Sustainability & the First Year Experience Final Report

Transcription

1 Sustainability & the First Year Experience Final Report Table of Contents Spring Semester 2012 Sara Swan Mentors: Emilie Rex and Bill Brown 1) Introduction 2) Green Room Certification Program 3) Other Products 3.1) Sustainability and the First Year Experience Blog 3.2) Resale Trail Map 3.3) IUBeginningsTrip ) Conclusion 5) Appendices 5.1) Appendix A: Green Room Certificate 5.2) Appendix B: Bulletin Board 5.3) Appendix C: Sustainability Slides 5.4) Appendix D: GRCP Survey Graphs Introduction Habits dictate many actions. These habits are in turn influenced by a person s surroundings. The transition to college is a pivotal time when surroundings change and, therefore, habits may as well. Thus, the freshman year of college is an important time to spread awareness of environmental issues and sustainable actions. In order to encourage sustainable habits (such as recycling, minimizing water usage, and buying locally-made or recycled products) IU must make freshmen students aware of the resources and opportunities that exist on campus and in Bloomington. This internship strives to encourage freshmen to utilize sustainable practices through outreach, programming, and advertising. This involves working with a number of departments across campus, particularly the Office of First Year Experience Programs (FYE) and Residential Programs and Services (RPS). This semester, this outreach has involved supporting and analyzing the Green Room Certification Program, updating the Sustainability and the First Year Experience blog 1, planning for the second IUBeginnings SustainAbility trip, creating materials to advertise in the dorms, and promotion of the green packing list. Green Room Certification Program Background 1

2 This program is intended to provide students with incentives and knowledge to implement more sustainable behaviors into their daily lives. Developed throughout the past summer and fall by IUOS intern Bridget Flynn, the Green Room Certification Program allows students to complete a checklist of 40 sustainable behaviors (example: I use reusable shopping bags). If a student checks at least 20 of the criteria, they receive a certificate (Appendix A). In its pilot year, the program had over 50 students certify their rooms. This semester, I worked to promote the program and sustainable practices in general through a few products, including a bulletin board template intended for use by dorm halls resident assistants and eco-reps (Appendix B). In addition, I created a series of slides to be displayed on resident hall screens (Appendix C). In order to further disseminate these two products, future interns should work with RPS. The use of the bulletin materials in residence halls during Orientation has been discussed with the Office of First Year Experience Programs (FYE) and should be implemented this summer. Finally, the green packing lists created by two previous interns were synthesized into one final packing list. This list is currently hosted on the IUOS website. There are plans for both RPS and FYE to link to this. The list suggests packing more-sustainable items (such as organic cotton sheets, thrifted items, or homemade cleaning solutions). Finally, in order to assess the effectiveness and usability of the certification process, a nine-question survey was created and disseminated to program participants. Ten out of the 51 program participants responded to the survey. The survey included questions on how respondents heard of the program (90% had heard through a friend or RA) and whether or not they learned new green practices from the checklist (70% of respondents had). Graphs showing data from the survey can be found in Appendix D. Next Steps In order to better position the program to promote sustainable behaviors and to encourage a self-sustaining increase in sustainability knowledge among students, the program could implement a few improvements. These include the following: A tiered system of certification that allows for re-certification This would encourage improvement. The tiers could be based on the difficulty of the practice or on the practice s degree of effect on overall sustainability. For example, close to every student who participated in the pilot program met these criteria: utilizes natural lighting, walks on campus, only washes full loads of laundry, saves water brushing teeth, and disposes of tissues correctly. These could be mandatory criteria. Addition of new criteria There is the opportunity to add in more criteria, such as the use of stairs versus the elevator. Some criteria could also act as pledges versus current actions. Create a GRCP Facebook app This might help in promotion, allow for easier re-certification, and create a sense of solidarity or competition with other GRCP participants. Greater Promotion More floor competitions, such as the one conducted in the fall at Read, could be an effective means of promoting the program. We could also work with RPS to promote the program in the model dorm room they show on RPS tours.

3 Incentives There is the opportunity to give away reusable mugs at Orientation in exchange for a promise to certify. Furthermore, a paperless award should be developed, such as a desktop background, a special event (for example, a local foods dinner), or a Facebook ribbon. Other Products Sustainability and the First Year Experience Blog and Facebook page The goal of the Sustainability and the First Year Experience Blog and Facebook page is to be resources for freshmen to learn about sustainability practices and initiatives around campus and Bloomington. The blog features a GRCP certifier, and there is a significant chance to use this as a means of both rewarding certifiers and promoting adherence to the checklist. So far, the blog has also been used to promote Recylemania, the sustainability bulletin boards for RAs, and gardening opportunities around town. Resale Trail Map Knowledge is an important factor in the ability to live sustainably. Upon moving to a new town, it can be difficult to ascertain where and how to shop sustainably. In compiling a Google Map 2 showing where Bloomington s resale shops are located, it is hoped that students will be equipped to shift their purchases towards used materials. IUBeginnings Trip 2012 Part of this semester was spent planning and arranging for this summer s SustainAbility IUBeginnings trip. After holding a focus group with last year s participants, their input was incorporated into the planning. The trip will include a trip to an Ecovillage and tours of an urban farm, IU s central heating plant and LEED-certified buildings, and the campus garden. Finally, in order to promote the program, a flyer was created describing the trip and detailing a packing list for participants. Conclusion This internship is unique in that it involves one specific year in students lives. We have begun to capitalize on this by breaking the freshman year down into key sections (Prospective Students, Enrollment, Orientation, Intensive Freshmen Seminars, IUBeginnings trips, Move-in day, Welcome Week, and the School Year) and identifying key ways to promote sustainability within each section. This semester, the focus was primarily on the Enrollment (Green Packing List) School Year (Green Room Certification Program) and IUBeginnings portions. Thus, there remain many exciting opportunities to increase sustainability knowledge and habits at 2

4 Indiana University. Moving forward, we should look to utilize present materials and programs and integrate them into a more comprehensive plan of sustainability promotion that will engender lifelong habits in students.

5 Appendices

6 Appendix A

7 Appendix B

8 Appendix C

9 Appendix D How did you hear about the green room program? Other RA IU Office of Sustainability A friend Eco- Rep Facebook Wordpress Blog In your experience, was the website easy to access? No Yes

10 Did the checklist increase your awareness of "green" prac>ces? Yes No If yes, what are some practices you learned? o I got new ideas that I had never considered when trying to go green, such as not using Christmas lights and air drying clothes. o Ways to make doing laundry more eco-friendly. o Not to use fabric softener. o Unplugging my phone charger when it is not in use o Different ways of reducing energy Did the checklist encourage you to integrate new sustainability prac>ces into your daily life? 0 Yes No

11 What holds you back from implemen>ng more sustainable prac>ces in your daily life (check all that apply)? Convenience Financial ConsideraWons Need for more informawon