July 2, 2008
Student orientation makes big changes to go green
Half a ton of paper is being saved this year as New Student Orientation goes green.
Up to 100 pieces of paper used to be handed to each incoming freshman during orientation sessions.
Students still get all the information they need. But now they get it in a form that saves trees, preserves energy, doesn’t end up in the wastebasket—and is inspiring students to applaud.
When new students at orientation hear how much paper the event is saving, “they always clap,” says Tiffany Sanchez, director of New Student Programs.
Around 1,300 members of the Class of 2012 are registered to attend one of the orientation sessions held over the summer to introduce them to life at AU. The sessions typically draw up to 80 percent of the freshman class, Sanchez says.
It used to take eight full bins to hold all the paper that had to be passed out to those students and their parents. This year, they get digital CDs with the information that used to be on flyers and brochures. They can print what they need, but most of it either doesn’t apply to every single student or is just informative and doesn’t need to be printed, Sanchez says.
A year in the planning, the green orientation saves more than paper. The staff of New Student Programs looked at all of the office’s practices, from the largest to the smallest, and asked if there were ways to do them in a more eco-friendly way.
Here are a few of the smaller things that add up to a green orientation:
- plastic name tags. They’re being recycled afterwards by students and parents. There’s even an incentive to drop them in the recycling box, since name tags are pulled from the box for lottery prizes.
- paint brushes. It’s a tradition for students to paint a welcome banner-like backdrop during the orientation, but this time, instead of using disposable sponges, they’re painting with brushes and cleaning them afterwards.
- souvenir T-shirts. They’re made of organic cotton.
- cups. They’re corn based and biodegradable. “That’s how detailed we’re getting,” says Sanchez.
The students get the green message even before they come to campus. In the past, a glossy brochure mailed to their homes told them all about orientation and encouraged them to come. But was it needed?
“Probably what happened is they got the information they needed, registered on line, and put it straight into the trash can,” Sanchez says. “This year, we thought, ‘How can we reuse that piece of mailing so they can get more out of it?’”
Now they’re mailed a reusable folder printed with information on everything from class registration to Freshman Service Experience. They’re asked to bring it to orientation, and they do.
The Class of ’12, it seems, is not only green. It’s also well organized. When Sanchez greets the students at the amphitheater, she asks them to raise their folders if they brought them. A sea of recycled folders waves in the air. “The last time, it was easily 90 percent,” Sanchez says.
They’re ready for their future, at AU and in the world.
