Campus Sustainability Plan 2020: Waste, Green Labs, Eco-Reps Program

Lehigh’s Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 was formally released to campus in January 2017.  Since its adoption, Lehigh has made great progress toward several of its goals.  In this article, we highlight key progress toward our goals in the areas of waste - through the creation of a waste management plan and policy, green labs - through the development of a pilot program in STEPS, and through the reach of our student peer-to-peer outreach program known as Eco-Reps.

Operations

GOAL FOR 2020: Create and implement a waste management plan to minimize waste generated on campus by 10% over 2010 baseline.

In 2016, a committee led by Facilities Services & Campus Planning and the Office of Sustainability was formed to develop a Comprehensive Waste Management Plan. The Plan was developed and completed in early 2017 with the long-term goal of developing a comprehensive strategy to reduce all waste streams across campus.  Since the 2010-2011 baseline year, Lehigh has decreased the amount of waste generated by approximately 7%.

Campus & Community Engagement

GOAL FOR 2020: Create a lab program targeting behavioral change comprehensively across areas of energy, waste, water, and materials.

During the 2016-2017 academic year, a group of Energy Systems Engineering Institute graduate students, in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability, developed a Green Labs Pilot Program to support two laboratories in the STEPS building adopt more sustainable behaviors. The total savings from this pilot program was approximately $1700 per year, but if scaled up to the whole STEPS building it could save $5,000 per year.  The Office of Sustainability and Facilities Services are now looking at ways to expand this program to more labs across campus.

Campus & Community Engagement

GOAL FOR 2020:  Extend the peer-to-peer sustainability outreach program to reach 100% of students by 2020.

The Eco-Rep Leadership Program is a peer-to-peer education program focused on training student leaders to embody and promote sustainable living in residential halls and Greek houses. Through fun and educational programs, Eco-Reps foster sustainable behavior among their peers.  During the 2016-2017 academic year, there were 30 Eco-Reps who reached 51% of the students and represented 36% of the residential halls/Greek houses. Below are the goals for the next three academic years such that we meet our overall goal of reaching 100% of students by 2020.  

For the next three years, the Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 will guide departments and resources to advance our institutional commitment to sustainability through the implementation of goals. How will YOU help Lehigh reach its sustainability goals? Check out Lehigh University’s Campus Sustainability Plan 2020 and let us know what you think!