Bowdoin College
EN-2: 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 first year students arrive on campus, they receive two postcards from Sustainable Bowdoin, one that discusses Bowdoin's carbon neutrality commitment, the campus zero-sort recycling program, and an overview of ways to get involved. The other card encourages students who are considering buying or renting a refrigerator for their room to make sure that it is an efficient Energy Star rated appliance. The Sustainability Office offers a sign-up for students who want to rent an Energy Star Micro-Fridge, which are dropped to the students dorm before they arrive and are removed at the end of the school year. • During orientation, the Sustainability Office partners with Residential Life to provide LED light bulbs during move-in. • The Sustainability Office also partners with several different offices on campus (ex. Career Planning, Dean’s Office, Athletics, etc.) to provide each incoming first year with a reusable water bottle, branded with their class year, to incentivize less plastic bottle purchasing. • A variety of Bowdoin's Orientation trips focus on protecting and sustaining many environments in or around the Coastal Maine area. Two of the trips have a specific sustainability focus. • When first year students arrive back on campus after the Orientation trips, their first meal in Bowdoin’s dining hall is a “Maine Themed Dinner” that features food from Bowdoin’s Organic Garden and other Maine farms. At the dinner, the Sustainability Outreach Coordinator speaks about Bowdoin's sustainable practices and shows an informative video that discusses ways to engage in sustainability issues while at Bowdoin. • The Sustainability Office also has a table at the Orientation Information session to inform new students about various initiatives on campus and the many green clubs that they can join. • Since first year Eco-Rep employment positions are not filled until a few weeks into the school year, the first year Eco-Reps from the previous year come back to work during orientation and the first few weeks of the school year to provide education and outreach to the students from their dorm the previous year. Their job is to raise awareness about campus sustainability practices, promote participation in Sustainability events, and encourage them to apply to be the Eco-Rep for their dorm for the upcoming year.