Last year for Earth Day, Northeast PA’s favorite office, Dunder Mifflin Scranton introduced us to Recyclops, Assistant Regional Manager Dwight Schrute’s destructive robot sustainability officer, protecting the planet from the forces of wasteful office practices. And while NBC’s The Office is known for making us laugh, Recyclops–like most of Dwight’s plans to improve his company–eventually caused more harm than good.
Down the road in Wilkes-Barre, a group of educators at Wilkes University have picked up where Recyclops left off, launching a sustainability certificate program for mid-level office managers to improve their carbon footprint and save the company money. This initiative will help businesses throughout Wilkes-Barre go green and save green at the same time.
“Creating a greener office is not something you do once and it’s over. People that work in the building still have to be involved to keep the building doing what it was designed to do: operate sustainably,” says Sustainability Management program director Dr. Marlene Troy. “Our program will give you the background to implement the programs that compliment working in a green building.”
Hoping to capitalize on the large contingent of companies looking to improve their energy usage, Wilkes University is targeting companies looking to start in-house sustainability efforts like recycling programs, ventilation improvements and more efficient lighting installations. Since students will be full-time employees, the certificate program will be conducted online (save for one introductory meeting). With lecture video recordings, online group projects and communication through integrated, online message boards, this course is using office technology in a more responsible way than Recyclops could have ever dreamed.
“No matter what your background–whether you are in finance or healthcare or whatever–just understanding the terminology of sustainability, knowing what the nuts and bolts of sustainability are can always add value to your skill set,” says Troy. “We’re starting to see more interest in this so I don’t think it’s going away, I don’t think its a fad and the reason is that, not only is it good for the environment but it makes for good business operations. It’s all about efficiency and that is always a good thing.”
Source: Dr. Marlene Troy, Wilkes University
Writer: John Steele
