New eco-friendly guide outlines everyday steps to going green

Eric Walsh

Issue date: 10/8/08
Section: News

 

Sometimes going green means working green. For the UConn faculty and staff, all it takes to turn the working environment into an eco-friendly environment are a few simple, everyday steps, recently outlined in a new guide.

"University of Connecticut Sustainable Office Guidelines: A Guide to Working Green at the University of Connecticut," was produced this past summer by UConn alumna Alissa Becker, a former student sustainability coordinator and staff member of the Office of Environmental Policy (OEP).

The 30-page guide is available online at the Eco Husky Web site, includes sections on reducing, reusing and recycling, energy use, meetings and events, purchasing, transportation and water conservation. Some of the tips are familiar reminders like recycling and reducing paper consumption, while others recommend ideas like departmental bike sharing programs and carpooling.

With more than 4,000 employees working at the university, implementing some of the booklet's guidelines could add up.

"If every one of us adopted just a few of these ideas, UConn could save thousands of gallons of water a day or thousands of kilowatt hours of energy a year, which translates into tons of greenhouse gas emissions avoided," said Richard Miller, director of the OEP, in a press release.

In addition to the online guide, Miller and his staff will be available to meet with individual departments to review the guidelines. Rollout of the program is expected to occur sometime later this semester.

The rollout involves eco-representatives' scheduling and meeting with staff from different departments to fill out a "sustainability scorecard."

"The scorecard will establish a baseline from which each department can develop an action plan," said Jennifer Sayers, the sustainability coordinator at the OEP. "Eventually we will revisit the departments to see if the score has changed."

The meetings themselves will incorporate some of what the guide promotes. According to Sayers, local and organic foods will be catered to the meetings, demonstrating some of the ways meetings and events at UConn can be more sustainable.

"I think it's a great idea," said Anji Seth, an associate professor of geography, commenting on the new guide. "Energy use and water conservation are the two largest issues concerning the environment today, and in the future. We all need to be more careful and thoughtful in regards to those issues."

One of the subsections under paper reduction recommends working on papers electronically rather than printing out drafts. It also suggests printing double-sided and using reduced margins, although employees should avoid printing whenever possible.

"In my classes I try to keep paper use at a minimum," Seth said. "Generally, I only print out tests, and I make sure that they're double-sided."

The guide emphasizes that every bit can help, and incorporating some of these ideas into the workplace can help move UConn in a greener direction. This past March, University President Michael Hogan signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, committing UConn to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Saving energy and creating a more sustainable workplace is just part of that greater effort.