The Green Office room is adorned with plants. Three monitors and computers are waiting to be turned on. Comfortable office chairs are placed in front of the desks. In the middle of the room is a small meeting table. Until recently, the Green Office existed only virtually, but since September, it has had its own physical space where interested individuals can gather to develop ideas and projects related to environmental and climate protection. It opened just in time for the start of the semester.

“None of the furnishings are new,” says Eva-Maria Mendez Montilla, the University of Bremen’s environmental and climate protection manager. “Everything has been set up using existing resources. Most of the things were given to us as gifts, such as the plants. Although the PCs were discarded, they are still fully functional and can be used to operate machines, such as a 3D printer.” The latter is not yet a feature of the Green Office, but they hope to obtain one in the future. “As a gift, of course,” says Mendez Montilla. She already has her eye on a possible printer and has made contact. The Green Office is a testament to the university’s philosophy of sustainability and reusing resources.

The Green Office as such is not a new concept. It was established in October 2022 at the initiative of student members on the university’s Commission for Sustainability, Climate Justice, and Climate Neutrality (NKK). There are currently two positions for student assistants who support anyone at university who wants to get involved in sustainability projects. They focus in particular on students. Interested people can either work on ongoing projects or develop their own ideas and put them into practice. Under certain circumstances, they can even earn credit points for their involvement.

Eva-Maria Mendez Montilla wants to increase the visibility of the Green Office with the new space and establish a place where students can meet, share ideas, and collaborate on projects. Her vision is to create an innovation lab for sustainability. “The university has great infrastructure for developing and testing ideas,” says the development engineer. After 36 years working for an aerospace company, she has gained plenty of experience with innovation labs. “The best ideas emerge when people come together voluntarily and enthusiastically to work on something,” she says.

She sees the new space as a starting point. It is located near the university print service, across from the MARUM student lab. The visibility of the new office space can still be improved, but it’s a good starting point, as Mendez Montilla emphasizes. “The location should be easily recognizable and accessible,” she says. “We want to lower the threshold for students to approach the Green Office team.” Students don’t have to come in with a ready-made project idea. “Anyone interested is welcome, whether they want to work on a project or are simply curious,” says Mendez Montilla. They can contact the student assistants, who are on site two days a week during opening hours.

The environmental and climate protection manager herself tends to work behind the scenes and provides support as needed. Mendez Montilla explains how the Green Office works using an example. “A few months ago, five students from the public health program approached us with a project they had been working on to improve waste separation on campus and make it more efficient and environmentally friendly.” The clever part was that the waste bins themselves should be made from recycled materials. To that end, the students had developed a design and a flyer. With the help of the Green Office, they further developed the concept and created a presentation that they pitched to the university’s waste management department. Mendez Montilla accompanied them throughout this process. These ideas are now being presented to the Sustainability Forum, an advisory group at the University of Bremen, which aims to reduce plastic waste on campus.

But you don’t always have to come in with a ready-made project idea. Mendez Montilla and her team also have a number of ideas in store. For example, they want to turn old banners at the university into bags. And they want to create containers for cigarette butts from milk cartons and attach them to a fixed holder using 3D printing. “At the Green Office, we know how to get projects like these started and who needs to be involved,” she says. It is not as simple as putting up holders with milk cartons around campus. First, the relevant departments, such as fire safety and waste disposal, must be consulted. Mendez Montilla says, “In line with our motto of guiding and leading, we work together to see how ideas can be realized and provide support during implementation.”

One of the Green Office’s successful projects involves roll-ups. “Too often, banners including their frames are reordered and the old roll-ups are thrown away,” criticizes the environmental manager. “But it is much more cost-effective to order just the new banner and replace it in the frame.” The Green Office therefore made a video for Instagram with simple instructions on how to change the banners. The Green Office team offers to exchange university institutions’ banners on site at the print service. Everyone benefits from this program, which saves money, protects the environment, and increases the Green Office’s visibility.

Further information

The Green Office is open on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. It is located in the building of the university print service, across from the MARUM student lab.
Contact Eva-Maria Mendez Montilla and her team at greenoffice@uni-bremen.de.
In addition to information about their services, you can find details about sustainability initiatives at the University of Bremen, including information about the roll-up project on the Green Office website.