Green Office
Butler University is creating a culture of sustainability on campus by engaging faculty and staff in fun and innovative initiatives. Through the Green Office program, Butler employees are empowered to incorporate sustainable practices in the workplace for energy efficiency, cost savings, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and employee wellness all while supporting a more sustainable Butler community.
To participate:
Applying to become a Green Office can be completed in just a simple few steps:
- Discuss the Green Office program and your office’s sustainability interests and goals with the manager/director of the participating office.
- Designate a Green Office leader who will fill out the certification assessment, advocate for sustainability initiatives in your office, and communicate with the Office of Sustainability for support.
- Confirm at least 80% of your office members will also participate in the action area behaviors listed below.
- Use the Green Office Pledge to get signatures of colleagues showing support, including the manager/director. Send this document to Julia Angstmann, jangstma@butler.edu to notify the Office of Sustainability of your intent to participate in the GO program.
- Finally, complete the Green Office Certification assessment. Highlight 2-6 sustainability actions your office would like to achieve and/or needs support from the Office of Sustainability to achieve. Email the Green Office Certification assessment to Julia Angstmann, jangstma@butler.edu.
What is an office?
An office is defined and determined by the group applying for Green Office Certification. Your office can be a small group that shares a general space or as large as an entire department. Consider who you interact with regularly and can communicate sustainability initiatives within a meaningful way.
Scoring:
Each office completes the Green Office Certification assessment and is awarded one of four levels: seedling, sprout, plant, and perennial. The Green Office Certification lasts two years at which point your office can choose to reapply and, after incorporating sustainability initiatives, receive a higher certification.
Green Office action areas:
- The Green Office Certification covers eight different areas of sustainability: awareness, transportation, wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion, energy, waste reduction, purchasing, and innovation.
- Review the sustainability actions below. These are the same questions you will answer in the official Green Office Certification assessment via Google form.
- At least 80% of our office is aware of Butler University’s Sustainability and Climate Action plan (BUSCA) and the President’s Carbon commitment. (2)
- At least 80% of our office signed up to receive the sustainability newsletter. (1)
- We discuss sustainability and/or the GO program with colleagues in other departments. (2)
- We discuss all office sustainability initiatives with new hires. (2)
- Within our office, colleagues discuss how to incorporate sustainability into their lives. (2)
- At least 80% of the office follows the the Office of Sustainability (formerly CUES) on social media. (1)
- We have inspired at least one other office or department to participate in the Green Office Program. Please include the office name in “Participant Notes.” The office must email the Office of Sustainability for more information or put your office name in their checklist within the next 4 months. (3)
- The total number of our office members that work remotely, walk, bike, utilize public transportation, and/or carpool as the main form (at least 4 times a week) of transportation to work. (20%=1pt, 40%=2, <60%=3)
- We walk to meetings on Butler’s campus and/or we conference call in rather than commute to an off-campus meeting. (1)
- When travel via flight is required for work, we purchase offsets for our CO2 emissions. (3)
- Everyone in our office has an annual preventative well-being appointment with a medical professional. (1)
- Everyone in our office is aware of the resources available via Butler Counseling and Consultation services including: relaxation apps, medical, recovery, and self-help links. (1)
- The total number of office members that utilize the free full-time staff membership at HRC (online options available) and/or participate in physical activity at least 3x a week. (20%=1pt, 40%=2, <60%=3)
- Our office encourages employees to take wellness breaks from their desk through campus walks or desk stretches. (2)
- Our office has incorporated plants into our office space. Plants are shown to increase mental and physical health, productivity, and creativity. (1)
- Everyone in our office understands how to identify an incident of bias and knows how to report an incident. (2)
- Everyone in our office has attended Safe Space LGBTQ Ally Training. (2)
- At least 80% of our office attends at least one event/lecture/workshop on a topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion. (20%=1pt, 40%=2, <60%=3)
- Everyone in our office has completed the Green Dot violence prevention program and understands how to act to prevent sexual assault, dating violence, and talking at Butler. (2)
- At least 80% of our office is signed up to receive the Diversity Center newsletter. (2)
- Our office turns off computers and monitors every night when done with our workday. (2)
- We have posted signage to turn off lights when leaving the office and/or a shared room as reminders. (1)
- We consolidate electronics on a power strip that can be turned off when not in use and we unplug phone and battery chargers when not in use. (3)
- We maintain office thermostats with a two degree range of 74 for cooling and 70 for heating. (2)
- We have eliminated space heaters. Space heaters can interfere with the thermostat’s temperature readings and are energy-intensive. (2)
- We have eliminated use of all personal printers and instead use networked printers. Make sure networked printers are on sleep mode when not in use and turned off at the end of the day. (3)
- We share resources such as refrigerators, coffee makers, and microwaves instead of maintaining them for personal use. When buying new equipment we purchase Energy Star certified equipment. (2)
- We have recycling containers in our office with signage and all know how to properly recycle. (2)
- We have eliminated individual office disposal bins and encourage the use of a shared landfill and recycling station. (3)
- We minimize printing and all our networked printers are defaulted to double-sided printing. (2)
- We do not use Styrofoam in our office. (1)
- Our office has eliminated the purchase of single use plastic water bottles for office members and events and encourages use of reusable bottle and mugs. (2)
- We have a stock of mugs, cups, plates, and silverware for daily use and in meetings and do not buy single-use items. (3)
- We keep a stack of previously used paper to be made into notepads, used for scratch paper or internal memos, or loaded into a designated bypass tray in the printer for printing internal or draft single-sided documents. (1)
- We recycle all office electronic/technology waste (batteries, cell phones, computer accessories, ink and toner etc.) through the proper channels. (3)
- We have a designated area in our supply closet, or elsewhere in our office, for sharing office supplies that can be reused (file folders, binders, pens, paper clips, etc). (2)
- We do not use a Keurig machine for coffee, or if we do use a Keruig, we use a reusable filter. (2)
- We donate unwanted office supplies to surplus and check surplus before purchasing new office supplies. (2)
- In shared kitchen spaces, we purchase items in bulk rather than individual packets: i.e. sugar, creamer, condiments. (2)
- In shared common areas we use green cleaning supplies. (2)
- We purchase printer paper with at least 30% recycled material. (1)
- When we hold an event, we order food in bulk to minimize the waste for excess packaging and use reusable plates and utensils. (2)
- We have come up with a new and innovative idea/practice to make our office more sustainable. (3)
- We encourage sustainability through the campus facing work of our office. (3)