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​​​​​​​​​​GREEN Bingo Board Results

​The 2024 GREEN Bingo Board Competition​ is now complete. Let’s get the scoop from our winners!

3rd Place | 0 Bingos and 14 Total Initiatives - Bani Bhattacharya, Program Manager [OD/ORF/DEP]

2nd Place | 2 Bingos and 18 Total Initiatives - Virgil Thornton II, General Engineer [OD/ORF/DEP]

1st Place | 3 Bingos and 18 Total Initiatives - Jaroslav Sebek, Sustainability Branch Chief [OD/ORF/DEP]​

“For me, the NIH GREEN Bingo served as a reminder and a little bit of a motivator,” says Jaroslav, this year’s champion.

“It was a very fun way of increasing awareness about the range of things we do at NIH,” adds Bani, our third-place winner, “It gave participants a chance to take sustainability beyond their office and into their daily lives at home.”

Over the course of 2024, the Bingo Board has served as a point of accountability for the competitors who participated. Many of the initiatives were actions that most would want to do already, but the board was able to give competitors yet another reason to follow through with them.

“Even though I know vacuuming the filter on the back of the fridge reduces energy consumption, electricity costs and greenhouse gas emissions, this is one of the household chores that easily gets pushed aside and forgotten.” Jaroslav admits, “Seeing this and the other activities on the GREEN Bingo gave me the impetus to pull out the fridge and do the cleaning.”

While some of these initiatives were actions competitors would have usually done unprovoked, others pushed themselves out of their comfort zone.

“The Bingo Board motivated me to try shopping at a farmers’ market, and I loved it,” says Virgil, our second-place winner, “I even started biking to work after Bike to Work Day. It’s surprising how many of these initiatives were easier and more fun than I’d first expected.”

Moving forward, we hope that more competitors will join us in 2025 for another year of sustainable action.

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​The Grand Green Gift!​ ​ ​​​​​This holiday season, the NIH Federal Credit Union (NIHFCU) decided to present NIEHS employees with a sustainable gift they aren’t likely to forget. Staff at the Research Triangle Park (RTP) Campus were delighted to discover that they can now charge their electric vehicles at no cost, courtesy of NIHFCU.​​ ​​LEA​RN MORE​​​​​

​​Take Action                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

​​​	​​Green Holiday​​​​ ​ ​​As the holiday season approaches and more leave is taken, it’s important to keep sustainability in mind both at home and at work. In this article, we’ll review a few things you can do to maintain a sustainable outlook regardless of which setting you’re in.​ LEARN MORE​​

NEMS Training                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Did you know? ​​​​​There is a new Sustainability training on LMS (NIHORFDEP_CAP; 00278095​)! Receive credit for this training today! To learn more about sustainability at the NIH​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, please visit the NEMS T​raining webpage​ to view a short (20 minute) NIH environmental awareness training video.