Got Green?

NSF has a very active environmental sustainability program and seeks to serve as a model environmentally responsible and sustainable Federal agency.   Agency staff take simple yet comprehensive action to further the NSF culture of environmental responsibility based upon the fundamental belief that the NSF workforce believes in protecting our world through environmental stewardship; and wants to take ongoing, comprehensive action to help make a positive environmental impact at work, on the road and at home.

About 80 volunteers representing all NSF offices participate in the Got Green campaign.  You can join the group when you get here, if you would like.  Just make sure to get your “Got Green” pen at orientation.  It has the NSF Intranet link you’ll need.  For more information, send an email to gotgreen@nsf.gov.  Emails sent to this address are monitored by Jerene Shaheed x7562, Lois Davis x8190, and Adam Silverman x7543.

Volunteers:

• Help set the tone for NSF environmental policies;
• Answer questions from coworkers regarding Green office procedures;
• Distribute information on environmentally sustainable work practices;
• Provide feedback on how NSF is working toward its Green goals; and much more!!!
• May serve on the: 1) Conservation and Impact Reduction or 2) Education and Office Projects Advisory Groups to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of daily NSF office activities and provide sustainable alternatives to high impact office practices and reduce NSF's environmental impact.

At NSF we have the potential to recycle and/or reuse more than 95 percent of our waste!  We are transitioning to "Single-Stream Recycling" and a more aggressive "reuse" program.   Through new, special bins and disposal procedures, we collect most common together for removal and then proper sorting and disbursement.  There is no need to separate.  We place everything except food waste and lavatory paper trash in single-stream bins:

• Clean Cardboard
• Newspaper
• All Mixed Paper
• Magazines
• Boxboard
• Colored Paper
• All Bottles & Cans
• Glass Bottles
• Steel Cans
• Aluminum Cans
• Plastic Bottles
• Water & Soda Bottles

Additionally, for the following items we have special recycling collection points:

• Batteries (all types)
• Books
• Catering Leftovers
• CD/DVDs
• Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
• Eyeglasses
• Food Scraps/Composting
• Magazines/Journals
• Magnetic Tapes
• Major Office Clean-ups
• Reusable Stuff
• Small Electronics
• Toner and Ink Jet Cartridges

NSF has an active energy-use reduction program in place and water conservation efforts are being evaluated.

For more information, send an email to gotgreen@nsf.gov.  Emails sent to this address are monitored by Jerene Shaheed x7562, Lois Davis x8190, and Adam Silverman x7543.