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Join the REP Waste Campaign: Get Recycling Savvy and Play Our Sorting Game

Resource Efficiency Program (REP)

The REP Waste Campaign runs from: October 16-29, 2023.

Sorting like a pro is a journey—join the adventure with us!

Ready to boost your recycling IQ, or are you feeling like a waste whiz already? Take our quiz on those pesky common contaminants and show our waste team what Harvard students know!

*For best visibility on mobile, turn your phone horizontally.

Click to see the answer key here!

For more information on why items are categorized this way: RecycleSmart MA has amazing FAQ’s and Resources.

Waste Regulations

Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office

Ever wondered if we’re being eco-outlaws by accident? Cambridge and Massachusetts have regulations about what belongs in the recycling bin, and what is banned from the trash.

No worries, we all make mistakes and we’re on this journey together to stay on the green side of the law!

The City of Cambridge:

“Recycling is mandatory in Cambridge; items on the curbside recycling list are banned from disposal as trash in Massachusetts.”

Massachusetts Waste Ban Items:

  • Recyclable Paper – ALL paper, cardboard, and paperboard products (does NOT include tissues, paper towels, plates, or cups)
  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Metal beverage and food containers
  • Plastic bottles, jars, jugs, and tubs
  • Textiles – clothing, footwear, linens
  • Food waste from institutions that generate more than ½ ton per week
  • Leaves and yard waste
  • Scrap metal – such as appliances
  • Mattresses
  • CRTs – cathode ray tubes
  • Gypsum wallboard
  • Lead Acid batteries
  • Whole tires
  • Wood waste
  • Asphalt pavement, Brick, Concrete

Waste Management Hierarchy

Let’s work together to prevent waste in the first place!

Graphic that prioritizes waste hierarchy: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle.
When making decisions about managing our waste, prioritize Rethinking and Reducing waste, recycling and composting is a last resort. Source: https://recyclesmartma.org/2023/09/reframing-the-waste-hierarchy/

Waste Signage Scavenger Hunt

Calling all waste signage sleuths! Use your keen eye by participating in our Waste Signage Scavenger Hunt. Help us locate old, outdated signs in need of a modern makeover!

 

All are welcome to participate; simply snap a picture and upload it to our quick google form. Undergraduates who submit a form will earn points towards the Green Cup Competition for their House or Dorm!

Yellow icon of a magnifying glass and person putting trash in a bin.

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Zero Waste

At Harvard, we aim to sustainably manage all waste streams—including plastics, recyclables, and organics, as well as construction, demolition, and hazardous waste—while prioritizing waste prevention and reduction.

Learn More
Compost sign with symbols and text for food, compostable containers, and other items.

Sustainability at Harvard

Explore Upcoming Events

April

25

Multi-day Event

Open to the Public

Algamatrix Exhibition – The Future of Homes: Algae, Sensors, and the Next Generation of Domestic Space

Student Grants

What if future homes responded to nature and the material intelligence of living systems? This exhibition explores emerging approaches to domestic space that prioritize sustainability, adaptability, and sensory engagement. Featuring inflatable algae-based modules, the installation explores responsive interiors. Sensor devices suggest how future homes might intuitively engage with their environment.

May

21

Wednesday
8:00 am-5:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to Harvard Community

Apply by May 21: Harvard Climate Entrepreneur’s Circle

Harvard Innovation Lab

Building a climate venture? Harvard-affiliated? The Harvard Climate Entrepreneur’s Circle is a selective, year-long incubator program for high-potential ventures addressing climate change. We offer tailored support, including expert office hours, pro-bono legal assistance, and media support. Prior ventures range across a range of technology and business solutions, including XCharge, Subject2Climate, EarthAcre. Eligible ventures must demonstrate one or more key milestones: active users, written partnerships, funding/donations, or established intellectual property. Apply now by May 21. Questions? Please mail i-labclimate@harvard.edu 

April

24

Multi-day Event

Environmental Adaptions / Adaptive Environments

GSD
Harvar Graduate School of Design
Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities

How do we design spaces that evolve with us—shaping, shifting, and adapting to the conditions, behaviors, and needs of those who inhabit them? Adaptive Environments explores how architecture can move beyond the static, making adaptability a core principle in creating resilient, future-ready environments that respond dynamically to their users and surroundings. This symposium, brings together leading voices in architecture and design—including keynote speaker Kjetil Thorsen, Founding Partner of Snøhetta—delves into the dynamic interplay between people, nature, and built environments. We will examine how architectural concepts rooted in an understanding of spatial and material knowledge from the past, combined with emerging technologies, can enable environments that enhance inhabitants’ well-being, extend longevity, and support sustainability by responding intelligently to their surroundings. Discussions will focus on design principles that engage with outdoor conditions, prioritize environmental responsibility, and foster spaces that adapt intuitively to changing needs. We will explore how emerging technologies—IoT, AI, and automation—can enhance scalability and real-time adaptability, creating more efficient, responsive, and human-centered spaces across diverse contexts.

April

25

Multi-day Event

Green AI Summit 2025

Sustainable IT

The Green AI Summit, hosted by Harvard Undergraduate AI and Sustainability Group, co-sponsored by Boston University Center for Information and Systems Engineering (CISE), brings together global leaders, researchers, and innovators to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability. As AI technology continues to shape the world, the Green AI Summit serves as a critical platform to address the environmental and social impacts of these advancements and to champion responsible development practices.

April

30

Wednesday
2:00 pm-3:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to Harvard Community

Springtime & Sustainability at the Arnold Arboretum

Arnold Arboretum
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Learn about Harvard’s “Museum of Trees” and what it takes to keep North America’s first public arboretum open to all. Presented by Danny Schissler, Head of Operations and Project Management at the Harvard University Arnold Arboretum. Join us on Wednesday, April 20, from 2-3 pm at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Building 2, Room 102 (Harvard ID required), or join via Zoom at hsph.me/arnoldarboretumsustainability.

April

28

Monday
12:00 pm-1:00 pm GMT+0000

Students, Schools and Our Climate Moment

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Attend this talk in which Laura A. Schifter and Jonathan Klein highlight the many ways in which K-12 schools and students have tremendous potential to advance solutions on environmental issues, and they provide frameworks for enacting change, in Students, Schools, and Our Climate Moment. Schifter and Klein demonstrate how the effects of climate change intersect with US public schools on multiple levels—for example, schools must prepare students to face the challenges of an uncertain future, accommodate disruptions brought about by extreme weather conditions, and evaluate their systems’ energy consumption and carbon emissions.