Michigan State University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

The Residential and Hospitality Services (RHS) Sustainability unit (now under Student Life and Engagement) established the Eco-Rep Program in 2018 as a pilot. The program is designed for undergraduate students passionate about the environment who want to impact Michigan State's campus through education and outreach. Eco-Reps are responsible for encouraging and promoting environmental responsibility and behaviors for their peers with educational and awareness building activities. They implement educational programs, provide guidance and information about sustainability, and execute projects and activities. Eco-Reps report to the RHS Sustainability Officer, Carla Iansiti. The Eco-Reps receive training on sustainable practices and programs at MSU, peer engagement, project implementation, evaluation, and goal setting. The first two years of the program focused on event planning and engagement in the residence halls.

Marketing/Communications FY20
We expanded our marketing efforts for the program by increasing our engagement within the neighborhoods, working with environmental groups on campus, increasing marketing promotions, and tabling. We had four times the number of applicants in 2019.
• Expanded the program due to an increase in the budget from REHS, Culinary Services, and MSU Sustainability
• Created Eco-Rep Postcards that were sent out to residents
• Met with all Facility Managers in the summer to discuss the program and the Eco-Reps roles
• Communicated with Community Directors, Assistant Community Directors, and Residential Assistants to collaborate on the program
• Tabled at resource fairs throughout the summer to promote the program
• Connected with environmental groups on campus to spread the word
• Purchased Eco-Rep shirts to be worn for events, tabling, and other outreach activities
• Each Eco-Rep had their own Eco-Rep poster on their dorm door

Eco-Rep Engagement FY20
In the fall semester, the Eco-Rep participated in the Sparticipation Picnic, three food waste audits, attended the Michigan Sustainability Conference, and hosted a recycling event at the MSU Union on recycling. Through these programs, they engaged with around 12,000 people. In the spring semester, the Eco-Reps engaged in Springticipation, Rec-Fest, two MSU Women’s basketball games, three tray-less studies, and hosted three of their own events. The attendance for all of these events adds up to about 13,000 people

In the 2020-2021 academic year, the program was project-based in partnership with MSU Office of Sustainability. The Eco-Reps were tasked with the creation of the Spartan Green Living Certification to assess MSU students' sustainable behaviors. They conducted research on similar universities programs, created actions to assess sustainability practices for on and off campus students, collaborated with university partners, conducted focus groups, and review the prepared Qualtrics version of the certification. The Eco-Reps participated in presentations on communication, resume development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Two Eco-Reps represented the program at the Student Sustainability Leadership Council meetings where student leaders from registered student organization have a space to work on events, projects, and share opportunities. Three of the Eco-Reps presented on the development of the Spartan Green Living Certification. The Eco-Reps launched three social media campaigns throughout the academic year that included Seasons GREENings, Spartans Take Action on Food Waste, and What does Earth Day Mean to You?. They focused on sustainable ways to enjoy the holidays, MSU food waste programs, and the Eco-Reps personal connections to Earth Day. The audience for these campaigns included students, alumni, staff, faculty, and Spartan fans.

Students

Through Clean Plates At State, Student Life and Engagement (SLE, formerly RHS) partners with students to educate their peers as well as employees about food waste and sustainable dining on campus. The program visually displays how much food is wasted from a lunch or dinner over several hours. Since 2012 all dining halls have participated in the program. Students run the Clean Plates stations in front of the waste disposal areas and stop every patron who wishes to dispose of their food. Every patron has their food waste weighed and cataloged before they leave. The number of estimated patrons served comes from an average of weigh-ins during Clean Plates which is compared to the number of purchased and used meal plans on campus. Student Clean Plates educators raise awareness about food waste when interacting with patrons as their food waste is weighed. Posters and social media advertising (including reoccurring Facebook events) are promoted before the program begins in the fall. Clean Plates student educators receive training and administrative support from Carla Iansiti, SLE/RHS Chief Sustainability Officer.

https://sustainability.msu.edu/get-involved/campus-tips-programs/Sustainable-Food.html

Students, staff and guests of the dining halls

The MSU Student Organic Farm (SOF) is a 15 acre, certified organic, year round teaching and production farm that offers learning resources and skill building opportunities in sustainable agriculture on MSU's campus. The SOF employs and trains 20 undergraduate student crew members that assist with running the farm and serving as peer educators. As a living lab site, SOF frequently hosts groups of students and classes that come to the farm to learn about and experience sustainable agriculture. In 2019, over 700 people toured the farm and hosted 170 MSU student volunteers. Student crew members frequently lead tours at the farm. In addition, student crew members also help other MSU students in completing service learning projects at the farm; the crew members guide their peers on these projects. The SOF provides students the opportunity to not only learn about sustainably grown and local food, but how the farm is a key part of the sustainable food system at MSU. The farm provides food to MSU dining halls, supported a vermicomposting program (which moved to the Surplus Store and Recycling Center in 2020), supports health and well-being of community members through their CSA (258 shares in 2019), and partners with the Student Food Bank to address food insecurity by donating roughly 600 lbs of food.

Students, guests and community

Many student employees throughout MSU train new student employees on sustainable practices. This includes the experienced student supervisors that work in Culinary Services, who play an important role in teaching their younger peers about recycling and food waste initiatives in the dining halls. In a typical year, Culinary Services employs 3,700 student employees, and the student supervisors play a very critical role in disseminating sustainability information and ensuring that all student employees follow the sustainble dining practices. This is especially important as student employee turnover can be high in the dining halls, and there is a frequent need to train new employees to follow best practices. Similarly, student teams that work in facilities areas teach new student employees about recycling and waste reduction practices. At the Surplus Store and Recycling Center, student supervisors and student employees on the recycling outreach team play an important role in helping with tours of the facility, guiding peers in events like waste sorts and upcycle classes, and tabling across campus to promote responsible recycling practices.

Residential and Hospitality Services (RHS) has been restructured into Student Life and Engagement (SLE). Websites at the university have not yet been updated to reflect this change.