GreECO Reps bring sustainability initiatives to Greek houses

Thirteen of the fourteen Greek life houses on campus have signed up to be part of the GreECO Reps collaborative. Ellen Osborn, a junior, created the GreECO Reps as a spin-off of the Tufts Eco-Reps that are currently present in Tufts housing.

Osborn explained that she launched the GreECO Reps last semester as a branch of the Eco-Reps, which operate through the Office of Sustainability.

"I formulated the structure over the summer, and we were able to hit the ground running in the fall, getting over 30 applications from nearly every Greek organization on campus," Osborn said. "Now we have participation from thirteen of our fourteen large-housed campus chapters."

Students living in Greek housing have a large effect on campus resources, but according to Osborn, existing campus sustainability efforts often exclude them.

"Students in Greek life are active, involved and want to make a difference -- our goal is to give them an outlet to get involved in environmental issues on campus," Osborn explained.

Austin Brush, a sophomore, said that the GreECO Reps program increases accountability in Greek houses and encourages them to pursue better sustainability practices. For example, in his fraternity, Pi Delta (formerly Alpha Epsilon Pi), Brush works to "create awareness on how we’re doing as a fraternity and relay that information to the rest of the organization to see how we can improve," he said.

The organization is in the process of setting up metrics to measure their improvements. For example, Tufts does not release utility bills, so the organization is working to secure energy audits for the Greek houses that Tufts does not own, Osborn said.

Both Brush and Osborn explained that metrics including energy savings from the house audits, hours dedicated to environmentally-minded service projects, increases in recycling and compost infrastructure and social media outreach will be used to assess each house's improvements in sustainability.

To complete these initiatives, the GreECO Reps are in the process of matching their goals with those of groups such as Balance Your Life and the Student Garden in order to encourage more students in Greek life to get involved. The representatives are also working closely with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Greek councils, the Office of Sustainability and other local service organizations, Osborn added.

According to Osborn, they are also collaborating with the Office of Sustainability's Eco-Reps "to plan community service organizations, educational events and sponsorships."

Brush explained how each Greek organization elects a representative to liaise with the other representatives within Greek life. Osborn added that GreECO Reps also work to make improvements within their own houses.

"Each of the Reps also has goals within their chapter, curated to their individual needs, that they consistently work on," Osborn explained.

Osborn noted that the GreECO Reps program is only the most recent effort that Greek life has taken to become more sustainable.

"People would be surprised how open and enthusiastic Greek life has been to expanding sustainability efforts," she said. "The missions of many chapters are to create well-rounded citizens of the world through social empowerment, and this extends naturally to creating citizens of the planet. I haven't been able to keep up with all the amazing goals and ideas that have emerged through the program, so I can't wait to see what they come up with for the rest of the semester and going into next year."