Eco-Reps & Interns

March 26, 2014

Sustainability Intern Update

Hello all!
On Sunday, March 16, the night before Spring Break, I met up with the Eco-REPS. We discussed working with the R.A.s to communicate to students the recycling rules on campus. The Eco-REPS refined their speeches and made some awesome informative posters!
I am communicating with R.A.s and we will set up times the week following Spring Break for the Eco-REPS to give presentations on the residence hall floors, complete with visual aids! Eco-REPS were encouraged to identify some good ideas for recyclable crafting while they were on break.  Meanwhile, I am getting in contact with SMAC to organize an event around this idea.
I am also encouraging the Eco-REPS to consider assisting Kaitlyn Welzen with her hoop house project on April 5th. She is planning a trip to Appleton to learn how to build a hoop house (similar to a greenhouse, “but with metal ‘hoops’ and plastic sheeting” as she describes it).
We have a lot of exciting events leading up to Earth Week, so look for them!
I hope everyone had a great Spring Break!
Kristen
January 21, 2014

Ideas for EcoREPS for Spring 2014


Recycling education:

In box- script, examples of recyclable items (especially things people don’t think are recyclable), examples of things that are not recyclable. Map showing where to recycle things like cardboard boxes, batteries, electronic waste, clothes, etc.

The Lorax:

Watch the movie and give out a paper discussing the triple bottom line with some questions for them to think about and have the option to turn in (to be written on the blog)
or read the book and ask questions throughout.
[I think people would feel more comfortable watching the movie and less child-like, but it would take more time. This could be something the R.A.s do as an activity since I know they have done movie night events before]

Local food:

I would really like to do one focusing on sustainable food practices. Perhaps Kaitlin could help with this one. It could possibly be a field trip to a local food market (If we can get a field trip approved. There are quite a few with in a few minutes of Ripon). And then make something (salsa, fruit salad, something simple) while we discuss why buying local is important and how to find local markets. Kaitlin and I could possibly discuss composting as well, how to make a simple compost for home. This could be a separate one as well.

Alternative use:

Instead of throwing items out we could show some crafts you could do with items they people find are hard to recycle or cant be recycled. I was just looking at some recycled crafts and thought it may be a fun one.

End of year reiteration of where students can put things they don’t want like clothes, books, electronics, etc.

I also thought it might be nice to incorporate the school’s garden in someway in the spring. I feel that not a lot of people know where it is so a organized walk down there or perhaps helping with the planting and organizing of the garden would be nice. 

What would you like to see EcoREPS work on this semester? Email hamzes@ripon.edu 


 November 2, 2013

Meet EcoREP for 3rd floor Scott:  Ricardo Jaimes

My name is Ricardo Jaimes.
I am a freshman at Ripon College.
I a member of the EGOR club, Sierra Club, and Hola club.
I plan to pursuit a major in Environmental Studies.
My goal: To help Ripon College become a more Eco-friendly campus. 






October 30, 2013

EcoREP update

Hello there!
We had our second meeting for “Eco Reps”. We are still making some decisions on our name and logo, but we will have our official name by this Sunday! This meeting went really well. Samara was able to attend and we discussed our hopes and plans for the program. Many students, Samara and I were happy to see, were interested in energy use. We realize that waste is often an emphasized topic because it is so public, but where we can really make a difference in energy use. We are still collecting data on a few things throughout campus, such as the garbage and recycling and water bottle filling stations. Hopefully we can get this data together and put it towards good use! Keep up the good work and stay green!
~Kristen
October 15, 2013

Meet Eco-REP for 4th floor Johnson: Mariah Everts


Bettering the lives of Ripon College students in every way is part of being a student here at Ripon College. We are all well rounded individuals looking to make a difference in the world. Becoming an Eco-Rep I truly hope to make many others aware of what a beautiful world we live in and how easy it is to do our small part to continue to make Ripon College a fantastic place to be. Educating students on recycling, waste produced, and using as little and gaining much more because of it. Once we are educated in the ways to help out our campus, when we graduate I hope we can use our knowledge to better the future communities we live in.
 October 13, 2013
Hello!

We finally got our ‘eco rep program’ (name as yet to be determined) started! We have ten great Ripon students working with me: Robert Enright, Aspen Geheber, Samantha Klein, Mariah Everts, Mikayla Huesman, Mamadou Toure, Ricardo Jaimes, Shannon Marchiando and Sophia Rodgers. Six out of the ten were able to attend our first meeting and they seem as enthusiastic as I am! They already had questions and suggestions.
We are working on coming up with a name and logo to identify ourselves with. I also gave them our first assignment. We will be checking all the campus buildings for placement of garbage and recycling bins and the labeling around them. In these same places we will be monitoring the water fountain stations for how many water bottles are saved each day by using reusable containers. We will be working heavily with data because, as Professor Hamze likes to quote, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”!
 I am also very excited because I found out I can attend a Midwest regional conference on Sustainability in Decorah, IA on November 7-9th! I hopefully get to stay on campus and hear from students across the Midwest working on programs similar to this one!
I also had a talk with Professor Diane Beres about the Costa Rica maymester dealing with sustainability and development. It is a wonderful opportunity for any students and especially for environmental studies majors. I told her I would help promote the project and maybe be able to go myself! Anyone who is interested can feel free to contact her or professor Hauge for more information. Also, look for posters about an information meeting coming up! That’s all the news I have for now!

Your friendly neighborhood sustainability intern,

Kristen


September 30, 2013
Colleagues at Macalester College have compiled a great list of possible student projects which relate to sustainability. If you're a student looking for a project or a faculty member who would like to foster campus sustainability through student projects, the link below can get you started:
September 24, 2013
INTRODUCING OUR NEW SUSTAINABILITY INTERN: KRISTEN LARSON



Hello there! My name is Kristen Larson and I am the recently-hired sustainability intern at Ripon College. I am an Environmental Studies and Anthropology double major as well as being a member of the Ripon college dance team and a sister of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. I also teach Zumba classes!

            I have always been interested in the environment and its protection. As a kid I would get upset when people did not recycle or when I saw garbage thrown into nature. As I grew older I became aware of more environmental issues as well as the solutions they required. Sometimes looking at all the environmental issues can be overwhelming and leave you feeling helpless, but you just have to remember to do your part. I believe that each individual can make a change and, as one of my favorite quotes says, “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”. By working as Ripon’s sustainability intern I hope I can start to make that change. 



I am incredibly excited to get started with an Eco Rep program here! This will be a peer-to-peer project aimed at fostering sustainability within the dorms. I will be posting updates as the project goes along.  Working with Prof. Hamzé (the campus sustainability coordinator), we hope that this program will be taken seriously and continue to grow even once I’m graduated! If we can make sustainability something that students on this campus think about as part of everyday decisions, if we can integrate it into the very culture of this campus, I feel we will have done a great service.

Stay tuned for updates as we get the new program rolling!
  

Beginning in Fall 2013, there will be a new opportunity for students to engage in campus sustainability. The Center for Social Responsibility will hire a Sustainability Intern who will work closely with the campus Sustainability Coordinator. Together, the intern and coordinator will develop a pilot program for peer-to-peer environmental education.
Applications for the CSR sustainability internship will become available during Registration (8/27/2013).

The intern position description can be viewed here.  Applications will be available in the CSR, 2nd floor Harwood Memorial Union.

For additional information regarding the Eco-Rep program, please refer to AASHE's document on this type of program: http://www.aashe.org/files/documents/resources/eco-reps_guide.pdf
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