Dear Fellow HBS students,
Several things have been happening these past few weeks. Hell Week (Heaven Week for some), Hell Week & then some more Hell Week. But guess what folks, we at the Green Living team discovered that there are lots of great Green jobs on the Job Bank. And here is a step-by-step instruction on how to ace those Green interviews.
Step 1: Apply to all Those Green Jobs
There are some great Green jobs on the Job Bank that you could try out for your summer internship. There’s Global Environment Fund which is looking for an intern for supporting ongoing investment decision making for either the Clean Technology or Forestry investment teams; there’s the Sonoran Institute which is looking for a Packard Environment Fellow to work with the Kwapa Indian Tribes in Mexico; there’s The Wilderness Society which is looking for a Hewlett Environment Fellow for a project on clean energy; and there’s Wolfensohn & Co. which has projects in clean energy venture capital. So apply now to get started.
Step 2: Go to Your Laundry Room
Why the laundry room? Well you can learn some amazing facts in your laundry room about green laundering (no pun intended).
Well, watch for the color Green in the SFP, OWA and PT laundry rooms. We have left a container of eco-friendly detergent, which not just cleans your clothes well, but also saves the world while doing it. And when you are using the machines, make sure that you press the Green color coded buttons, as they ensure that we use cold water – which use 90% less energy than using hot water. And it also prolongs the life of your clothes. Go Green Your Laundry. Also, make sure that you clean your lint filter before you start the dryer – just doing that reduces energy usage by up to 30%.
Step 3: Tell Them About Green Laundry
Now that you know more about Green laundry, tell the whole world about it – including your interviewers. And here’s a quiz to help you sharpen your skills:
1. Cleaning your lint filter before drying your clothes will reduce energy use by up to 30%.
TRUE FALSE
2. Washing in cold water instead of hot water allows fabrics to retain their color and strength longer.
TRUE FALSE
3. Washing your laundry in cold water instead of hot saves this much energy:
A. 40% B. 60% C. 75% D. 90%
4. High-efficiency washers (like those at Harvard) need about this much detergent:
A. 2 Tablespoons B. 1/3 cup C. 1/2 cup D. 1 cup
Just answer these four questions and if you are lucky you could win eco-friendly laundry detergent. Send the answers to meryl_brott@harvard.edu by 10 March.
Step 4: Learn More About Green Printing
If you had a two page CV, we’d obviously recommend that you double-side print it, but why not start saving some paper, so that you can talk about it at your interviews. Paul Grana and his team of HBS RC Section Green Reps recently ran a competition for “double-sided-printing” and received an overwhelming response. Two Sections – NB and NF stood out for their participation – they got the most number of students who showed their double-sided printing and took part in the competition. And four lucky winners got to enjoy a bottle of organic wine/organic chocolate for their efforts – Sabine T. (NB), Lauren C. (NE), Rujira H. (NF) & Alex G. (NI). So get in touch with these lucky Green winners to know more about Green printing.
Step 5: Celebrate Green Week and Learn More from the Horse’s Mouth
During the week of March 17-21 there will be a series of events on topics relating to environmental sustainability. Currently planned speakers include representatives from a diverse set of firms including Clif Bar, Fiji Water, Chevron, HyMini and others. It’s a great way for us to find out how various firms are addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by the growing concern over environmental issues. After all, as David Brower, founder and chairman of Earth Island Institute says, “There’s no business to be done on a dead planet.”
Step 6: Ace Those Green interviews. All the Best!
