Using Free Tools to Manage Sustainability Projects
Dan Bellrichard – Luther Sustainability Coordinator
Introduction
Google has many free, user-friendly tools
that can easily be used to turn your
sustainability department into a well-oiled,
student-driven machine. This poster
explores lesser-known features of these
tools used by Luther College’s
sustainability department to make it easy
for student workers to implement and
maintain projects on campus.
Google Sites
Google Docs
Google Sites is an easy way for anyone with basic computer knowledge to make web sites that
can be used for internal project management or as a typical web site. If you can work with a
Word document and brose the web, you can create a functional Google site in just minutes. If
you’d like to get fancy, watch some video tutorials or simply mess around for a while.
You can either save original files to your
Google Docs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel,
JPEGs, etc.) or create files using Google’s
document, presentation, spreadsheet,
form, or drawing programs.
Easily edit your site
within any web browser
You only need a Google account to get
started using all of Google’s free tools.
Below are the tools we use most
frequently.
Decide who
has access to
view and/or
edit the site
Google Docs - www.google.com/docs
Google Sites - www.google.com/sites
Google Maps - www.google.com/maps
Google Maps
Online Maps aren’t just for directions
anymore. In a matter of minutes, you can
use Google Maps to highlight sustainability
initiatives on campus, identify outdoor
activities, create visual aids for a project,
etc.
Add lines, shapes, and
placemarkers to any location on
a map to make it unique
Insert tables to create
“to-do lists” for
assigning work and
tracking progress
Google Docs is a fantastic tool for storing
documents in the “cloud”, sharing
documents with multiple people, creating
online forms, and publishing documents to
the web.
Make online forms for
gathering feedback
after work shifts
• Documents can be edited by multiple
people at the same time
• Documents can be accessed from any
computer with internet access
• It is very easy to remove or give access as
student workers change
Decide who you want to have
access to your documents
Decide how much access
each individual has
Include online
calendars in the
site
Set notification rules for
documents to receive e-mails
when changes are made
Insert form responses
with action taken to
show concerns and
suggestions are heard
Have photos, links, and other
information displayed when
placemarkers are clicked on
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