Accelerating a zero-waste future
Zero Waste
A zero-waste future requires a systemic approach. At Harvard, we aim to sustainably manage all waste streams—including plastics, electronics, recyclables, and organics, as well as construction, demolition, and hazardous waste—while prioritizing waste prevention and reduction.
Framework for Waste Stewardship
Zero Waste Future
In 2025, Harvard launched “Accelerating a Zero Waste Future: A Framework for Waste Stewardship,” a new plan to transition our campuses to zero waste. Developed by the Waste Stewardship Steering Committee in collaboration with University leaders, the framework prioritizes waste prevention, reduction, reuse, and responsible recovery, and aligns with Harvard’s Sustainability Action Plan.
Explore upcoming Zero Waste events:
Calendar of Events
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Stop by the Gutman Cafe for a Freecycle event! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others. Popular items include books, clothes, and small household goods. Open to Harvard-ID holders only, and no donation is necessary to shop.
Stop by the Gutman Cafe for a Freecycle event! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others. Find some secondhand items to gift this year. Popular items include books, clothes, and working household goods. Open to Harvard-ID holders only, and no donation is necessary to shop. Come say hi! Throughout October, Harvard’s waste experts will be popping up at different campus spots to talk trash with you. Learn about what should go in each bin and how to handle your unique items like batteries and e-waste. Hear more about what the university is doing to reduce waste, and how you can be part of the solution! |
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Vincent van Gogh has become indelibly identified with depictions of the natural world, from the variegated colorations of flowers, trees and other types of vegetation to the manifold forms of the terrain. Yet nature— both as concept and experience — was being profoundly reshaped in Van Gogh’s time, particularly through the intense and widespread impact of industrialization. This lecture reconsiders the imagery, historical circumstances, and artistic approach of one of modern art’s most iconic figures, as well as his art’s relevance to threats of climate change and environmental despoliation we face today. |
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Join us at the Harvard Innovation Labs for an exclusive fireside chat with Google X’s Helen Riley and Ivo Stivoric, moderated by HBS’s Allison Mnookin. Discover how high-risk, high-reward innovation happens at one of the world’s most ambitious R&D labs, and gain insights into bold thinking at scale. Connect with innovators from across Harvard, ask your questions, and enjoy networking with light refreshments after the conversation. All Harvard community members are welcome. |
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Stop by the Smith Campus Center for an October Freecycle! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others. Find some secondhand items to gift this year. Popular items include books, clothes, and working household goods.
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Established in 1986, the biennial Green Prize recognizes projects that make an exemplary contribution to the public realm of a city, improve the quality of life in that context, and demonstrate a humane and worthwhile direction for the design of urban environments. Eligible projects must include more than one building or open space constructed in the last 10 years. The 15th Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design has been awarded to the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) campus in Bugesera, Rwanda. With this award, the GSD acknowledges excellence in not just design but also process. Demonstrating a commitment to experimentation, the RICA project sets a new standard for evaluating innovation in the field of urban design. The project was realized through constant negotiation between city officials, motivated designers, and mobilized citizens. This process now serves as a model to educate other cities about implementation pathways. MASS led the master planning, architecture, landscape, engineering, furniture design and fabrication, and construction for the project. |
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Established in 1986, the biennial Green Prize recognizes projects that make an exemplary contribution to the public realm of a city, improve the quality of life in that context, and demonstrate a humane and worthwhile direction for the design of urban environments. Eligible projects must include more than one building or open space constructed in the last 10 years. The 15th Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design has been awarded to the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) campus in Bugesera, Rwanda. With this award, the GSD acknowledges excellence in not just design but also process. Demonstrating a commitment to experimentation, the RICA project sets a new standard for evaluating innovation in the field of urban design. The project was realized through constant negotiation between city officials, motivated designers, and mobilized citizens. This process now serves as a model to educate other cities about implementation pathways. MASS led the master planning, architecture, landscape, engineering, furniture design and fabrication, and construction for the project.
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Dive into the wonders of the ocean with marine biologist and photographer Steven Haddock, Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and coauthor with Sönke Johnsen of The Radiant Sea (Abrams Books, 2025). Through stunning photography, insightful captions, and engaging essays, the book explores how sea creatures display transparency, vivid pigmentation, iridescence, bioluminescence, and fluorescence—from the shallow tropics to the deep sea. In this presentation, Steven Haddock will share the science behind these luminous marine phenomena, along with stories from the scientific expeditions that enabled him to capture them. Videos, animations, and hands-on demonstrations will bring the book’s remarkable images to life. This event offers a unique glimpse into the vibrant world hidden beneath the waves. |
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Are you a Harvard or MIT student or alumni interested in a career in climate and sustainability? The Salata Institute Climate and Sustainability Career Expo is a collaborative effort across Harvard schools and MIT to connect organizations focused on climate, sustainability, and the environment with Harvard undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni. Join us for the next expo on Friday November 7, 2025 from 12:30 – 4:30pm. |
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Join us for the exciting launch of this year’s President’s Innovation Challenge (PIC)! Experience an evening packed with inspiration as Harvard’s brightest founders come together to ignite new ideas. Hear from Executive Director Jill Kravetz and a panel of past winners, who’ll share insider tips on crafting a standout application and making the most of your PIC experience. Mingle with student and alumni entrepreneurs, connect with advisors, and fuel your ambitions over snacks and mocktails. Open to all fully matriculated Harvard students and select alumni, the PIC is your chance to turn bold solutions into impact. Don’t miss your shot—apply by December 8, 2025! Learn more at innovationlabs.harvard.edu/pic . |
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How is Harvard reducing waste?
Harvard is taking a systemic approach to waste prevention and reduction, aiming to ensure the materials that the University purchases and handles are used effectively and for as long as possible. Harvard is also strategically preventing waste throughout our value chain, while minimizing on-campus municipal solid waste (or trash) and sustainably managing other waste streams.
We are focused on piloting solutions on campus to reduce waste. The Waste Stewardship Committee is developing guidance and resources to help Schools and Business Units create their own zero-waste plans and goals.
Harvard will continue to measure and report data annually for Harvard’s major waste streams and aims to develop a strategic zero-waste plan by the end of 2024.
Harvard Recycling & Waste Management
The primary campus waste hauler office at Harvard manages all waste streams across Harvard’s Cambridge, Allston, and Longwood campuses. Explore their resources:
More Resources from Harvard Recycling & Waste ManagementOpens new window
Piloting Solutions
A Zero-Waste Future
New life for Harvard’s compost
Compostable materials collected on Harvard’s campus are used to produce energy.
How We Operate
Harvard is accelerating new systems that enable healthier, low-carbon living—creating systems that can be scaled and adopted more broadly.
