Mather Nabs Green Cup

Mather House has shown Harvard that concrete can be green, and that it has no reason to fear the Currier tree.

This past weekend, Mather won the Green Cup in an eco-competition sponsored by the Harvard Green Campus Initiative and FAS Resource Efficiency Program.

Mather broke Currier’s two-year winning streak by coming in fourth in recycling and waste reduction, first in electricity conservation, and tied for first in eco-projects.

Dunster, Kirkland, and Leverett Houses also received mention for being the top three Houses in improvement in recycling and trash reduction.

Mather, represented by Environmental Action Committee (EAC) co-chair Faon M. O’Connor ’08, Green Cup representative John T. Watson ’07, House Committee (HoCo) Co-Chair Andrew B. Artz ’07 and HoCo Treasurer Nitesh Banta ’08, was also awarded $1,037. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. presented the award to Mather at a sustainability conference last weekend.

“It was great to get the house community involved in environmental activities,” O’Connor said.

The HoCo sponsored various activities, such as a “Green Happy Hour” on St. Patrick’s day. While drinking to celebrate, visitors also got a dose of environmental activism as well.

“We had a lot of recycling bins, and everyone arrived in green, really excited to be helping the environment,” Artz said. “They were drinking for the environment.”

Other Mather eco-projects included campaigning for the kitchen shared by Dunster and Mather dining halls to be silver-certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a national award given by the U.S. Green Building Council, and restoring the Student Mug Rack, which allows students to use their own mugs washed by kitchen staff, according to O’Connor.

O’Connor also credited Mather’s “house spirit” for its Green Cup success.

Artz said he sees the Mather victory becoming a trend.

“This is the first year that Mather has taken the contest seriously, and we have future projects planned,” he said.

Artz described the planned conversion of toilets from single- to dual-flush toilets so that users will have the option of flushing liquid waste with half the amount of water as that for solid waste. “I think this will be lasting change for years to come,” Artz said.

—Staff writer Matthew S. Blumenthal can be reached at mblument@fas.harvard.edu.