SGA is Green Office Certified!
The ECU Sustainability Program is happy to announce the most recent office to earn the Green Office Certification: ECU’s Student Government Association. Our Green Office Certification is earned through participants actively making efforts to improve sustainability in their lives and workspace. The Sustainability Program provides a credit worksheet for guidance through this process. Through their efforts to embrace sustainability, meet with representatives from ECU’s Sustainability Program, and fill out their credit worksheet, SGA is Green Office Certified!
Before Starting
Before starting the program, offices need to designate a primary contact person and obtain commitment signatures from 75% of their staff. We also require offices to set up an information center (like a bulletin board or file in Teams) with sustainability materials provided and contact the Sustainability Outreach Specialist to schedule their energy and waste audits. We can also do a presentation for offices before starting to provide information and encourage participation.
SGA was a unique situation because it is an office of almost entirely students. Generally, the Green Office Program is aimed at ECU faculty and staff. After a brief presentation to the SGA Assembly, the SGA accomplished the prerequisites to participate in Green Office and their representative met with the Sustainability Outreach Specialist to see what adjustments might need to be made to the process.
Even before working with ECU Sustainability, the SGA made efforts to create a more sustainable workplace and influence their colleagues to be more environmentally conscious, such as the e-waste recycling bin they installed in the Main Campus Student Center and working with ECU Sustainability to look at solutions for single-use plastics in the Student Center restaurants.
Getting Certified
Because the SGA was already aware of environmental issues and making an effort as a group, they scored high on the initial overview of their credit worksheet and just needed guidance with a few things. ECU Sustainability was able to provide them with deskside recycle bins that they also bring with them when meeting or presenting in a space where they normally don’t work.
They are also working to establish spaces where they can keep reusable supplies for their members and have shared that they will be going above and beyond getting this certification.
Congratulations Student Government Association!
We enjoyed working with SGA to get them Green Office Certified and appreciate their determination to continue their sustainability efforts in new and innovative ways!
If you have questions or are interested in pursuing the Green Office Certification for your office, feel free to contact ECU Sustainability at foxki23@ecu.edu or 252-328-6652.