Eco-Citizens
Volunteer eco-representatives, or eco-citizens, are the key links between the CERP coordinator and buildings’ occupants. They are students, staff or researchers, whose buildings either have a large number of occupants, are highly energy intensive (eg.labs), or where a large number of occupants have expressed interest in the CERP program.
In the past CERP projects have been scattered around FAS and have mostly consisted of short term campaigns in specific buildings. While these projects were highly successful and resulted in important environmental and financial savings, we felt that CERP's impact would have been much bigger, if only we could generate a sense of continuity for our programs and funnel the various interests of our many supporters and their willingness to actively participate in energy conservation projects. This is why we decided to start a program that would be an office & lab equivalent of our Resource Efficiency Program.
Eco-citizens meet once a month with the CERP coordinator to discuss current and upcoming projects. They coordinate intra-buildings educational campaigns, promote campus-wide and inter-building competitions, serve as models and contacts for conservation questions, and promote involvement in specific energy and water saving activities.
Without their support, it would be impossible for CERP to reach out to such a large and diverse FAS crowd!
Meet our Eco-Citizens:
Bauer
Claire Reardon, Lab Manager
As the Lab Manager at the Bauer Center, Claire Reardon has worked with the Green Campus Initiative to encourage sustainability at the Bauer Lab. She helped to implement a temperature set-back to reduce heating and cooling of the building at night. She also sends out a monthly “green idea” to the lab members suggesting easy ways to reduce waste. At home, Claire composts her kitchen and yard waste and uses this fertilizer on her vegetable garden.
CGIS (Center for Government and International Studies) South and North
Clare Putnam, Coordinator - Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
Clare is Student Programs Coordinator at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and in this position she coordinates graduate and undergraduate student programs and fellowships at the Weatherhead Center. The Weatherhead Center supports faculty and student research in international affairs within social science disciplines. The Weatherhead Center is one of more than twenty departments and centers in CGIS which also houses the Government and History departments and many of Harvard's international and area centers within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Clare has recently begun to develop her interests in environmental issues, and she has currently completed two environmental management courses at the Extension School. She also attended the April 2006 "Harvard 2020: Building a Bridge to Sustainability" conference. She plans to continue learning about environmental issues, and she looks forward to the opportunity to work with the Green Campus Initiative to help CGIS and its members become active participants in successful resource conservation at Harvard.
Herbaria
Steph Zabel
Steph is a curatorial assistant at the Harvard University Herbaria where she helps to care for the collection of dried plant specimens and works with researchers doing botanical studies. She adores the botanical world and has a great interest in all things plant-related. She believes that human well-being is closely linked to the well-being of the earth, and so she became involved with the Green Campus Initiative where she could help to initiate change for the betterment of the environment and ourselves. Steph is working on greening projects for her building - most recently with coordinating a recycling system - and she also created a monthly newsletter for her co-workers that aims to raise awareness about environmental issues. She is grateful to be a part of the Eco-Citizens circle and looks forward to all the positive and empowering changes that can be made on campus.
William James Hall
Celeste Beck, Study Pool Coordinator in the Psychology Department
Celeste Beck is currently the Study Pool Coordinator for the Harvard Psychology Department. She has been a thoughtful, persistent, and creative advocate for energy efficiency in the building, especially by taking initiative on a "Take the Stairs!" campaign to reduce the amount of energy needed to operate elevators. Celeste serves as a non-resident tutor in Winthrop House in Psychology, Drama, and Education. Originally from North Carolina, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, taught in Nagoya City, Japan for two years with the JET Programme, and then completed her master's at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has performed in professional theatre in Boston, sings with the Boston Choral Ensemble, and turns her computer off every day.
Campaigns
Next meeting:
Last Tuesday of every month. 4PM
What can you do?
- Attend our monthly meeting
- Volunteer to help out with a specific project (e-mail your building’s eco-rep)
- Share an idea you have for resource conservation
- Contact us to become an eco-citizen in your building
Green Tip of the Month
Each month CERP sends out a "Green Tip" email to Eco-Citizens who forward it to their respective departments and groups. Green Tips are intended to raise awareness among the FAS community, and remind everyone of the simple actions each of us can take to reduce our collective environmental impacts
Look for the Green Tip email this month! And this is a great opportunity for you to get involved:
- Contact CERP Coordinator, Gosia Sklodowska or your building’s eco-citizen if you would like to help us hang the poster on public bulletin boards, kitchens, etc. in your building
- Bring the Green Tip poster to your monthly staff meeting to spark a Green Campus Discussion each month
- Send us your ideas! We are always looking for new, interesting Green Tips of the Month
Green Events Calendar
Also, visit the Harvard University Center for the Environmental calendar.