Social Sciences Division Green Team

Green Certification for Humanities/Social Sciences Building

The Division’s Central Staff participated in the Green Office Certification Program in July 2017. Staff completed a personal behavior survey and office trash assessment; the results were entered into a sustainability calculator to determine the Green Office rating. In their final report, the Sustainability Office awarded the Central Staff the designation of SAPLING. This is the 2nd highest tier, meaning the offices in Humanities/SocSci incorporate many sustainable office practices, but with room for improvement

Zero Waste stations are now available on the 2nd and 4th floors!

Did you know:

  • Post-it notes can be recycled.
  • Plastic sandwich bags can be recycled if you cut off the zip top and bag them inside a larger bag.
  • Containers can be recycled if they contain 10% or less food inside; no need to rinse your peanut butter jar until it is spotless (which saves water too).
  • Ink toner cartridges should be recycled through Campus Mail room. Box the cartridge and write "RECYCLE” on the outside of the box, then leave it inside or beneath the mail bags on the 4th floor.
  • Foil yogurt tops can be recycled
  • Santa Cruz County recycles plastics rated 1-5 and 7. These are generally soft plastics.

Tips to increase sustainability:

  1. Consider bringing your own hand towel to work. The Green Team can supply you with a hook to hang it in your office to dry.
  2. Subscribe to the Sustainability newsletter.
  3. Take Greenwashing training; you can find a link to register and check out other Resources for Green Offices on the Sustainability website.
  4. Turn off printers and power strips on evenings and weekends.
  5. Join the Green Office team by helping us roll out Green Office Certification to other Social Sciences departments
Want to get involved or find out how to get your building’s Green Certificate started? Email us.

See Also