San Francisco State University
EN-1: Student Educators Program

This training was conducted by students in the "EcoLife" group within the Residence Hall Association. Office of Sustainability Staff helps with this training. They organize a training for all Residence Hall Assistants each semester. The session included lessons on encouraging university housing residents to use their compost bins and the appropriate bins for compostables and recyclables. They break into teams and compete in a waste sorting game. This activity trains Residence Hall Associates to educate all of their residents on sustainable practices and to inform their residents about sustainability resources and the Office of Sustainability. The training also orients Residence Hall Assistants to sustainability resources on campus so they can include it in their programming throughout the year. EcoLife invited some guest speakers to present at the program, Max Wechsler and Janelle Fitzpatrick from SF Environment, and Linda Jo Morton from the SFSU Grounds Department. Staff from the Office of Sustainability have also been invited as guest speakers.

EcoLife selects student educators on a volunteer basis. Any Residential student is eligible to join and help with training.

EcoLife trains its own staff. If a potential student educator is interested in sustainability, EcoLife helps them become a resource for their Residental Life peers by providing them with information and sustainability contacts. The Office of Sustainability has provided EcoLife leaders with resources and training assistance.

EcoLife receives $500 annually from the Residence Hall Association, and has received donations from the SF Parks and Recreation, SFSU's Grounds Department, SF Environment, and Sodexo.

Associated Students' Environmental Resource Center conducts peer to peer waste bin education each fall. The program involves a team of educators standing near waste/recycling/compost receptacles to greet new students and teach them how to use our waste system. Since many of our students come from areas that don't collect compost, this serves as an introduction to composting and and introduction to sustainability programming.

Students volunteer to be part of the Environmental Resource Center team and are reviewed by the ERC's executive team. Some of the waste bin educators are interns for the center and are paid.

The bin ambassadors are trained by the Environmental Resource Center staff using materials from Recology, the campus waste hauler. They are trained in the technical information about how to sort waste and also how to greet and educate new students.

The Environmental Resource Center provides stipends for bin ambassadors.

Power to the Pedal is SF States student-run bicycle outreach program. Student interns are hired by the Office of Sustainability to provide information, support, and free bike repair to other SF State students, faculty, and staff. They host a weekly tabling session, connect with bike commuters online, and lead educational events. They maintain an email distribution list and social media accounts aimed at building awareness about bike commuting. They also host events like Bike to Work Day.

The Office of Sustainability conducts interviews and selects qualified students.

Power to the Pedal interns have typically gained experience by volunteering. Some gain experience working on bikes in shops or co-ops and some receive basic training from previous interns.

Interns are paid by the Office of Sustainability. The Office also provides a budget for supplies like basic tools and flyers, stickers, etc.

A number of other education groups that involve outreach to students are EcoLife, EcoStudents, Sustainable Initiatives, Real Food Challenge, Food Recovery Network, and Fossil Free SF. In terms of outreach, for EcoLife they table, present trainings, throw programs, advertise on campus, and collaborate with other organizations as well as the Parks and Recreations department.