In Lehigh’s 2020 Sustainability Plan, one of the goals was to extend the Eco-Rep program to reach 100% of undergraduate and graduate students by 2020. Lehigh’s Eco-Rep program is a leadership program that focuses on peer to peer education and trains student leaders to embody and promote sustainable living in residential halls and Greek houses. Through this educational program, Eco-Reps foster sustainable behavior change among their peers. The Eco-Rep leadership program has been restructured to help reach this goal of 100% peer-to-peer relations
The Eco-Rep program used to be like any normal club, people signed up in the first few weeks of school, and as the semester went on those who were dedicated stuck around. When anyone could sign up and join they had no control of residence hall coverage (too many in one dorm, not enough in another, or even none in some halls). This resulted in Eco-Reps not being able to hit their 100% peer-to-peer relationship goal. As part of the restructuring to have a more organized and centralized program, students must fill out an application and go through the interview process. Also, all Eco-Reps are compensated for the work they do.
This year, the Eco-Rep program has added 5 library Eco-Reps. There is now 1 Eco-Rep for every 50 students. Every single residence hall on Packer Campus has at least two Eco-Reps assigned to it. These Eco-Reps host 2 events for their residence hall per semester, focusing on fun ways students can become more sustainable. To make sure every residence hall has an Eco-Rep, someone who lives off-campus or in another dorm can be an Eco-Rep for a hall that was without one, giving those who don’t live on campus a way to stay involved.
Although Eco-Reps are still lacking in our graduate housing (Saucon Village), they have transformed their peer-to-peer relationship with undergrads and are now reaching more students than ever before. They are continuing their campus-wide educational outreach and events, hosting more than a dozen interactive events a semester on a variety of sustainability topics.