Last November, the EcoReps and the Resident Advisors initiated a month-long competition concentrated in the Hartley-Wallach Living Learning Center. In their words, its purpose was to bring "all the high aims of the sustainability movement to the level of dorm life, where each person can begin to do his or her part to preserve the sweet world we live in and reap some rewards."

Residents racked up points – and yes, kept track of them with gold stars -- for uncontaminated recycling and energy efficient computing. Points added up for using compact fluorescent light bulbs, non-plastic shopping bags, power strips with surge protectors, and biodegradable soap in suite dishwashers, and for participating in sustainability events or projects. An EcoRep was responsible for communicating information about the GLC on each floor, and for monitoring recycling bins on the floor.

Today, Wallach 4C's common area has a fresh coat of green paint on two walls and awaits its significant finishing touch on the third wall. That'll be a large mural, described by EcoRep and 4C resident Morgan Whitcomb as a huge tree whose roots hug every part of the Earth. Whitcomb, SEAS '09, says the mural's background will be painted with blackboard paint, where "messages, homework problems and just fun things" can be written.

"We have two artists in our suite to coordinate the mural, and hope everybody will help," Whitcomb says.

And that's not all. Whitcomb says a recent makeover shopping trip included purchases of kitchen and bathroom items to reinforce sustainability efforts – hooks for organic cotton hand towels, for example, and a surge protector, as well as a blow-up chair with iPod speakers, and a DVD player for the living area.

Second-place winner Wallach 6B received $150 for a mini-makeover. The top five winning suites received $30 in JJ's money; suites placing six through 15 received $15 in JJ's money.

Wallach fourth-floor RA Genevieve Chavez, CC '07, credits Whitcomb, the EcoRep responsible for the floor, for the enthusiasm resulting in 4C's win.

Whitcomb says the 11 4C residents were "primed," following weekly floor meetings where they discussed the GLC and asked each other what was up in terms of meeting GLC goals. Whitcomb says the suite has been eco-friendly in a number of ways that go beyond the GLC gold stars, including using cloth hand towels in the bathroom rather than paper ones.

Ariel Zucker, CC '09, has been the GLC's driving force, and hopes to repeat the challenge next year. For Zucker, GLC's biggest successes are twofold: a new cohesiveness within the EcoReps, and a greater knowledge among students of what they can do for the environment day-to-day.

Zucker says she's pleased that the GLC helped in "getting us together and doing something new as a group – kind of like us figuring out how we could work together and find our role in the University.

She also believes that the GLC "helped educate quite a few people in the LLC … we didn't reach everybody, but we reached a significant number."

The Eco-Reps Program was jointly developed by students in the Group for Environmental Opportunities and administrators from Housing & Dining to encourage green living in the residence halls. Nilda Mesa, director of Environmental Stewardship works closely with the EcoReps as well. The Office of Environmental Stewardship will soon provide them with a technical advisor. This semester Zucker and Hannah Lee, SEAS '09, are EcoRep co-captains.

(Photos: Morgan Whitcomb on the left and Minna Rehberger on the right)