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Welcome to the Office of Sustainability

Tufts Office of Sustainability serves as a resource, a catalyst, and an advocate for environmental sustainability at Tufts. Often we serve as a bridge between ideas and their practical implementation. The Office of Sustainability (OOS) is supported by the university and works to:

  • Enhance Tufts' reputation as a leader.
  • Ensure that Tufts' efforts are comprehensive and focused on meaningful projects
  • Identify, evaluate, and implement opportunities for leadership
  • Promote the strength of Tufts sustainability efforts, including those of faculty and students.
  • Measure Tufts' progress toward commitments and regional goals
  • Identify sustainability opportunities that may provide Tufts with significant benefit such as reduced risk, financial savings, and avoided problems/fines.
  • Opportunities in new buildings and master plan implementation
  • Energy efficiency and climate change
  • Water
  • Solid waste
  • Coordinate among other existing programs and sustainability efforts (e.g., food, transportation, landscaping, planning and policy, personal action, and related citizenship activities)
  • Integrate sustainability issues into research, scholarship and student life.
  • Work with interested faculty to develop meaningful class projects and support students in those efforts.
  • Work with interested students on academic and extra-curricular projects
  • Provide student internships when possible.
  • Identify appropriate ways for faculty and student research to be pilot tested on campus

The well-known Tufts Climate Initiative (TCI) is now part of the Office of Sustainability. 

The Office of Sustainability is housed in the same office space as Tufts Institute of the Environment, but we are two separate (but easily confused) entities.

Tufts joins STARS

STARS charter participant seal

Tufts joins others in calling for improved evaluation of sustainability programs.

Read the letter here, or read an article about the letter in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

What does it mean to "be green"?

Being green is a commitment to:

  1. discover best practices
  2. innovate when solutions don't exist
  3. reduce waste and inefficiencies
  4. adopt and embrace new habits
  5. measure and celebrate progress.

You do these things every day; now try doing them with a green lens.

Modified from Ten steps to sustainable library operations - a great little article with advice that applies to much more than just libraries.