Faculty and staff Eco-Reps subtly green campus

Three years ago, Penn was using 24 tractor-trailer loads of copy paper each year. In 2010, that amount was reduced by three tractor loads.

The change was in part thanks to Penn’s faculty and staff Eco-Reps — environmentally conscious faculty and staff representatives from across all schools and departments — who started an initiative to print double-sided pages.

The Eco-Reps started meeting together last January to influence Penn’s environmental impact. Meetings are monthly, and — similar to the College House Eco-Reps — faculty and staff Eco-Reps act as ambassadors encouraging sustainable initiatives in their offices.

Staff members can greatly influence Penn’s energy use because they might be here for eight hours a day, “but they could have a 24/7 impact” if they’re not diligent about turning off lights and computers, explained Jen Rizzi, spokeswoman for Facilities and Real Estate Services.

Penn employs over 20,000 people.

“[Eco-Reps] can make a very large difference by adopting energy-saving practices and convincing their fellow staff members to do so,” Penn President Amy Gutmann said.

Some of Eco-Reps’ recent innovations have been “awesome,” said Dan Garofalo, Penn’s environmental sustainability coordinator. For example, the Law School’s staff lounge stopped using styrofoam cups, and many offices installed Quench machines, which provide purified water — reducing the use of disposable plastic bottles.

The Eco-Reps also made guidelines for Penn caterers other than Bon Appetit Management Company, Penn’s dining provider. Among other goals, the guidelines include standards for lowering the use of disposable plasticware.

Eco-Rep Karen Leary, who works for Wharton Computing, was already a member of the Wharton Computing Green Committee, but joined Eco-Reps because she wanted to “see what everyone else was doing and get ideas from other people.”

Leary helped design a pilot for desk-side recycling, and as a result, saw a huge increase in recycling rates in her office. She also organized an ice cream social for the June 17 Power Down Challenge this past summer.

The annual Power Down Challengesaw a reduction in energy use at Penn two times the amount it saw in 2009, according to Rizzi— a change she attributed almost completely to the staff and faculty Eco-Reps.

Though the effects of the Eco-Reps are currently difficult to measure, the task will become easier by summer of 2013, after meters to measure energy use have been installed in every Penn building, according to Garofalo.

For example, Garofalo pointed to the use of paper on Penn’s campus. The actions of the Eco-Reps are all tied to the goals of the Climate Action Plan, released in September 2009, about which the faculty and staff Eco-Reps learned in their first meeting.

“Having staff Eco-Reps multiplies the effectiveness of our becoming a leader in sustainability as a university,” Gutmann said.

Another added bonus, noted Garofalo, is that through these initiatives, “you do save money.”

This month, for the first time, the staff and faculty program accepted applications for new members in the coming year.

Although he said he is pleased by the evidence that the program is thus far a success, Garofalo believes making the University more sustainable is an ongoing task.

“There’s always another horizon,” he said.

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