Green Workplace program launched
The Office of Sustainability has launched the Green Workplace program, a performance improvement and recognition initiative to support campus units by addressing challenges, applying solutions and celebrating efforts to become more sustainable workplaces.
“The Green Workplace program is designed to assist units in creating manageable goals,” said Tammie Lyons, strategic support specialist in facilities management. “Participation in this program allows units to directly contribute to the University’s goal of becoming a national leader in sustainability.”
The Green Workplace program is a revamped version of the Office of Sustainability’s first program, Green Office, which ran from 2015 to 2019. The checklist-based program helped campus units to identify sustainable actions they do well and identify goals for improvement.
“The Green Workplace program is a great way to understand how waste handling and recycling work at the University,” said Shannon Caveny-Cox, zero waste coordinator. “For people that are used to seeing trash and recycling bins magically get emptied, it is a good way to learn about what happens to materials that go in those bins. The materials that we collect for recycling on campus really do get recycled into new products.”
How the program works
Campus units complete tasks to earn badges that address distinct sustainability topics, such as waste reduction, purchasing, energy and air quality. All participating campus units must complete the waste reduction badge as a prerequisite to other badges. This badge establishes an understanding of proper waste management for campus units that wish to pursue additional badges. Once units complete the required waste reduction badge, they can customize their journey by choosing which other sustainability topics they want to pursue.
“The badges allow a unit to address different sustainability topics, one at a time, making the badges focused and manageable,” said Jessica Kisonas, education coordinator for the Office of Sustainability. “This framework allows units to find solutions that fit their own operational and cultural needs instead of trying to incorporate prescribed actions.”
The three steps to earning a badge include:
- Step 1: Gain supervisor approval and submit the registration form
- Step 2: Host a consultation and complete a self-assessment
- Step 3: Implement solutions, create and share a support document
“The process of earning the waste reduction badge has been a great learning experience, thanks to the collaboration from the Office of Sustainability,” said Yongling Gorke, assistant director in the Office of International Programs.
Gorke and colleague Sherry Washington, director of finance and personnel for the Office of International Programs, recognized that their unit could greatly benefit from the Green Workplace program given the number of events they host.
Together, they conducted an inspection of the current waste reduction equipment within their office spaces and supplied standard trash and recycle bins for a small number of offices that did not have them. In addition, they placed a paper towel and coffee grounds compost bin in the break room and are creating a unit-wide memo to share waste reduction resources with other colleagues.
“Any effort that makes our University more sustainable is worth pursuing,” said Washington.
As part of earning the waste reduction badge, the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies placed a compost bin in their office’s kitchen area.
“The compost bin is just a small effort in our office,” said Karyn Williamson-Coria, business service coordinator for interdisciplinary studies. “When others come into our office and see our compost bin, we can educate them about our efforts, as well as those of the University.”
Join the Green Workplace program
All campus units are encouraged to join the Green Workplace program after identifying a badge leader and receiving approval from their unit leader.
Visit the Green Workplace program website for additional information.