Eco-Reps 2007: First Reflection
Thinking of the training and your first week of being an Eco-Rep, what impressions do you have of the program? What questions do you have?
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 10:40 AM
Thinking of the training and your first week of being an Eco-Rep, what impressions do you have of the program? What questions do you have?
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 10:40 AM
26 Comments:
My first week back on the eco-rep beat has been great. Since I live in Slade, a supportive community when it comes to environmental advocacy, when I introduced myself to everyone as the eco-rep statements of excitement and anticipation were expressed. My residents are excited to have more of an environmental presence in the house.
- Mollie
People seem psyched to have the Eco-reps program up and running in our residence hall. So far I have gotten positive feedback regarding future environmentally themed events, especially from CAB and from our hall's RAs. Many of my residents had good ideas and observations to share, too, like needing a recycling bin in our kitchen area. I hope I am helpful to the GreenHouse community and that I can instill enthusiasm for ecological knowledge and the Earth.
- Kasey, UHS1
My first week as an eco-rep has been good. I am living in Harris/Millis which is a very large dorm and doesn't seem to have many environmentally conscious residents. I have been working with the other three eco-reps in Harris/Millis to think of ideas for spreading awareness. This will be a challenge for us, but working as a group provides each of us with support and the ability to collectively get things done.
-Drew E
Life as an eco-rep is not too shabby. I am more conscious about resources and using energy wisely. In doing so, I feel as if other residents in my hall are becoming more aware of having a smaller impact on the environment. Millis residents are interested to know what eco-reps are and what we have to offer. Many seem excited to have compost in hall and in their rooms. I'm excited to learn more and also share with students more ways to be energy efficient!
meg
The program looks amazing and fun. My first week, however, has been a little crazy trying to figure out my schedule and whatnot. Now that I've met everyone who I will be working with in my building I feel more comfortable and prepared. There are already some obvious changes which need to be accomplished in the building, all of which seem feasible and realitively easy.
- Elizabeth White
My new responsibility as an eco-rep has been exciting. I am definitely looking forward to working with my peers in my residence hall to promote a sustainable lifestyle, especially through example. This first week has really shed some light on the duties I will have as an eco-rep for Harris hall. My hope is that through my work and the work of my co-workers, we can make a difference in the habits of students at UVM.
-Kate G-H (Harris Hall)
Training was a good way to get a feel for the people we will be working with for the next semester if not year. So far my first impression is that everyone will have a lot of fun and get a lot done at the same time. If we didnt do training I feel it would be a little harder for the eco-reps within the same building or complex to feel comfortable communicating. Im pretty siked for the semester to come.
Phil
I think the program is great but I have tons of questions, like how to make people care and/or listen. As I introduced myself to people as one of the eco-reps for the building, some of them didn't seem to care. I hope this will change as the year goes on and am really excited to work with my building to improve and educate our community.
-Will from Ills
As many of the other eco-reps have commented, being a new eco-rep is really a fun and exciting prospect. All of the residents that I have introduced myself to thus far have had really positive reactions to having extra enviornmental awareness throughout UHeights. I have found that one of the hard things as an eco-rep, however, is managing to meet a lot of residents as people are constantly running off to classes, club meetings, etc. to keep up with their busy schedules. Despite this, I have gotten in touch with several residents who have had great ideas for the dorm this year, and seem really enthusiastic about integrating new, environmentally conscious lifestyles into their daily routines.
I think some residents don't really understand eco-reps yet. While some people were excited about the program, other people seemed to not really care what I was talking about. My R.A. is really excited about it though, which I am sure will be helpful. I am really excited to change the apathy of some and help my residence hall improve our community.
-Will
I'll be honest, thinking about everything that I had to do was much more draining and time-consuming than actually doing it. The RD and ARD seem very excited about the year ahead, and the RAs are enthusiastic and already have ideas for what to do to environmentally promote awareness and activity. The only problem is the compost bucket so far... I'll either need one for each floor, or make a huge effort to get people to go down to the kitchen...
~Elle, Mason
My first week has been pretty successful, too! Meg and I put the green guides under everyone's doors, and introduced ourselves to everyone in Millis who we could- it's going to be a challenge to get through to everyone, I think! I agree with Drew, it is very helpful to have the other three eco-reps to help, Harris/Millis is a big job, but somebody's gotta do it!
-Kate R.
The first week of being an eco-rep went smoothly. I introduced the compost bucket in the kitchen in Wills. It seems to be used. Many of the people living on my floor seem to genuinely care about what could be done in our residence hall with the eco-reps program. I just have the concern that some people aren't using the recycling bins in their rooms. but I do eventually plan to have their cooperation as well.
-Erin
I feel like the first week was good because I got to see how excited people are about getting this started, but I know that actually getting to make a difference will be the best part. I would really like to get more people to know about the program and what we are doing. It doesn't seem like many people actually know that we exist!
- Bitsy
Being an Eco Rep is both exciting and overwhelming. I was pleasantly surprised how enthusiastic Mercy 3 girls were about composting and such things. I talked at our floor meeting about the immense amount of paper towels that end up in our trash when using a regular towel or wiping your hands on your shirt works just as well. Since then, there has been a significant difference in the number of paper towels used. Yay for that!
The first week as an eco-rep has been pretty good. It's been hard to find time in my schedule right now to get around to meet people, but at CAB, people thought eco-reps was a pretty cool thing. I really enjoyed trainig and thought it was a good idea so that we could all get to know each other in an informal setting. I am really looking forward to this year!
-Steph (UHeights North)
I feel like I haven't fully gotten into the swing of being an eco-rep, but I'm really excited to get more involved in some of the things that we will get to do this semester. I thought tonight's meeting was really productive, and I felt like I got a lot out of Corey's powerpoint. I'm looking forward to making a bulletin board this week!
- Gwen
These first weeks have been great as an eco-rep and it has been fun to get to know everyone in the building better. Most residents seem to be fairly environmentally conscious already and are supportive of new techniques to reduce, reuse, and recycle more. I look forward to working with everyone to develop a more sustainable future on planet Earth.
-Colin (Wilks)
I am so excited to be working as an eco-rep. It kills me to see people with bad habits that are easily changed but are usually just not brought to their attention such as not recycling or composting. Most of the residents seem very willing to listen... Also, we were given a bulletin board in the main lobby so that everyone can walk buy it. I am stoked that we didn't get a little dinky one in the corner. I also love that this year eco-reps is trying to have everyone get to know everyone. I feel this is a team effort and its nice to know who you are working with.
- Emily Lubell
First/ second week eco-reping has been a good time. Went to my first cab meeting yesterday and they seemed pretty pumped about the program and wiling to give money...because no one else was asking for it! I'm still having to remind people that pizza boxes are recycleable ! But for the most part everyone wants to know how they can help me and the environment!
til next time,
Jim
My first weeks of being an Eco-Rep have been awesome! It's such a great opportunity for us to get our community excited about going green. I'm so happy to start composting in the res-halls because the more awareness we bring to certain issues, the more they'll get utilized. My RD, ARD, and CAB are pretty excited to get the perspective of an Eco-Rep about different ideas and events on campus and how to make them more eco-friendly. Hopefully through this program we'll all be able to reach out and motivate UVM to do simple everyday things that will benefit the environment.
Alice
Last night there was a showing of planet earth in the harris/millis lounge. It was put on by CAB and the Eco-reps were asked to attend and use that gathering to spread awareness. We (Kate G.H. and me) were able to pass out a couple dozen Green Is Good living guides. Hopefully they do not end up in the trash like the one we found during the trash audit. -Drew
My first week back as an eco rep was super exciting. I love having the authority to tell students they must begin considering the environment in their living area and in their daily lives as well. I personally feel like I’m making a difference when I see my signs ton the trash room doors. Students can’t avoid reading simple signs that stand out which makes them think twice when going to throw out paper or bottles. During the first floor meetings I attended the meetings of 3 out of the 4 floors and introduced myself to each floor as their eco rep and targeted mainly on getting into the habit of recycling on the floors. When students in my res. hall see me around they often say hi out of recognition from the meetings. It’s a gratifying feeling knowing that students know me as their eco-rep.
My first week as an eco rep went really well. Since I put the compost bin up everyone has been really trying to use it which is encouraging. I live in Coolidge and it is difficult finding times to talk to people about concerns I've been having such as leaving lights on in the bathroom and turning off the TV in the lounge, so I think that is going to be a challenge.
-Katherine M.
When I first met the group and did the Ropes Course, I felt a strong positive energy vibrating in the group. Even though I knew we wouldn't really be working together as a whole group constantly, for some reason, I still felt like it was important to develop ourselves as a united group. I'm slightly disappointed that there weren't more Eco-Reps from L/L, where I live but I got over that quickly when I met other excited Eco-Reps from other buildings.
My impression of the program was that we were going to change people's attitudes very slowly and I still feel that this is how we were going to operate. We will experience many slow changes and will have to accept that in a positive way.
-Daniel
Although this post in late, it is nice to reflect back on the original impressions of Eco-Rep training and on the programs. The first week of being an eco-rep and introducing myself in that role to my building was interesting. Many of the students did not know what the role of the eco-reps were or what the job meant. My residents were also really excited to have someone who could field some of their smaller questions and add a more environmental presence to the community.
My biggest achievement that I started in the first week is my compost. The first few weeks everyone was really excited to have a place to put their food waste.
-Lindsey Gillies
Post a Comment
<< Home