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How to create:

Sustainable Offices

Creating sustainable offices and workplaces requires small but meaningful actions. By making more informed purchasing decisions, such as buying products that are reusable, evergreen, and made of sustainable materials, we can collectively reduce the demand for disposable and single-use items that go to landfills and negatively impact climate, health, and equity.

The Harvard Office for Sustainability created a Sustainable Office Guide as a starting point for offices and workplaces to begin their sustainability journeys:

Sustainable Office Guide Tips:

Follow these office tips to help your team make sustainable purchasing decisions that prioritize climate, health, and equity:

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Tip # 1

Use resources like the Harvard Sustainable Meeting & Event Guide and Sustainable Purchasing Guide.


Tip #2

Reduce exposure to “chemical classes of concern” in purchased products.

  • Choose BPI-certified compostable food service products (made without PFAS).
  • When appropriate, avoid antimicrobial hand soaps, products treated for water resistance or stain-repellents, and furniture with added chemical flame retardants.
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Bulk Order Icon

Tip #3

Purchase reusables and bulk items instead of disposables and single-use items.

For example, instead of individual coffee pod systems, opt for bean-to-cup coffee machines so you can use your favorite fair-trade coffee.


Tip #4

For giveaways (“swag”), choose evergreen items people will use repeatedly.

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Printer Icon

Tip #5

Replace personal printers with shared equipment connected to a managed print environment (e.g., Crimson Print).


Tip #6

Conveniently place compost, recycling, and trash bins with the latest signage.

Recycling bins icon, one with a glass bottle, another with a paper, and another with a plastic bottle

Icon of Light bulb with  a leaf in the middle

Tip #7

Support colleagues in implementing energy-efficient actions whenever possible such as:

  • Power down computers and electronics at the end of the day or before vacations.
  • Choose LED bulbs & install motion-sensor lights in common areas.
  • Ensure your community knows how to report resource conservation issues (e.g., leaking faucets) to building management.
  • Sign up for Demand Response notifications by emailing uos_operations@harvard.edu.

Tip #8

Work with HUIT (or local IT group) and FMO to properly dispose of electronic waste.

Broken phone and computer mouse icon

Icon of three people setting up a tent

Tip #9

Set aside unwanted office supplies to donate to Freecycle events or reuse rooms.


Tip #10

Choose “100% recycled” or “tree-free” paper products.

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Ready to make more informed, sustainable purchasing decisions for your office? Contact rachel_martinez@harvard.edu to request the Sustainable Office Worksheet, a resource designed by the Harvard Office for Sustainability to help purchasers follow best practices.

Sustainable Office Guide

The guide enables offices to make informed purchasing and operations decisions that help advance Harvard’s mission to accelerate action on climate, health, and equity.

Download the Sustainable Office GuideOpens new window

A photo of the Sustainable Office Guide cover with tips on how to create a sustainable office.
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Sustainability Resources

Explore sustainability resources at Harvard.

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Upcoming Events

February

08

Saturday
12:00 pm-4:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to Harvard Community

Arnold Arboretum Ecological Exploration

Arnold Arboretum

Join us for an engaging half-day exploration at Arnold Arboretum! This event features a workshop on ecology, an interactive scavenger hunt, and a reflective discussion on the connection between humans and nature. Learn about biodiversity, conservation, and how to foster a deeper relationship with the natural world. Lunch and round-trip transportation will be provided. RSVP is required!

March

05

Wednesday
1:00 pm-2:00 pm GMT+0000

Environments for Health and Happiness: A Seminar with Dr. Lindsey Burghardt

On Wednesday, March 5th, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G12 or online, please join us for the fourth installment of our Environments for Health and Happiness Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, Chief Science Officer at the Harvard Center on the Developing Child.

February

11

Tuesday
4:00 pm-5:00 pm GMT+0000

New Orleans, Katrina, and Bounce: A Conversation with Big Freedia

This program is the second in a pair of webinars to explore the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the musical traditions of New Orleans. In the 20th anniversary year of the storm’s devastating landfall in southeast Louisiana, leading performers, artists, and scholars will share their perspectives on art, music, and justice in the context of climate change. How have the performers’ music, practice, and community changed over the last two decades? Can future climate crises be occasions for artistic growth, reimagined community, spurs to social action, and new forms of solidarity? What lessons can New Orleans and its ever-evolving music teach the world about resilience and renewal?

Big Freedia will be joined in conversation with Lauron J. Kehrer (Western Michigan University), a scholar of race, gender, and sexuality in American popular music and Loren Kajikawa (The George Washington University), a scholar of rap and hip-hop, as well as race, gender, and politics.

February

07

Friday
9:45 am-5:30 pm GMT+0000

Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program Conference

The Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University, invites you to join us in Cambridge or online for the 2025 Conference, Landscapes of War, Landscapes of Victory: Ukraine’s Changing Environment, February 7-8, 2025. The panels at this year’s conference highlight these essential topics related to Ukraine’s changing environment. Panels will address the current geopolitical landscape and the war’s impact on global issues such as food security; how Ukrainians have been at the forefront of establishing ecocide and environmental war crimes as part of Russia’s repertoire of genocidal tactics in Ukraine and how they might be prosecuted through legal mechanisms; the widespread notion of Building Back Better and the potential to incorporate sustainability standards in Ukraine’s current and future development; and the quickly-changing landscapes of data and technology and their roles in these reconstruction processes. The keynote lecturer is Jojo Mehta (Stop Ecocide International).

February

06

Thursday
4:00 pm-5:00 pm GMT+0000

Hurricane Katrina and the Musical Community of NOLA: A Conversation with Big Chief Bo Dollis, Jr.

Join Big Chief Gerard (Bo) Dollis, Jr. for a conversation about music, community, and strength in the face of climate change, with a particular focus on Mardi Gras Indian traditions and performance. He will be joined in conversation by Emmett G. Price III, dean of Africana studies at Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

February

04

Tuesday
4:30 pm-6:00 pm GMT+0000

Book Talk: Climate Justice and the University

This talk will be a radical exploration of how higher education can advance transformative climate justice.

Amid the worsening climate crisis and intensifying inequities, higher education can play a powerful role in addressing the intersecting crises facing humanity. Institutions of higher education hold untapped potential to advance social justice and reduce climate injustices. However, universities are not yet structured to accelerate social change for the public good.

In Climate Justice and the University, Jennie Stephens, Professor of Climate Justice at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and a Professor at Northeastern University (currently on leave), reimagines the potential of higher education to advance human well-being and promote ecological health. She will be introduced by John E. Fernández, director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiaitve, and converse with Naomi Oreskes, the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.

February

13

Thursday
12:00 pm-3:00 pm GMT+0000

Fixit Clinic is Back!

Harvard Recycling
Recycling

Have you been holding onto a broken item in the hopes of repairing it? (Or perhaps found a nearly-working item at a Freecycle?) If so, come to our Fixit Clinic on Thursday, February 13th at the Cabot Science Library, between 12pm and 3pm.

January

10

Multi-day Event

Open to the Public

Annual Valentine’s Cosmetics Drive

Harvard Recycling
Recycling

It’s time for our annual toiletries drive to support the Cambridge YWCA! Help support the drive by donating unused and unopened toiletries, cosmetics, and menstrual hygiene products.

February

05

Wednesday
1:00 pm-2:00 pm GMT+0000

Responding to Climate Change – Challenges and Opportunities for Mental Health and Well-Being

On Wednesday, February 5th, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G12 or online, please join us for the third installment in our Environments for Health and Happiness Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Gaurab Basu. In this event, titled “Responding to Climate Change – Challenges and Opportunities for Mental Health and Well-Being”, Dr. Basu will explore the mechanisms by which climate change impacts the mental health and well-being of our communities, and challenge the audience to explore the ways in which climate solutions can enable the deeper work of creating well-being.

February

05

Wednesday
5:00 pm-7:00 pm GMT+0000

Open to Harvard Community

Salata Institute Spring 2025 Open House

Salata Institute

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.