Getting sustainable is the goal with the Eco-Reps.
The Eco-Reps are an on-campus organization that works to promote sustainable living and make it approachable to students at Keene State, senior and President of the organization Jessica Lawton said.
“We try to give you a sense of advocacy and you can actually do this,” said Lawton. The Eco-Reps have been around for quite some time, but just recently in the past two years got their feet off the ground as a student organization.
Originally starting as a part of the sustainability office as an educational outreach group that students were able to be hired and paid to participate in, the organization later turned into a full fledged student organization.
The Eco-Reps still keep to their educational mindset by working to educate the students through their activities and work that they do.
Most recently, on Friday, April 21, the Eco-Reps put on their second annual Earth Day celebration where they, along with other outside organizations, promoted different ways students can get involved in being sustainable on and off campus and, eventually, after college.
Lawton said they “try to make it known that sustainable living doesn’t just stop when you’re 22, it keeps going for the rest of your life.”
Keene State might be their home, but the students are also affected by what happens outside of the college, Lawton said. They work to promote outside organizations and events that align with their message of sustainability.
Through their educational outreach they go to dorms or tables in the student center and set up activities for students to learn about recycling and what type of plants are sustainable to have in the current season. However, the Eco-Reps are not all just about education on sustainable living, they take action too. They go out and clean up around campus and around the Keene community, Lawton said.
Coming up, they have a beach cleanup in Rye, N.H., where they will be working with the Seacoast Science Center to clean up the beach, but also learn about how to better protect the beaches and how to combat beach pollution.
“You’re doing good, but you’re also learning along the way and correcting your own behaviors,” Lawton said.
Locally, they will clean up the bike trails around campus as well as all areas on campus. The Eco-Reps also work to promote other sustainable aspects on campus like the Thrifty Owl located in the Joslin House.
Through their Share the Love Clothing Swap held on Feb. 24, they brought clothes from the Thrifty Owl and had students swap their clothes for some of the clothes the Thrifty Owl has. The event works to combat clothing waste, but also to promote self love.
“Share your clothes, share what you used to love, but also try to get maybe some clothing that makes you more confident or gender affirming,” Lawton said.
Graduate Assistant for the Office of Sustainability and one of the student advisors for the Eco-Reps Katherine Witte said, “It’s about connecting students to ways they can be sustainable at Keene, but also in their lives in general.”
She said their work makes being sustainable more tangible for students here.
Sophomore and secretary for the Eco-Reps Chloe March echoed that message. “Educate and bring awareness to the ways that students can be sustainable on campus even when it’s the corporations that are the most responsible,” she said.
Sophomore Donta Selden is a part of the gardening committee for the EcoReps, and he said he joined because of his interest in environmental issues and advocacy.
“I feel as though everyone has a part to play in preserving nature,” Selden said. “We are in some way affecting the earth whether that’s good or bad. By getting involved in this I could be a part of the change that’s good for the environment.”
Anyone can be an Eco-Rep, you don’t even have to be a part of the organization to be considered one.
“If you are being sustainably focused…just stop and think, ‘How are my actions impacting the earth? How are my actions impacting others?’ You are an Eco-Rep,” Lawton said.
Tim Bruns can be contacted at
tbruns@kscequinox.com
