Fall Semester Reflections
What was one highlight of the fall semester? What is one particular thing you hope to continue/work on in the spring?
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 9:11 AM
What was one highlight of the fall semester? What is one particular thing you hope to continue/work on in the spring?
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 9:11 AM
17 Comments:
My highlight was going on the recycling tour. It was very eye opening to see this process at such a large scale. It made me really visualize where all of my personal recycling products end up. I hope to continue working on my relationships within my building with the residents and the staff. I think that if the residents are comfortable to come and ask for help or questions a lot my progress can be made.
Natalie
I think the CBWC light bulb swap and the food sort at Simpson were two of the highlights for me this semester. During both activities I really noticed people paying attention to what we were doing. Our presence definitely seemed to change some people's behavior for the better, whether it was finishing all on their plate or switching inefficient bulbs for CFLs.
Next semester I hope to continue to make an impact in the res halls. I'd like to focus on composting and recycling because those are simple everyday steps students can take to help the environment.
-Abby Bentley
I learned a lot this semester, from tips on reducing the amount of energy I use to where UVM gets its food and sends its waste. I would have liked to do more to convey this information to other students in meaningful ways. I am as yet undecided on my plans for next semester (another semester, or graduation), but in the case that I am around, I would like to focus on bringing the information I get as an Eco-Rep to the students in a condensed and accessible format. Goals for next semester include:
-educating others
-getting others to care
-motivating and empowering others to make change
I think that if we focus more on promoting student awareness and get creative about it, we have a shot.
It is hard to pinpoint one highlight in particular of the fall semester, but there were definitely a number of different things that deserve attention. First of all, I think it's great how into composting a lot of people are in L/L A. When I took the composting bin away for Thanksgiving break, a number of people actually complained and asked me when it was going to come back. One girl said that she'd been inspired to start composting with her family back home. Another thing I really enjoyed and found promising was the BYOB campaign that VSTEP coordinated. So many people seemed supportive of it, and it seemed like about 75% of the people who stopped by the booth that I tabled at signed the petition to get rid of bottled water on campus. It was also nice to see that eco-reps could collaborate with another group on campus, whose interests overlap with ours. Also, everyone paid at least the $1 donation, and there were several who paid 5 or more dollars. I also really liked working at the staff picnic way back at the beginning of the year, and telling people what they could compost and what they could recycle. Some people asked lots of questions about everything, and many were surprised that so many of the items, such as the napkins, could be composted. So hopefully it was enlightening for a lot of people. Also, the staff members who orchestrated the whole composting/recycling aspect of the picnic were extremely interested in and supportive of our work. They had lots of suggestions of what eco-reps can do in the future, such as making signs in the marketplace areas to try and encourage people to recycle and compost more. Something in particular that I hope to work on in the spring is the "reduce" aspect of the "reduce, reuse, recycle" slogan. It seems to me that, while it's great more and more people are interested in recycling and composting, they are less concerned with how they can reduce their waste in general. I think it almost justifies people's consumption of more foods and bottled goods, because they just think "it's okay, it's going to be recycled. Same with buying more clothes, or other such things. It's great to bring your clothes to salvation army, or give them to a friend or relative, but it'd be even better if you began to just buy less. I'm also at fault for this, so I'm going to try and work on it in my own life, as well as encourage others to do so.
I really enjoyed visiting the recycling center in Williston earlier this semester. It was really helpful to me to get a better understanding of what can or cannot be recycled in Burlington - like don't recycle caps because they go in the trash anyway and can act as projectiles when the bottles are smooshed, and that white, coated food containers like orange juice cartons can't be recycled. It was also amazing to see the volumes of waste be sorted, and how even though it's recycled, it's still a lot of waste. In CBWC, we've been focusing on composting in the res halls, but I think next semester we should work on recycling so that along with food waste, recycling and trash are sorted in the dorms.
-Laura D
What I have experienced through eco-rep events were all new to me and very interesting. Even though it took me some time to get used to all the work I need to do, I learned a lot from it. I especially enjoyed making my bulletin board, visiting the recycling facility, bulb swap, and food waste weighing.
It is hard to choose only one specific thing I want to continue doing, but I would say the bulb swap is one of the great events to continue. It is time consuming and not always easy to talk to some residents, but this direct action definitely makes a difference.
This semester broadened by horizons by introducing new ways to teach conservation to the residents. It’s hard to decide which part was the most useful, but if I had to choose I’d say the Simpson dining hall food weigh in. It allowed me and my fellow eco-reps to talk one on one with the residents. We were able to answers some questions they had about composting and food waste. They also were able to see how much the wasted food weighed. It also gave faces to our group. I’ve even had a few students come up to me because they saw me at the weigh in!
A highlight for me I would say was the bulb swap. This was a good event for the eco-reps to get out into the residents hall and get around door to door letting residents know that we are around and trying to help them make a different. Although this event may have taken awhile, it was a good way to yield instant result and really lower energy use within the dorms.
I think the highlight of this semester was either the bulb swap or the food swap. I really liked both of these events because they gave us a chance to interact with people and directly give them information and answer questions. It was also really fun to get to know some of my fellow EcoReps! In the next semester I'm looking forward to doing more of these activities with EcoReps and trying to do some more things directly with some of my residents to get to know them a little better.
Alyssa I
A highlight for me was the bulb swap on Trinity. It was pretty cool how many people actually already had energy efficient bulbs when we were walking around Mercy swapping bulbs. It was also pretty cool how many people asked for more than 2 bulbs or asked for bulbs for their friends. Another highlight was my event where i collected bottles and cans to support another club i am in. It is recycling and reusing all at the same time because I am getting money for the club so we can take the kids on feild trips!
-zoe hoffman
I really enjoyed the food weigh in. It was interesting getting to see people actively producing waste, and getting to be the one to point it out to them and to make them realize that they could change their ways. I would definitely be interested in carrying that into other dining halls, and possibly even the Marche.
Olivia M
For me, the highlight of the semester was just seeing Mercy get better about recycling and composting. I chose to focus on that this semester, and seeing my work pay off was very rewarding and uplifting. At the beginning of the semester trash and recycling was a mess there, and the compost bins weren't filling too quickly, but now I am impressed with the state of trash/recycling and I can't seem to change the compost often enough.
I definitely think going to a floor meeting and giving everyone a demo about recycling really paid off by making the whole process more accessible for everyone through explaining the rules of recycling. Posters are nice, but group instruction seems more effective.
My personal highlight for the semester was visiting the recycling plant. It was shocking to see the amount of waste that is processed there in just one day! There were endless bales of plastics and papers. I believe that if more of the public were educated by this tour, the amount of waste would decline. Now, whenever I recycle something, even though it is recycling I still visualize where it is going to end up. Most likely in a large bail of plastic that currently does not have a market.
As far as working with residents in my building, I really enjoyed our Living and Learning Event. It was a great way to converse with the residents. I felt like I had enough time to actually embark on real effective conversations and to answer their questions on how to live more eco-friendly in the residential halls.
I will miss you all next semester while I am in Belize!
I think one of my highlights of the fall semester wasn't a specific event, but finding a support system in my Hall Council. It's great to know that they have a willingness to support the Eco-Reps mission, and to participate themselves. In the spring I would really like to work on a composting project in my complex, particularly because of all the questions that I do get, composting is at the top of them all. It would also be good to try to get recycling and composting bins more available across campus, not just within the res. halls, and also to label them in a way where people may actually pay attention.
I think that the highlight of my work this semester was getting one of my friends to apply to be an Eco-Rep for the spring time, which she just found out she got. Sometimes it is actually a bigger challenge to be an Eco-Rep among friends than it is to be in a whole building. You constantly see the actions your friends do (or don't do) and it can get awkward trying to get them to change your ways. It can also be hard for them knowing that they have a friend who is environmentally conscious, possibly always feeling judged. When I share information and tips to my friends that I learn from Eco-Reps, I am not always sure if they are taking in what I say or listening at all. Aparently the work we have done this semester got through to some of my friends, enough to make them participate in my efforts and now even join them. Something I hope to work on for next semester is getting to know the other Eco-Reps outside my group. I also want to put more effort into projects, whether it is effort or ideas.
There were a lot of highlights this semester, but I thought the waste sort and the CSWD tour were very eye-opening. I wish that more people had participated in the waste sort, but I think if we do it again in the spring with better weather we'll have more luck!
For me, the highlight of the fall semester was the bulb swap in Wills. It was really cool to talk to people one-on-one and convince them to do something that was a little more environmentally friendly. It was exciting that many people were ready to be convinced- it was just a matter of not wanting to spend the money on the new bulbs, not having the time to do so, or just laziness. A few people insisted upon keeping their incandescent bulbs, and I didn't give them too much grief for it... but most people were very enthusiastic about the bulb swap. It was also fun because some of the people had hilarious personalities. So, in this fun, unusual way, I was able to help reduce the building's environmental impact. I want to do more bulb swaps this semester.
I also want to have a better compost system in Harris Millis this semester. One big thing that went wrong for me was that all of my compost bins were removed.. This semester my team will put in place new compost bins and beef up our composting campaign!
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