Sustainable Offices

Join us this winter at the Arboretum as we read and discover new things about the natural world. During this one-hour program for our youngest guests and their grownups, we will begin by reading a nature inspired story followed by a walk, activity, or craft to continue exploring the theme.

Join us at our Freecycle in the Smith Campus Center! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others.

Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing our world and there are countless ways to approach solutions. In this non-credit-bearing weekly online class, we’ll help you come up with an idea, test the viability of your idea, and connect with fellow climate entrepreneurs. “How to Create a Climate Venture” is open to Harvard students, alumni, faculty, and staff, and affiliates at Stanford, MIT, Dartmouth, schools in the ClimateCAP network, and schools in the Greentown Labs TEX-E Consortium (Rice, Texas A&M, UT-Austin, Prairie View A&M, and University of Houston). Apply for the spring 2025 class now!

Join us for a winter foraging walk to learn what wild plants can be foraged and brewed into tea. Visit some of the Arboretum’s tastiest winter plants, from sweet birch and juniper to sassafras and spicebush. You may even get to taste some of the teas yourself! Led by Manager of Adult Programming and Events Sarah Nechamen.

When gardens go dormant for the winter months, there are still certain species and cultivars that draw the eye with their bright berries, interesting seed pods, and spectacular bark. Join Warren Leach for a book talk on his new book, “Plants for the Winter Garden: Perennials, Grasses, Shrubs, and Trees to Add Interest in the Cold and Snow,” and discover all that a winter garden has to offer. Warren Leach has years of gardening experience in the cold Northeast and will be sharing all of his winter garden tips, from plant selection and placement, to pruning techniques, to structural components that complement the plants themselves. And if you decide to buy a book after the program, make sure to look for some references to the Arnold Arboretum’s own winter landscape!

The Arnold Arboretum has an over 150 year legacy of preserving native and exotic species in an ever changing global environment. This one hour tour will highlight some of the Arboretum’s successes with endangered historic trees, current initiatives to preserve threatened species among its collection of some 16,000 woody trees, shrubs and plants, and the work the Arboretum has underway to meet future challenges from climate and habitat loss.

Start your 2025 year list off on this easy 90-minute walk from the main gate to the ponds and back. In addition to looking for winter birds we will admire the Arboretum’s impressive woody plant collection.

This 2-day workshop (January 10 and January 13) will expose participants from all schools, departments and disciplines at Harvard to an emergent data-driven geodesign framework for designing at the largest size imaginable – global – to identify feasible strategies to substantially reduce GHG emissions, the single most important global action available for countering cataclysmic global warming.

Participants will be assigned to represent national ‘climate-regions’ covering the entire globe (not necessarily their own, though local knowledge will help), focusing on a menu of possible climate mitigation project types, and their local and global spatial and temporal interconnections.) Based on initial proposed project-timelines of actions (Gantt charts) across the globe produced in Day 1, off-site computer simulations will be run over the weekend to predict likely climate modification outcomes. In Day 2, negotiation techniques will be used to find incremental improvements, resulting in an initial global strategic plan for carbon reduction.

No special prior experience is required. Geographic, cultural and disciplinary diversity is desired, and basic computer skills should suffice. A willingness to think big, and to engage in holistic systems thinking will help. We especially seek participants from or with experience in as many countries and climate regions as possible.

Join Salata Institute staff, Salata Student Ambassadors, and other climate-minded students from across Harvard’s schools at the Institute’s Spring 2025 Open House!

Learn about our student funding programs, professional development opportunities, and network with other students who are passionate about climate and sustainability.

Looking for a climate-related Summer opportunity? Be sure to stop by! We’ll be discussing our internship and research funding programs offered to students during the Summer of 2025.

This event is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at Harvard University.

Start the new year off fresh! This popular event promotes reuse and functions like a yard sale, except everything is free. Donate items you no longer need by dropping them off in the bin in the Gutman Library entryway starting December 11th, or directly at the Freecycle. Pick up something new-to-you that you could use. A donation is not required to shop the Freecycle.