Current Projects

GTS Mini-Grants:

Starting Fall of 2011, GTS will be offering $250 mini-grants to support student sustainability projects conducted by GTS member organizations.  Don’t worry, It is 100% free to become a member of GTS.  Just click here to get started.  There will be an application process for mini-grants that will be announced in the next few months.  Stay tuned!

Students Opposing Styrofoam (SOS)

In it’s first ever social marketing campaign, GTS will take aim at polystyrene, more commonly know as styrofoam.  GTS knows that styrofoam is common on many campuses and in many communities and student s are often forced to use styrofoam despite the very real health and environmental consequences.  GTS will help students not only spread awareness of the many issues surrounding styrofoam but also provide a toolkit for students to take action in eliminating styrofoam on their campuses or in the surrounding community.   If you are interested in joining this campaign on your campus, please e-mail greentowersustainability AT gmail.com.

2011 Student Webinar Series

GTS now has the capability to hold webinars!  We are in the early stages of creating a webinar series to help students in a number of common areas such as leadership development, campus sustainability movement building, project planning and execution, as well as specific projects such as conducting a GHG inventory, sustainable event planning, and much more.  Please contact us if you are interested in attending any webinars and we will put you on our mailing list.  If you are interested in presenting in the 2011 Webinar Series, please e-mail us at Greentowersustainability AT gmail.com

Member Focus: Chapman University

Green Tower Consultant, Ian Bevan is on the advisory board for the Student Sustainability Initiative.  The Student Sustainability Initiative is a program coordinated through the Department of Student & Campus Life that connects students committed to advancing sustainability to educational initiatives designed to further a campus-wide culture of sustainability, making it an integral part of the Chapman University student experience.   Green Tower not only going to advises this group but also conducted a training session for their student members.  GTS is planning on helping them utilize their webinar services to conduct future trainings that can be recorded.   

Our First International GTS Member

The UM Green Office (The Neatherlands)

The UM Green Office is a body of Maastricht University that is managed by a team of employees and students, which, supervised by senior staff, addresses green interests of UM employees, UM students and visitors with the goal of higher sustainability standards within the University and its community.   Green Tower Sustainability is helping the UM Green Office develop strategy to enable Maastricht University live up to it’s commitment to reduce their carbon output by 30% by 2020.   GTS has also helped at various stages of the development of the UM Green Office Program.  
Presidio Graduate School’s E-Club

Green Tower is working with the Presidio E-Club and Green2Gold to create a non-profit and business incubator for students attending Presidio.  Incubators help provide the many services needed to start a non-profit organization or a business and very much increase the chance of a start up’s survival.  Presidio Graduate School is known world-wide for it’s MBA in Sustainable Business Management and other sustainable masters programs.  We recently invited Alan Tratner, Founder of Green2Gold to introduce the creation of the virtual incubator at an E-Club meeting, which was well received.  The impact of this project will be to help business graduate students develop their sustainability related non-profits and businesses and enhance their ability to make a difference for years to come.  GTS is very interested to work with other graduate and undergraduate institutions or clubs to establish a virtual Green2Gold incubator!  Please contact greentowersustainability@gmail.com for more info.

Workshops and Leadership Retreats

Green Tower Sustainability provides workshops and leadership retreats for student organizations.  This year we have presented the “Green Your College Workshop” at various universities and at the California Sustainable Student  Coalition’s Spring Convergence and AASHE 2010.    Green Tower Sustainability is also more than happy to participate in or facilitate leadership retreats in your area.  Please look for us at AASHE 2011 this year.  We will be holding several new workshops soon to be announced.

Workshops and retreats not only offer students the opportunity to learn about a variety of topics that will benefit their organizations but they will also open the door for consulting opportunities with Green Tower Sustainability.   In addition, retreats are a great way to build group cohesion, trust, and to build life-long relationships!

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Workshop Topics Include:

Planning for success, effective networking on campus, using the business argument for sustainability to make change on campus, leadership strategies for student leaders and sustainable marketing.  To book a speaker for an event or to conduct a leadership retreat, please contact ian: ian.bevan@presidiomba.org.

Green Tower has conducted workshops at many major events including the 2010 CSSC Convergence, the 2010 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (as seen above).