It’s likely that if you live in the dormitories, Soldiers Field Park, One Western or Peabody Terrace you have seen posters of your Green Living Representatives. These representatives are part of the Graduate Green Living Program, a peer to peer educational program. Representatives educate and promote sustainable behaviors to their colleagues throughout the year with the goal of reducing the campus’ environmental impact through reduced energy and water use, a reduction in waste generated, and an increase in the amount of trash that is recycled.
This year 18 Green Living Representatives are serving across Harvard: in the common areas and dorms at HBS, the law school dorms, Peabody Terrace, Soldiers Field Park and One Western Avenue. A few Green Living Representatives share here their motivation for being involved in the program and ideas for living more sustainably.
Andre Beisert a first year student, is from Brazil, and is from section E. On why he chose to get involved with the program, he says, “It’s an amazing opportunity to be influencing future world leaders here at HBS to be environmentally conscious.” His top two favorite things to ‘live green’ are “I ride a bike whenever possible and I turn off all the lights when I leave the room – it’s that EASY to live green.”
Christina Miller, Section J, is originally from Minneapolis. She shares, “Here’s something you can do with the plastic bags that always pile up from visits to the grocery store – keep returning it back to the grocery store – reuse it for that day’s groceries or recycle it in the container provided. Or better yet, get your own bag to bring to the grocery store.” Her motivation for joining the program was that she wanted to make a difference. She says, “Americans make up only 4% of the world’s population, yet we consume nearly 26% of its resources. By living “green” and making an effort to reduce our ecological footprint, we can substantially reduce this number and do our part to preserve the health of our planet for our children and future generations.”
“Definitely reuse water bottles!,” says Paulina Amieva from old Section I, when asked for her favorite Green Living Tip. “I am concerned about peoples’ wasteful habits and the impact that they can have on our surroundings and I saw Green Living as a vehicle to implement change among the student body. I believe that most of us are concerned about the impact that our activities have on the environment but most people don’t know what to do to help. I hope to communicate to our residents that through small daily changes in our habits it is not that hard to have a meaningful impact,” she adds.
Lisa P. Tran, a partner, is also one of the Green Living Reps. Her favorite Green Living Tip is “Sort out your recyclables – paper and cans/bottles/plastics and place them in two separate paper bags before dropping them off to the receptacles. By doing that, you will save time and you can gradually get rid of the paper bags that have piled up from the numerous trips to the grocery stores!” Green Living is very important to her as a partner as she says that, “I am planning on raising a family one day, so green living is very important to me in order for my children to live in a healthy environment.”
Each of the Green Living Representatives brings their own unique motivations to the program and ideas about how to ‘live green’ and hopefully, through their actions and the organized program, will be able to encourage more sustainable living practices on campus.
So let’s all help the Green Living Reps make our environment a better place to live in.And why not get started today with some simple
Green Living Tips:
– Turn off the lights if you are not home
– Take shorter showers
– Recycle all paper and clean food, beverage and laundry containers made of glass, metal and rigid plastic
– Print on both sides of the paper if you can
– Use reusable containers instead of disposables
– Ride a bike – healthy and green
– Buy eco-friendly products
Learn more:
Sustainability at Harvard: www.greencampus.harvard.edu
Graduate Green Living Program: www.greencampus.harvard.edu/greenliving
