Eco-ESU: A service learning project to improve sustainable behavior on a college campus

Eco-ESU is a service learning project developed by the public health faculty and students at East Stroudsburg University to improve staff and students' sustainable behaviors. The project serves to educate students on epidemiologic principles, social marketing strategies, research design, and policy development. Epidemiologic principles were used to generate regression formulas to forecast paper consumption across different academic departments on campus. Social marketing messages were developed to change perceived social norms as it related to plastic bottle, and paper recycling behaviors. Buildings on campus were classified into three different groups- 1) Buildings that received social marketing messaging and convenient recycling containers strategically placed near all exit doors; 2) Buildings that only had convenient recycling containers strategically placed near all exit doors; and 3) Buildings that had recycling containers. Pre-post data were collected on amounts of paper and plastic bottles discarded within the trash and recycling receptacles using a time series analysis design. Students presented the findings to the college administration with policy recommendations about how to improve recycling, and other sustainable behavior on campus.