Sustainability at Mather: A Short History

Green Cup Win: In Spring 2006, Mather was awarded the Green Cup for the House's outstanding work recycling, reducing energy, creating EcoProjects, and for having a green HoCo.

1. Mather Library Green Team: The Green Team was created in 2007 to save energy, water, and resources at the library.


2. Mather Dunster Kitchen: LEED Certified Silver. The Mather Dunster kitchen is the first kitchen in the world to be LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
   

   Sustainable features of the kitchen include:

   • a compost pulper
   • dual flush toilets
   • efficient dishwasher
   • energy-saving lights (use 35% less energy than code)
   • donation of old equipment
   • wind power purchases
   • environmentally friendly carpets, adhesives, and paints
   
   
   Read more about it here.
   
   
3. Mather HoCo was the FIRST HoCo ever to win the REP Green HoCo award!

The Mather Sustainability Team

Your Mather Rep is Darryl Cooper . Feel free to contact him if you have any questions about recycling, water or energy conservation, EcoProjects, or anything else.

The Mather Sustainability Team consists of Dara Olmsted (non-res tutor), Mark Winkler (resident tutor), and Olga Rostapshova (resident tutor), Faon O'Connor (06-07 Rep), and Darryl Cooper (07-08 Rep). Feel free to contact them about environmental questions related to Mather, jobs, internships, or if you want to join the team.

Eco-Projects

2006-07

• Green Happy Hour (St. Patrick's Day)
• Sustainable Mather Website
• Poster Reuse for IM posters
• Mather Library Green Team (voted one of top 3 Harvard Eco-Projects!)
• Reuse of wood from Mather Lather
• Dishware Return Drive
• Composting at the Masters’ Open House
• CFL Swap
• Furniture Resale (HoCo)
• Field Day (HoCo)
• Greening of Harvard-Yale Tailgate(HoCo)
• Green Capital Improvements (HoCo)
• Paperless Formal Invitations(HoCo)
• Can I Recycle That? Recycling Labels
• An Inconvenient Truth Showing
• Dining Hall Paper Product Recovery for Compost
• Door Drop Paper Reduction
• Mather Beer Tower for Harvard-Yale Game (HoCo)

2005-06

• Mug Rack in the Dining Hall
• Green Happy Hour
• The Mather Garden
• Encouraging Dishware Return
• Used Furniture Sale
• Online Party Registration
• HoCo skype office hours

Recycling

Recycling bins are located throughout Mather including common areas, the mail room, and in dorm rooms. The following materials can be recycled at Harvard:

• Paper (including colored paper, envelopes with windows, staples, catalogs, magazines, juice and milk paper cartons, paperboard like cereal boxes, etc.
• Cardboard (please break down first)
• Rigid plastics #1-7 (no plastic bags or styrofoam) Remember- Solo cups from parties can be recycled!
• Glass
• Metal (including aluminum cans, tin cans, and aluminum foil)
• Batteries-any type including alakaline, rechargeables, phone, and computer batteries (put in bin in Miguel's office)

Please do not put anything else in the bins as this will contaminate the recycling. For more information on Harvard Recycling.