Most of us take those important small steps that make a big difference: turning out our lights when we leave a room, recycling our bottles, cans and paper, and power-managing our computers. However, every now and then, a student, tutor, or House master goes one step further and takes on a larger personal project that makes the entire campus a little greener.
Last fall, these local eco-heroes took it upon themselves to do everything from creating sustainable party kits to opening a Green Store in their house.
In the Resource Efficiency Program (REP), we like to call these achievements “Eco Projects,” and we hold a contest for the best eco projects each semester. The prizes are awarded by the REP steering group, comprised of representatives from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Office of Physical Resources, the Food Literacy Project (FLP), Harvard University Services Dining, Environmental Action Committee, Harvard’s Office for Sustainability, and the House masters.
The fall 2008 projects were judged in February, with Kelly Evans, a junior and FLP rep in Adams House, receiving the top prize. Kelly placed compost bins on each floor of her entryway, and then produced pamphlets explaining composting for all residents. Each week, she would take the bins down to the dining hall to be added to the House’s outgoing compost from food waste.
“Kelly Evan’s eco-project has proven that undergraduates can keep residential organic refuse clean enough to meet commercial recycling specifications,” says Rob Gogan, the associate manager of recycling services. “It helps Harvard close the loop from the ‘plate to the plant’.”
Second prize went to the “Harvard Hooligans,” a student group in Winthrop House, known for their funny web videos on Harvard-Radcliffe Television. They filmed a video titled “Green Justice”, where they promoted sustainability on campus through a humorous environmental superhero. The Hooligans used the video to help promote the Sustainability Pledge, putting the pledge’s link on their webpage, and sending both links to all the House lists. The video was so successful that Eliot Rep Kurt Tsuo ’11 is organizing GreenTube, an entire green video contest.
Every semester, the Eco Projects invigorate REP with new ideas and inspire it to new heights. No one knows what exactly the spring semester of Eco Projects might bring, but we fully expect to be amazed once again when they come due April 10.
(Photo caption: The Green Hooligan, a new environmental superhero, shows no mercy to incandescent bulbs).
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In the Resource Efficiency Program (REP), we like to call these achievements “Eco Projects,” and we hold a contest for the best eco projects each semester.