University Housing and Dining, Green Team
11-28-12

·  Greg Dirks, Assistant Director for Custodial Services (Green Team co-leader)

·  Greg Thompson, Assistant Director of Residence Life (Green Team co-leader)

·  Alandis Johnson, Hall Coordinator of Quadrangle

·  Kent Kaeser, Project Manager of Dining and Housing

·  Jacob Varvel, Marketing Coordinator for Dining

·  Stephanie Thode, Event Services Coordinator, Burge Marketplace

·  Tiffany Clemens, Marketing Coordinator of Housing

·  Linda Varvel, Residence Life Program Coordinator

·  Jeff Alberg, Director of Facilities and Operations

Timeline—how did this start, and where are you now?

·  Purpose: Collaborate, generate ideas, disseminate information, and create energy

·  Meet monthly

·  Started 3 years ago

·  Wanted to start, partly in response to Mason’s statements

·  Recycling was becoming a priority

·  Accomplishments

o  Trayless and pulper in Hillcrest

o  Hydrations stations in every residence hall

o  Water bottles to students at orientation

o  Recycling bins in every room (part of room furnishings)

o  Standard recycling and waste setup and collection in every hall (variations in Mayflower and Parklawn)

How could Recycling or Office of Sustainability be helpful?

·  Work with ARH

·  Provide resource of best practices, tips, ideas, practices from other campuses, opportunities for grants, resources like AASHE

How do you include others? How do you work with students?

·  Sending survey to residence hall student aiming to learn what they know and how recycling can improve

·  Transient students (75% of first-years leave residence halls after one year) are hard to keep engaged

Is waste reduction a gateway?

·  Many students readily have recycling familiarities and inquiries

Do you set goals? What’s next?

·  Education and outreach (survey to first-years)

·  Recycle Mania—want partnership, need to meet soon

Would you like to connect to existing Green Teams or newly forming teams? How?

·  Could there be a quarterly newsletter on Green Team efforts?

·  Could Office of Sustainability coordinate this?

·  Could Green Team efforts on this campus or other campuses be shared (i.e.

What drives you?

·  Connections to sustainability that are not readily thought about, like social justice

·  Finding opportunities where profit and sustainability do not clash

·  Sustainability seems to touch on most missions of Housing

Current state of sustainability in Housing

·  5,700 students: Housing is a gateway to the University

·  Operations—many efforts in improving cleaning products, building construction practices, energy and technological efficiencies

·  In students, pockets of enthusiasm exist

·  There is not a critical mass of students demanding this, and many will continue to be ambivalent

·  Students were more vocal about recycling before they received recycling bins in their rooms