Keep Lehigh Safe, Healthy, and Sustainable

You are here

Welcome to a semester like no other in the history of Lehigh University! COVID-19 has certainly reshaped the academic landscape and has made Lehigh rethink how it operates.  Health and safety remain top priorities.  To keep everyone safe while on campus this fall, all students, faculty and staff have received a Wellness Kit with two Lehigh reusable face coverings, hand sanitizer, a thermometer, a notebook, and health and safety tips to follow for your protection and that of others. Mask up, Mountain Hawks, and don’t toss your mask after a single use! Rinse and repeat, as they say--wash your mask regularly. 

While we all are focused on taking care of ourselves and those around us, let’s not forget our responsibility to care for our environment as well. As you join the Lehigh campus community, please unite with all Mountain Hawks in embracing the five Rs:

  • REFUSE (single-use plastics and other “disposables” - use your own reusable water bottle)

  • REDUCE (consumption of stuff, energy, packaging, resources)

  • REUSE (don’t toss plastics after a single use; wash and reuse)

  • REPURPOSE (aka upcycling, find new uses for throwaways)

  • RECYCLE (properly sort recyclables so they get recycled)

In student rooms and throughout the campus, you’ll find blue recycling bins labeled clearly with recycling signage. Please do not put trash or anything that is contaminated with food or liquid in the recycling bins--contaminants undermine the recycling process.

If you have a passion for promoting sustainable behavior change, the Office of Sustainability invites students living on campus to apply for the Eco-Rep Leadership Program. The Eco-Rep Leadership Program is a nationally-recognized peer-to-peer education program focused on training student leaders to embody and promote sustainable living in residential halls. The deadline to apply is August 30. Students can also get their room certified through the Sustainable Living Program.

At residential dining locations, students have the option to take food to-go in a reusable eco-container. Students with a meal plan can sign up for the eco-container program and will be provided with up to two eco-containers at a time to use at residential dining halls.  Students bring the eco-container(s) back to the dining hall dirty and exchange it for clean ones.  This helps to reduce single-use waste and thus your environmental footprint.  In addition, the dining halls will continue to serve food to be eaten on-site on reusable melamine dishware to minimize the use of disposables.  

Changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected many aspects of life on campus this semester. Our commitment to providing students with the best experience Lehigh Sustainability can provide has not been swayed. Together, we can keep Lehigh safe, healthy, and sustainable.