Green Office Certification Profile - Patricia Smith
Green Office Certification Profile by Mary Ann Wilson
Patricia Smith
Faculty Support Services Mgr.
UCLA Anderson School of Management
How did you decide to do the Green Office program?
It was very well explained and presented by Ms. Monica Rowland, and it was the right thing to do!
How long did it take you to complete certification?
Approximately 3 weeks.
How did you motivate your department to make changes?
By example. I guess because my boss suggested to me that our group would be a really good group to take the project on before maybe many others in the school did, and we have a small staff, the support staff is only 11, me makes 12, but basically just embracing the project and accepting that it could be done without a lot of effort or hassle, and just kind of assured people that they would be surprised at how much they were already doing. Because that was my experience when I met with Monica, I was just shocked that really I was doing a lot of it.
How would you characterize the initial response to implementing these changes?
Reluctance as to yet another job task and responsibility.
If you felt any resistance to making changes, were you able to overcome it?
Yes. After getting started and realizing that I’d already been doing much of what the program advocates!
Did you have any up-front costs to implement any of these changes?
No.
What are the challenges, if any, in maintaining a green office?
Adjusting and abolishing culture of waste. We live in a disposable society, and we’re used to having more than we really need. And consequently we don’t value what we have, and we just dispose of waste a lot of resources that the less fortunate country or society would just be disgusted to see the kind of waste we create.
Have you gained any insights from implementing this program that may be helpful to others?
Still working on the program! I haven’t gotten my smart power strips so that’s a work in progress. I haven’t really gotten involved with Green Merchants, so that could use some more effort on my part.
Published: Monday, November 07, 2011
