Bowdoin College
ER-3: Sustainability in New Student Orientation

A variety of strategies are used during orientation to encourage new students to be active on campus and set a tone of a campus wide commitment to sustainability. Before students arrive on campus, a letter is included in the orientation packet about sustainability on campus and how, as future members of campus, they can support Bowdoin's efforts to become Carbon Neutral. During orientation, EcoReps and residential life proctors for each first year floor hand out CFL bulbs to raise awareness of Bowdoin's carbon neutrality commitment for 2020. Each of the 8 first year residence halls have an "in-house" Eco-Rep, who was the Eco-Rep for that dorm the previous year, to meet with the first years during orientation to raise awareness about campus sustainability practices and encourage participation in sustainability events. The EcoReps hold recycling demonstrations and games to promote Bowdoin's single stream recycling in the Student Union and in the largest dining hall. There is a local food themed dinner that features food from Bowdoin's Organic Garden. The Coordinator for a Sustainable Bowdoin hosts a table about Bowdoin's Carbon Neutrality Plan and other sustainability related initiatives on campus as part of an informational fair during orientation. Before new students arrive for orientation they have the option of going on one of many pre-orientation trips. Several of these trips are focused on hands-on work addressing local sustainability issues in near by towns and on an island off the coast of Maine.