Forget Crimson: The Ed School's New Color is Green
By Matt Corby
From plates to paints, the Ed School is looking a lot greener
these days thanks to the groundbreaking Green Program. A
partnership between the school and the Harvard Green
Campus Initiative, the program is aimed at reducing
the environmental impacts of Ed School operations
and fostering environmentally conscious students,
faculty, and staff. Created last spring in response
to overwhelming scientific evidence
for climate change, the Green Program has
three main goals: to raise awareness levels
and participation among staff, students,
and faculty; to run monthly campaigns
focused on a wide range of resource
conservation topics; and
to work on sustainable renovation
on campus, including more efficient
plumbing and lighting changes.
Although the Green Program is relatively young, “its initiatives have already spawned many accomplishments,” says Jason Carlson, director of operations. On the recycling front, all classrooms, hallways, and reading areas now feature clearly marked and conveniently located recycling bins. Special bins in the Recycling Corner of the Conroy Commons Café accept all plastics, paper, batteries, and ink cartridges. The Green Program also led energy conservation efforts with the 2007 Sustainability Pledge Campaign, in which 30 percent of people at the school pledged to think consciously this year about their individual environmental impacts. In exchange for these promises, the Green Program purchased renewable energy to offset 10 percent of the school’s annual electricity use.
Food service has been subject to the green makeover as well. All plates and cups are made from rapidly renewable resources, trays and utensils are disinfected and reused, and napkins are 100 percent recycled content. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing improvements have been made throughout Larsen, Longfellow, and Gutman, saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and kilowatt hours of annual energy. Larsen classrooms 210 and 212 have undergone green renovations that include dual-technology occupancy sensors for reducing energy consumption, and the application of low-emitting paints, sealants, and adhesives. Rather than purchasing new furniture, tablet armchairs were salvaged for reuse in Larsen 210. As part of the Longfellow basement reorganization project, efficient restroom fixtures have been installed that reduce water consumption by 41 percent compared to standard fixtures. Furthermore, 89 percent of the construction waste was recycled and more than 66 percent of the interior nonstructural components were retained.
The Green Program has inspired Ed. magazine to make a few changes as well. We are now printing on FSC-certified Chorus Art paper, which contains 50 percent recycled content, and we have switched to a nonpetroleum-based ink. In this constant struggle to sustain our environment, the Green Program reminds us that everything counts.
About the Article
A version of this article originally appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Ed., the magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Respond to this story with an e-mail to the editor.
illustration by Jeff Hopkins, Ed.M.'05
