Achievements
2002-2004 Achievements
REP
has created a multitude of successes since it began in the fall of 2002.
Normalizing and Modeling Environmentally-Friendly Behaviors
Sharing Our Successful Model With Other Universities and Faculties
Harvard University Undergraduate Council Legislation
Information-Gathering
- Designed and administered Harvard's first-ever comprehensive environmental habits survey, taken by over 2000 dorm residents in Spring 2003
- Completed audit of opportunities to improve lighting efficiency in dorms; trialed new lighting and plumbing equipment which was installed in two Houses (Adams and Leverett) in summer 2003.
Waste Reduction
- Achieved increases in House recycling rates leading to FAS savings of $50,000 for 2003-04 in trash and recycling service costs. Measured 26% increase in recycling in context of overall drop in waste in the spring of 2003.
- Supported fifth and sixth annual Harvard waste audits and carried out construction of "Mt. Trashmore"/"Mt. Recyclemore" in Fall 2003 and 2004 to dramatically illustrate the need for continued waste reduction and diversion of waste from trash to recycling. Created Harvard Recycling FAQ.
- Distributed paired recycling baskets to most undergraduate suites. Organized and labeled recycling depots and added recycling bins in "hot spots" such as mailrooms and dining halls.
- Green move-out campaign resulted in 35-40% more reusable materials being collected in 2003 than in 2002. Harvard Habitat for Humanity is using proceedings to fund the construction of a home in Lowell , Mass.
- Collected over 100 pounds of toiletries and cosmetics for local shelters.
- Received Harvard's first-ever National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellowship, for establishment of a "Re-store" where reusable computers and other items will be made available to the needy for little or no cost.
Energy Conservation
Educated
students on how to do laundry in a more energy-, time- and cost-efficient
manner. Scheduled replacement of over 300 washers with highly-efficient
front-loading machines, saving the University at least $50,000 per
year in water and energy costs and introducing students to the time-saving
benefits of efficient washers. - Reduced 3% electricity use across dorms for the first six months of 2003-04. If maintained, this reduction will mean $45,000 of savings in energy costs for FAS.
- Reps visited 1000 undergraduate suites delivering "green dorm" information and energy-conservation reminder stickers. Motion sensors installed in Quincy and Leverett in cooperation with Office of Physical Resources
- Informed students how to improve comfort levels in House dorm rooms by adjusting thermostats reduced cold complaints during coldest weeks of winter, leading to over $8000 of savings.
- Publicized Thanksgiving energy-saving pledge for the FAS Computer Energy Reduction Program [link to CERP site], which was awarded a 2003 EPA Leadership Award. Achieved participation by more than 20% of undergraduates, leading to $8500 of savings.
- Held 15 "food for thought" studybreaks, resulting in environmental pledges by hundreds of students.
Normalizing and Modeling Environmentally-Friendly Behaviors
- Introduced EnviroCitizen awards for students who incorporate sustainable choices into their daily lives.
- Created walk-through Model Dorm Room at Earth Day 2003 and 2004.
- Successfully submitted revisions to FAS Handbook for Students (see pages 341-343) and Guide to the First Undergraduate Year.
- Achieved revision to all House "Party Forms" (required for students hosting more than 30 people in their room) to include mandatory recycling at registered parties as well as "green party" tips.
- Featured regularly in The Crimson and The Harvard Gazette. Discussed in Harvard College Parents' Newsletter, Sierra Youth Coalition Sustainable Campuses Newsletter, other campus papers, and Harvard Graduate School of Education student research projects.
- 2002-2003 donors and partners [-> link to appropriate point on about REP page] included the Undergraduate Council, Institute of Politics , Habitat for Humanity, the Ann Radcliffe Trust, the Better World Network, and over twenty area businesses.
- Captain selected as first runner-up for 2003 Harvard College Women's Leadership Award. Coordinator selected as first runner-up for 2003 Undergraduate Council Award for Service to the Harvard Community.
- Provided one-year post-graduate fellowship to 2004 College graduate via a Central Administration University Management Fellowship for FY 2004-05.
- Launched new eco-guide program, which has recruited dozens of first-year student volunteers as entryway representatives in the Yard.
- Piloted Summer 2004 REP in cooperation with Harvard Summer School's residential program, which hosts over 2000 secondary and college-age students from the U.S. and more than 90 countries.
Sharing Our Successful Model With Other Universities and Faculties
- Received grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to document our successes and share them with other universities, in support of the New England Governors' and Eastern Canada Premiers' Climate Change Action Plan.
- Presented at 2003 Harvard Environmental Symposium , the 2003 National Recycling Coalition Conference, 2003 Ball State Campus Greening Conference, 2003 Sierra Youth Coalition Sustainable Campuses Conference, and 2004 Northeast Climate Conference. The University of Vermont and Yale have launched programs inspired by REP's approach of paid employment and student-administrative partnership.
- Featured in 2003 Campus Ecology Environmental Yearbook .
Undergraduate Council Legislation
The Undergraduate Council (UC) is Harvard College s elected student government. The following legislation which came before the UC relates to the goals of REP's conservation, resource efficiency, and a general environmental ethic and included the involvement of former REP captains in writing or amending the bill.
23F-39 $10 Renewable Energy Fee Referendum
"...Whereas students should have the option of furthering the cause of renewable energy and promoting its accompanying
economic, environmental, health, and national security benefits by paying a renewable energy fee that would allow Harvard
to meet a portion of its energy demand with renewable energy..."
(November 2004)
Passed by acclamation
Harvard Undergraduate Council
22S-28: Green Grants Act: Incorporating Sustainability into Harvard's Student Body
"...Be it resolved that the Undergraduate Council allocate $800 to establish the Green Grants Program on a trial basis to offer student groups incentives to go above and beyond the normal expectations for environmentally friendly practices at their UC funded activities..."
(April 18, 2004)
Failed by a vote of 19-24-2
Harvard Undergraduate Council
22S-16: Partnering Recycling Bins with Trash Bins throughout Harvard
"... Be it resolved that the Undergraduate Council recommends that all Houses and the Yard work with Harvard Recycling in order to install recycling bins side by side with all trash cans, in order to increase the amount of recycling that leaves Harvard and decrease the amount of waste created and in order to increase the social and ecological responsibility Harvard is displaying as a world leading university..."
(February 29, 2004)
Passed by acclamation
Harvard Undergraduate Council
22F-17: Co-Sponsorship of Harvard-Yale Parties and Events
"... Be it further resolved that whoever receives a portion of this co-sponsorship fund also receive the message that the Harvard Undergraduate Council requires the recipients of the fund to provide proper recycling depots, as well as proper and visible publicity of those recycling depots at their Harvard-Yale event. Be it further resolved that the UC tell our Yale co-sponsors that, despite our requirement for recycling depots at all co-sponsored events, Harvard will still beat them in the 2003-2004 year-long Harvard-Yale Recycling Competition, to be announced at the November 22nd game..."
(November, 9 2003)
Passed unanimously
Harvard Undergraduate Council
19S-16: Resolution for Environmentally Responsible Investing at Harvard
"... Be it further resolved that the Undergraduate Council endorse the Environmental Action Committee's pursuit to establish a student-faculty committee on environmental responsibility to address both on-campus and off-campus environmental issues, whose first order of business will be to work towards attaining disclosure of investment information in addition to incorporating a environmental perspective into the decision making process of investing..."
(March 11, 2001)
Passed by a vote of 21-20-0
Harvard Undergraduate Council