all Harvard Green Campus Initiative stories

French fries, other vegetable oil products help fuel recycling effort

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:16:00 -0400

Harvard Recycling and Waste Management fueled its truck with used vegetable oil from the Annenberg Hall kitchen this past Tuesday (Sept. 19) - marking a first for a Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO) vehicle. According to recycling and waste management supervisor for FMO Rob Gogan, the oil performed "identical to diesel."

Up until recently, Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) collected and shipped off the used oil from Harvard's deep fryers for use in cosmetics and animal feed. Now, Harvard's recycling truck will use about half of Annenberg's waste oil to fuel trips across campus picking up bulk recyclables such as computers, clothing, and scrap metal, and donations to Harvard Habitat for Humanity.

Green Campus contest puts wind in energy's sails

50443248 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:44:59 -0400

The Harvard Green Campus Initiative is giving Harvard students and staff the chance to turn their energy conservation habits - or their new resolutions to conserve - into clean wind power.
The EmPOWER Harvard campaign seeks to get as many people as possible to sign an online pledge form before midnight Nov. 23 - the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Practicing 'best practices'

50443248 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:43:19 -0400

Dual concerns about Harvard's environmental impact and skyrocketing energy costs have prompted facilities managers across the University to come together monthly to share thoughts, tips, and techniques for making Harvard buildings energy efficient.

The Utilities and Maintenance Focus Group, which was initiated by Harvard Real Estate Services, began meeting in January with representatives of University Operations Services, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Law School, the Business School, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Real Estate Services, and the Harvard Green Campus Initiative.

'Moving toward' global warming solution

50443248 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:21:00 -0400

Earth Day at Harvard offered a hopeful note this year, as speakers praised the University's efforts toward sustainability, saying they reflect similar grassroots efforts around the country that are forming in response to the problem of global warming.

Robert Musil, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said that, although global warming is a serious environmental threat, the speed with which humanity has focused its attention and taken concrete steps to fight it offers hope.

Though the United States' reluctance to participate on the Kyoto global warming treaty is seen by some as a failure, Musil said focusing on that ignores the fact that large parts of the rest of the world have joined together to fight a serious global environmental problem.

It's easy being green

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 05:11:24 -0400

Eleven interns worked on seven projects across Harvard University for three months in the summer of 2001. The internships were sponsored by the Harvard Green Campus Initiative, in collaboration with several different departments at Harvard that hosted the interns. Among the projects was an inventory of "greenhouse" gas emissions, which found that during the last 10 years, Harvard's production of carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, was up about 52 percent. Much of that is due to increased power consumption from new construction and the rapid increase in computer use. The project included recommendations that the University reduce its energy consumption by implementing conservation programs, utilizing energy-efficient building designs, and shifting to renewable energy sources where possible. Other projects looked at using alternative fuels for vehicles and reducing waste through such means as reusing printer cartridges.