring the cans over every Friday and go out for a beer.”

Not surprisingly, Laurie remains an active member of MassRecycle and the recycling program at her current hometown of Ayer, MA. She’s got plenty of other things going on, so drop by the library sometime and ask her about being a weekend puppy mom for NEADS and what she was doing in Xi’an, China in 1992…

*Another Eco-Ambassador, Chantal Hardy (FY 2010-11) of the English Department was also recognized for exceptional customer service with The Extra Mile Award.