July 22, 2009
By Menachem Wecker

Green @ Work Fair Features Sustainability "Passports," Raffle Drawings

GW's sustainability initiatives were on display July 22 at the University's second annual Green @ Work Fair. Held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Kogan Plaza, the event included free give-aways, speakers, recycling, raffle drawings and more.

"The primary goals of the event were to showcase the work that is being done across the University to make GW more sustainable, and to educate employees on ways they can be a part of the sustainability effort every day in their workplace," said Erica Hayton, human resources strategic development coordinator. Hayton runs Colonial Community, GW's employee work-life program, which co-sponsored the event with the Office of Sustainability.

GW President Steven Knapp and Executive Vice President and Treasurer Louis Katz spoke about sustainability in the workplace, after which there was a big raffle drawing for various prizes, including a "Green Bag of Treats" from the GW Book Store. The reusable shopping bag was packed with a variety of environmentally-friendly products, including a Brita pitcher and filter, a chlorine-free shower curtain liner, natural hand and body lotion, gift certificates to the restaurant Founding Farmers which features locally-grown produce, the June 2009 issue of Eating Well magazine and two books: "Green, Greener, Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life" by Lori Bongiorno and "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman.

Participants were encouraged to bring old office supplies and electronics to the event to recycle. Items that were accepted included batteries, corrugated cardboard, fluorescent (mercury) bulbs, mixed papers, scrap metal, toner cartridges, and bottles and cans made from plastic, glass, aluminum, steel and tin.

Green @ Work is part of a wider GW emphasis on sustainability. In the past year, GW hosted its first-ever RecycleMania Waste Sort, an eco-art contest and speed recycling half-time shows at basketball games. The Third Annual Climate Action Conference last April addressed global and local approaches to managing for climate change, and Green Move-Out, an annual program launched in 2007, brings faculty, staff and student volunteers together to help make the college move-out process more sustainable and community friendly.

The first 100 people to arrive at the fair received free Green @ Work mugs. Every participant also received a "passport," a new addition to the fair, which listed all 13 of the participating departments and groups. When participants visited a department's table, they could get their passports stamped; three stamps earned the passport holder entry into additional raffle drawings.

According to Hayton, the fair boasted five more departments and partners than last year. The participating departments were: Division of Human Resources, Office of Sustainability, Facilities Planning and Environmental Management, Office of Real Estate, Office of Risk Management, Procurement Department, Information Systems & Services and General Services. The outside partners are Sodexo, Casey Trees, GW Bookstore, OfficeMax and Foggy Bottom FRESHFARM Market.