Offices at Norris and the Law School Go Green

The Green Office Certification program engages Northwestern staff and faculty in efforts to create more environmentally friendly workplaces on campus. Participating offices receive guidance from sustainNU as they work to conserve energy, reduce waste, and adopt other environmentally sustainable practices. Two new groups recently received Green Office Certification. The offices at Norris University Center completed an extensive effort to green their practices, and the Administrative Services offices and dean’s office at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law became the first offices on the Chicago campus to complete Green Office certification. Here’s what members of their Green Teams had to say about the process.

Pritzker Law Administrative Services

We became aware of the Green Office Certification program through sustainNU’s email campaigns when the program was getting started last year. Defining our team and the office was the first step. We have a lot of shared spaces across departments at the Law School, so we decided to combine groups and pursued certification for all Administrative Services spaces, focusing on our two main sections of the school.

Two of the biggest areas where we were able to make improvements were in recycling and catered events. We found there was a small shortage of recycling bins in offices and got additional bins where needed. We also began a list for promoting the use of recycled products such as paper. When planning meetings and events with catering, we’ve been able to cut down on the amount of trash by requesting less packaging and using pitchers of water instead of bottles.

Going forward, we are continuing to work on our energy consumption. We are working with IT to implement better practices with our computers, and we’re working with Facilities Management to potentially make some larger changes regarding energy use and kitchen access.

I think the hardest part was getting the ball rolling. Once we held the presentation and got our Green Team together, the whole process was straightforward. The task list was easy to follow and divvy up among us. We are looking forward to continuing to help the university improve its sustainability practices and overall energy efficiency.

– Katrina Peters, Green Team Leader, Pritzker Law Administrative Services

Norris University Center

Several years ago, the Norris Center staff set a goal to become Green Office Certified. We understood it would be a significant undertaking, given the size and scope of our facilities. Our leadership team identified Green Leaders, and the staff set out to make improvements to our existing sustainability efforts.

We accomplished some dramatic changes, most notably, the replacement of five water fountains with new filtered water bottle filling stations. To date, this investment alone has helped us eliminate waste from almost 350,000 plastic water bottles! Facilities Management staff has also spent significant time replacing outdated lighting technology throughout our spaces with energy and cost-efficient LED’s.

The most impactful effort we made to advance our Green Office agenda was the creation of a student employee role tasked specifically with sustainability in and around the Norris Center. This position was designed to tap the passion Northwestern students feel about a sustainable world, and it accomplished just that. In fewer than six months, our student employee, Laura Beshilas, undertook multiple projects to help lead our sustainability initiatives.

Laura was responsible for an inventory of our current waste and recycling containers, both in Norris and throughout our satellite venues. She relabeled hundreds of them to match Northwestern’s new single stream recycling program. Laura spent time with all of the Green Leaders and documented their efforts. She also worked with Student Affairs Marketing to create a digital media campaign focused on sustainable efforts and outreach. Laura’s focus and dedication culminated in the completion of the Green Office Certification process, just in time for her to graduate from Northwestern!

The Norris University Center team is proud to be Green Office Certified. We celebrate the achievement, and we remain committed to our efforts in sustainability as we honor our mission to provide spaces, services, and guidance that promote student learning, community engagement, and cultural inclusion.

– Dan Foley, Assistant Director, Facilities, Norris University Center