Presentation delivered at MassRecycle's 4th Annual Green Office / Green Facility Conference, Bentley University, June 15, 2010. Get invited to next year’s conference by signing up to MassRecycle’s free email newsletter at www.massrecycle.org.

1. The Tisch Library
Sustainability Team
Laurie Sabol
Laurie.sabol@tufts.edu
June 15, 2010

2. How we came to be
• My background and interest in recycling
• Workplace observations
• Genuine support from management
• Fall 08 Tufts Eco‐Ambassador program
(http://sustainability.tufts.edu/?pid=10)
• Jan 09 Hosted staff brown bag about EA
program
• Feb 09 Approached management team with
proposal to form a task force
• July 09 Became an official team

3. The team’s goals
Mission was originally specific to staff
• To promote ideas for preventing or reducing
the amount of materials that are either
recycled or put into the trash
• To make it easy to recycle as much material as
possible
• To promote energy saving practices

4. The team’s projects
• Wiki (Google Tisch sustainability wiki)
• Moving from PS bottled water to filtration system
• Encouraging behavior changes at work and home
• Mug swap
• BYOP at social events
• Designed Twelve green days of the holiday season
• Developed survey and info session at Earth Day
celebration
• Advocated for duplex as default for public printers
• Brought composting to the library
• Revised building tour to include recycling facilities and
services

5. Twelve days example

6. Recycling survey questions
1. At work I recycle . . .
a) What could the Tisch Sustainability Team do to make
it easier for you to recycle at work?
2. At home I recycle . . .
3. I compost . . .
a) If you answered 'no' to any item in the
previous question, please tell us why.
4. If you have project suggestions for the
Sustainability Team please let us know.

7. Challenges
Benchmarks for success
Difficulty . . .

8. What works, what doesn’t
• Gentle cajoling and reasoning does; pushiness
doesn’t.
• Encouragement does; mandates don’t.
• Decision‐makers may want to hear more
about the bottom line rather than the carbon
footprint.
• Not all projects are completed in a timely way;
patience is key.

9. What was that funny symbol on the Red
Sox uniforms last night?