Drew University
ECO-REP MANUAL
2010-2011
Students actively and passively striving to make a change in
the way we react to our everyday life and the environment we
live in by promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
Parts of this manual are adapted from Tufts University’s Eco-Representatives Manual, prepared by Tufts Climate
Initiative (TCI), The University of Vermont’s Eco-Reps Manual, and Bard University’s BERP Manual.
Introduction
This is Drew University’s Eco-Rep program. As an Eco-Rep, you will be directly involved in promoting
environmental responsibility and education to your peers in Drew’s residence halls and throughout the
campus. Your primary and ongoing objective as an Eco-Rep is to facilitate the environmental
education/awareness of your peers and fellow undergraduate students at Drew. As an Eco-Rep, you will
help to raise awareness about ecological issues, and participate in and encourage environmentally
conscientious behavior that will help to reduce the “ecological footprint” of Drew University. These
manual and additional resources are available online at the Eco Reps website through
www.drew.edu/sustainability.
Responsibilities
An Eco-Rep is a student representative who helps to educate their residence hall mates about
environmental issues. Eco-Reps encourage peers and students to live in a more sustainable way. You
will run programs to raise environmental awareness and help to distribute information, post flyers, and
monitor recycling and other environmental concerns in your residence hall.
There will be weekly meetings in which all the Eco-Reps and the Sustainability Coordinator discuss
progress and environmental concerns within their residence halls and throughout campus.
Eco-Reps must attend these meetings and workshops. Do not miss meetings without permission and
please be on time. If you must miss a meeting or know you will be late, please send an email with
advance notice. At each meeting we'll introduce a new topic, plan activities, and brainstorm actions
you'll take in your residence halls over the following weeks. An Eco Reps Calendar will also be set up
that lays out what activities and events are going on.
Weekly Tasks:
Walk through your building’s recycling rooms and other areas where there are bins (i.e. laundry rooms,
trash and recycling rooms). Check out that recycling and garbage are in their proper places. Let your RD
know if there are significant problems. Check on the signage and labels of bins. Let the Facilities
Department know if you need more bins, labels, etc in the trash and recycling rooms or hallways. You
can let Facilities know about a need by calling them at 973-408-3510 or submitting a work order at
http://tma.drew.edu Set up a FREE BOX for students to exchange unwanted items (clothing,
household items, etc.) Make sure the box is properly labeled (no garbage). Make it a habit to check on
the box to make sure it’s not cluttering up the area and remove any garbage.
Getting to Know your Peers
Attend a Hall meeting and introduce yourself as the Eco-Rep, talk about sustainability and ask if anyone
has suggestions. Your peers should feel comfortable approaching you when they have questions about
how to live in a more environmentally friendly way.
Each residence hall has a few Housekeeping Staff members, who handles inside cleaning, recycling, reuse and garbage. Talk to your building’s Housekeeping Staff about sustainability topics. Let them know
you’re excited about recycling and other sustainability issues.
By far the best way to influence someone’s decision is through conversation. However, a bulletin board
is present in most residence halls and floors (or maybe just wall space) for you to use your creativity and
humor to educate your peers. You can hang signs in the recycling/trash room. Make sure to get your
RA’s permission to post on the bulletin boards since there may be limited space. Even though posters
are not the most effective way to make someone change their opinion on an issue, they can be a great
way to remind your peers to be environmentally conscious. Since we are Eco-Reps, we want to generate
none to minimal waste, so try to re-use the backs of paper when making posters. Keep in touch with
your fellow Eco-Reps, letting them know what you are doing, and to get/give ideas or just discuss issues
and cooperate in order to make Drew University a more sustainable environment.
What Does It Mean To Be A Peer Educator?
First off, what is a peer educator? A peer educator is a trained person who assists others in their peer
group to make decisions about a topic through activities undertaken in one-to-one or small group
settings. Peer educators also:
Act as role models
Educate and lead by example
Are a resource for students
Have knowledge (in our case about sustainable living practices on campus)
Empower peers to take action
Benefits of a Peer Education Approach are:
Culturally appropriate
o “Peer education provides a means of delivering culturally sensitive messages from within.”
Community-based
o “Peer education is a community-level intervention which supports and supplements other
programs. It is a link to other community-based programs.”
Accepted by their target audiences
o “Many peers report that they are more comfortable relating to a peer about their personal
concerns.”3
Changing Behavior…Is It Possible?
As an Eco-Rep you are given the challenging task of changing the behavior of your residence hall mates.
We all know from our own lives how difficult it can be to change our behavior, let alone to change
someone else's. Even when the change would benefit us, we don't often do it (e.g., watch less TV, go to
bed earlier, start exercising.) So how on earth can we get people to live more eco-friendly? Researchers
have debated this for about 20 years, and no one has come up with a magic bullet. Below is one of the
models that try to help visualize how eco-friendly behavior is affected.
Although there are many areas of change and many different ways to make such changes, some
guidelines can help make an environmental program successful. Before beginning a program, think
about the following things:
1. Who is your audience?
What are their interests?
What is their culture? (e.g., what is hip at the moment? What is totally un-cool?)
Why would they want to live more eco-friendly? (e.g., increased personal health, saving money, the
good feeling of doing "the right thing")
2. What are the barriers to eco-friendly behavior?
Lack of knowledge (this is the easiest one to address)
Lack of opportunity to do the right thing (e.g., no control over heating/cooling in your hall)
Lack of interest
Lack of time
Lack of money
Lack of self-motivation
3. What is your message, and how do you deliver it?
Your message should be clear and easily understood. Often times, environmental information (especially
technical facts) is confusing to the average person. Most people don’t see a clear connection between
themselves and the facts that are being presented. Can you make a clear link between the individual and
the information? What is the environmental concern? How does it affect the person? What are steps they
can take to help improve it?
The way a message is delivered is as important as the message itself. For example, plastering the hall
with paper flyers about recycling is not only ineffective, but maybe it sends the wrong message. As an
Eco-Rep you should consider the various ways in which your residence hall mates receive information
(i.e., asking your RD to email the whole building/complex, social networks such as Facebook and
Myspace, bulletin boards, person-to-person) and consider creative ways to deliver your message
through these channels.
Making Posters... Did you include?
Date
Time
Location
Event name/type
Contact info.
Last but not least, repetition is necessary! We are creatures of habit. Even if we do sincerely want to
change our behavior, it is difficult to do so because we have to consciously think of it.
New behaviors must be practiced again and again.
And again…
We need to be reminded again and again! (Do you remember how many times you were told to shut off
the lights when you left your room? And how many times do you leave the water faucet running for no
reason?) As an Eco-Rep, you have to find the delicate balance to remind people about eco-friendly
behavior, without becoming nagging and annoying. Nobody will listen to a “self-righteous
environmentalist” and nobody wants to be made to feel guilty about his or her choices or lifestyles. Be
mindful that other students may have different interests, different values and different things that are
important to them. Perhaps they just have never thought about these issues before, and you are bringing
them up for the first time. It is better to appeal to people’s sensibilities and try to make links between the
environment and ecological-behavior to issues that they already are concerned about and what is
personally relevant to them. This is our opportunity to have constructive conversations with our fellow
humans. To this effect, there are two important rules to engaging in such a conversation.
1. Listen. What are the needs of the person? What are the barriers that they are facing?
2. Question your assumptions. Find out the source of what’s really happening in the situation. Perhaps
things are not as they seem.
And Finally… A Word Or Two On Professionalism
As an Eco-Rep, you are now a representative of our program and our University. To this end, please
consider your actions, your language, and your appearance when you are “on duty.” Additionally, even
when you are not “on duty,” other students will look to you to see that you are modeling the behavior
you are trying to teach others about. This also includes being on time and prepared for the event or
meeting.
Resources
Several pieces of information you will need as an Eco-Rep. Stop by these websites to learn more about each.
Drew Sustainability Website www.drew.edu/sustainability
Drew Recycling Page http://www.drew.edu/recycling
Recyclemania Competition www.recyclemaniacs.org
To report building problems, such as a leaky faucet, call Facilities at x3510
You or your RA can also request work on building problems through this page
http://tma.drew.edu
3 Adopted
from How to Create an Effective Peer Education Project by Family Health International
http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/efec2fjcedftpcqabrs5oluwwvdu5jofqmwg6hwjkwrl7gsgpzjt24ceuyccva4vvsbgydx3fwgwdo
/createeffectpeereducation.pdf