Louder than Words
As they advance the greening of 乐播传媒, the EcoReps know that it’s all about the visuals
Usually we go to the landfill, not the other way around.
One afternoon in late September, though, the landfill did come to 乐播传媒. Or so it seemed. For in front of the New Commons Building, heaped on a blue tarp, appeared several dozen black plastic trash bags, rippling in brilliant sunshine and a gusty wind.
Adding authenticity to the scene was a lone seagull loitering nearby. Students en route to and from Commons also stopped to see what was going on 鈥� and to see what a group of students, 乐播传媒 EcoReps, were fishing out of the trash and displaying on the tarp.
Paper, cardboard, beverage bottles and cans. Fourteen reusable plastic coffee mugs, six ceramic mugs, and a salad bowl from Commons. Duffle bags, an REI fleece vest, and other serviceable clothes.
And a Darth Vader mask. 鈥淚t was the aftermath of the Eighties Dance,鈥� said one student, referring to the previous weekend鈥檚 main festivity.
鈥淚f people see the amount of waste that they鈥檝e made in a week that鈥檚 the best way to get through to them.鈥�
These items, found amid a day鈥檚 worth of refuse from several campus residences and now laid out for everyone to see, all could have been reused or recycled. That was the point of this 鈥渨aste audit鈥�: to give the campus plain evidence of the need for better recycling. All told, about a third of the refuse in those bags, by volume, could have been recycled.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the visuals,鈥� says Shauna Mulvihill 鈥�12 of Lyme, N.H. She鈥檚 an EcoRep 鈥� one of the nine students working with Environmental Coordinator Julie Rosenbach to produce eye-catching, green-consciousness-raising events on campus.
鈥淚f people see the amount of waste that they鈥檝e made in a week,鈥� she says, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the best way to get through to them.鈥�
On a campus nationally recognized for its sustainability efforts, the EcoReps are one of several groups working to win the hearts, minds, and habits of their peers, one recyclable pizza box at a time. 鈥淲e hope they鈥檒l take the things they learn here and bring them to their communities after college, wherever they go,鈥� says Hannah Porst 鈥�11 of Madison, Wis.
But students join other campus environmental groups, such as the 乐播传媒 Energy Action Movement and the Environmental Coalition, as volunteers. And the staff-student-faculty Committee on Environmental Responsibility is an initiative of the College administration.
In contrast, the EcoReps are on the College payroll, giving Rosenbach invaluable assistance with a dauntingly broad portfolio of Sustainable 乐播传媒 programming. 鈥淭hey are the bridge between my office and the student body,鈥� Rosenbach explains. The four-year-old program extends a tradition of paid student environmental employees dating back at least to the 1980s (there鈥檚 that decade again!) and Facility Services鈥檚 squad of energy auditors.
With recycling as their focus this year, the EcoReps specialize in short-term, high-profile projects. 鈥淥ne thing I鈥檓 trying to do is bring visible events, outreach, to the campus,鈥� Rosenbach says. 鈥淎nd another is to connect with the students in a meaningful way and have them take ownership and responsibility for projects. The EcoRep program hits both.鈥�
She has structured the program such that while all members take part in all activities, each project has a leader for outreach and one for logistics. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e learning how to work together, how to lead and delegate,鈥� says Rosenbach.鈥淭hey made the trash audit work, and they had ownership of it. They were like, 鈥楲ook what we just did!鈥欌��
The students in the program, too, enjoy the benefit of being paid for work they feel passionate about, without an all-consuming time commitment. 鈥淚 wanted this to be a program where anybody could walk in and learn what they need to learn,鈥� says Rosenbach, who is proud of the diversity of interests the EcoReps bring to the program. 鈥淭hen they do the project, and continue on with the other things they like to do 鈥� sports, theater, all the different stuff.鈥�
In a social environment where students 鈥� like everyone else 鈥� are bombarded with information, policy theater is increasingly the best way to drive home a point.
The team鈥檚 other projects this year include the annual Trashion Show, a Harvest Dinner highlight in which students make clothes from discarded stuff and take it down the runway; a recycling competition, possibly against Bowdoin and Colby; a game-show-styled 鈥渢rivia night鈥�; and a campy educational video being shot by Rob Little 鈥�12.
There are behind-the-scenes activities as well, such as a training program with the first-years centers and a collaborative effort with athletics to reduce the use of bottled water. But it鈥檚 the fun, splashy events that take priority.
In a social environment where students 鈥� like everyone else 鈥� are bombarded with information, policy theater is increasingly the best way to drive home a point.
鈥淭he trash audit was really successful because it drew people鈥檚 attention,鈥� says Rosenbach. 鈥淲e said, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going through the trash,鈥� and people were like, 鈥榃ow, why?鈥� It engaged them.鈥�
And speaking of engagement, she adds, 鈥渢here is nothing like watching your friend participate in something that you don鈥檛 know about. That peer-to-peer education is really powerful.鈥�
Being students themselves, the EcoReps help Rosenbach understand the best ways to get the word out. 鈥淭hey give me a lot of feedback,鈥� she says. For instance, they told her that 鈥渨e don鈥檛 read Announce e-mails鈥� 鈥� referring to the campus e-mail blasts designed to promote student events and awareness.
鈥淭hey really know what will work with their peers and what won鈥檛 work.鈥�
Accentuating the positive is one of the things that work. 鈥淵ou have to get people from being na茂ve to being active,鈥� without letting the immensity of environmental challenges intimidate them into apathy, Mulvihill says. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 stay positive, you鈥檒l never change.鈥�
