Sustainability at Harvard

Home & Dorm

A sustainable lifestyle starts at home, and with 98% of undergrads and most graduate students living on campus, reducing Harvard's environmental impact begins there too. Harvard tackles this issue from two sides - making institutional changes to reduce building impact while also reaching out to the residents to green their own habits. Living green at home saves time and money, and creates a healthier living environment for everyone.

[Featured story]

Living in the green zone at ‘Rock Hall’

“Rock Hall” - the nickname for John D. Rockefeller Jr. Hall at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) - looks just like what it is: a spare, elegant building in the Modernist tradition.

But its straight lines, wide windows, and understated functionality nicely conceal what it has become: one of the most energy-efficient buildings at Harvard.

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Recent Stories

HBS Students Opt Out of Unwanted Junk Mail

All hands on deck at the HBS junk mail party

Did you know that 41 pounds of junk mail are sent to the average American adult each year? And almost half of this mail is sent to the landfill unopened (source: 41pounds.org).

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Over 2,000 Keys Recycled

Our inaugural key recycling campaign was a huge success, with departments from all across campus sending us keys. We ended up with over 2,000 keys which were brought to Whole Foods for recycling. The $75 made from recycling & selling the scrap metal will be donated to local food pantries.

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GBS staff attends energy modeling course

The team showing off their certificates.

Kevin Bright, Jessica Parks, and Jesse Foote have just completed a two-day hands-on training on Energy Modeling. This course, held at the Green Roundtable’s Nexus center in Boston, taught a step-by-step procedure for completing building simulation analyses using the eQUEST modeling software.

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HBS Green Fair: Interactive Displays and Free Giveaways

ReRev elliptical machine in action.

In October the Harvard Business School (HBS) Green Team held its 2nd Annual Green Fair in Shad Hall, the School’s physical fitness center.  The event, which was open to the School community, brought together campus, local, and national organizations that share a passion for prote

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Hamilton Hall Wins the HBS Reduce Your Juice Competition

Turning off lights is a simple & practical way to conserve electricity.

The results are in….Hamilton is the winner of the 2009 HBS Reduce Your Juice Electricity Competition! It was a fight until the end, but Hamilton outperformed Gallatin with a 4% reduction in the last week making their average reduction for the competition 3.5%. Congratulations Hamilton!

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Furniture Relocated

Trash or Treasure?

During the summer of 2009, HMS Campus Operations relocated over 750 pieces of furniture during an office move-out from the Prudential Center. Over 85% of all the perfectly good furniture that would otherwise have been disposed of in a landfill found a new home within HMS and the local community.

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Cleaning, with a layer of ozone

It’s a little bottle that packs a big cleaning punch. FMO Custodial Services is piloting a new product within Blackstone that uses only water, but reportedly cleans even better than bleach.

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Building an Eco-Friendly HBS Together

HBS Fall

The HBS Green Living Program recently conducted a student survey that attracted close to 500 respondents. The intent of the survey was to better understand the awareness among students of green initiatives within Harvard, the general green practices of students, and to see where some of the big opportunities for improvement are for us at HBS.

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Introducing the HBS Green Corps

Students show off some newly acquired power strips during their Chase dinner.

How many times have you wondered if you should recycle a plastic container, which you subsequently threw in the trash because you just weren't sure? If you answered in the affirmative, keep reading…you just might learn something from your HBS green corps.

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Recycling and Composting at Home Made Easy

The new single stream recycling carts for Boston residences with 1-6 units.

Now it is even easier for Boston and Cambridge residents to recycle and compost at home. Both cities’ programs recently expanded their services and offer great resources that detail how to properly recycle and compost in the community.

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