The Office of Campus Life was the first to hop on the “green” train, and they are not getting off anytime soon.
After certifying 100 percent of their staff in less than a year through training and informational courses with Eco-Sense, AU’s student-run sustainability organization, the OCL is working daily to make sure they live up to and exceed the standards set by the certification.
Halley Ofner, Executive Assistant in the Office of Campus Life, has spearheaded the go-green effort throughout all 15 OCL departments.
“There was so much enthusiasm around the office,” Ofner said. “It turned into, ‘what more can I do?’”
The OCL includes a diverse range of departments related to student services from Disability Support Services to New Student Programs to Housing and Dining. Their wide range of departments allows OCL to directly influence student’s environmental impacts.
Ofner started a newsletter in October of last year called “Weekly Greening” with tips for going green in the office and home, organic recipes and information about green events on campus and in D.C. She sends it by e-mail each week to a lengthy list-serve.
The OCL participates in an inter-department supply drive every few weeks where offices can swap each other for supplies in order to save money and resources, Ofner said. She also collects used CDs and ink cartridges and mails them to recycling facilities.
There are washable mugs instead of throwaway cups, a new copy machine approved by Energy Star, a government run energy performance rating system and recycling tips taped to each recycling bin.
“Now there are no more coffee cups in the paper recycling,” Ofner said. “Many times people want to recycle or otherwise change their habits, but they just don’t know how. I’m trying to break it down and let people know how easy it actually is.”
Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson reiterated Ofner’s sentiment.
“If the Office of Campus Life can do it, anyone can,” she said. “Plus, we think that our values should reflect those of our students, and AU students have proven that they care about sustainability.”
New Student Programs, a department within the OCL, focused heavily on sustainability this year, according to Hanson. The idea was to show students right from the start AU’s serious commitment to the environment.
“The Student Handbook was online this year, and we created a digital folder instead of handing out endless papers at [New Student] Orientation,” said Liz Hilliard, program coordinator for New Student Programs and an AU junior. “Plus, students are encouraged to look online for information right away.”
The initiatives inside the OCL reflect some overall campus changes involving sustainability. In 2008, President Neil Kerwin signed the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment, which pledges to make AU carbon neutral.
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