EASTON, Pa.(www.lafayette.edu), September 27, 2007 — On the third floor of Keefe Hall, students don’t just live together. They practice an environmentally friendly style of living together.
The True Environmental Experience, or TREEhouse, floor strives to establish a low-impact, environmentally-conscious culture. The floor is a paradigm of recycling, efficiency, and conservation employing human ingenuity to develop a virtually waste-less community. It is a pilot for new campus-wide environmental and energy policy.
The TREEhouse was founded by a former president of Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP), Michael Werner '07. Because of its origin, the floor has always been correlated with LEAP. Most, but not all of the residents are members of LEAP. However, all residents are environmentally conscientious.
Once a month, TREEhouse students organize and participate in programs that promote environmental awareness on our campus. Last year, these events included but were not limited to a BBQ supplied with organic-only food, mini-lectures by students on current environmental issues, and helping LEAP with their compact fluorescent light bulb exchange.
The floor benefits a wide range of students, including those interested in environmental science, environmental policy, law, politics, sustainable-development, campus activism, the environmental movement, social justice, or simply the outdoors.
It serves as a model for cost-saving techniques, diversifies the school’s array of living options, promotes social and environmental causes, attracts progressive-minded students, provides a safe academic environment, and generates a new breed of campus leaders.
The students who live on the floor are Alyssa Batula ’09 (Cleona, Pa.), an electrical & computer engineering major; Daniella Colon ’10 (Bronx, N.Y.), who is pursuing a B.S. in civil engineering and an A.B. international studies and engineering; Elina Druker ’10 (Harrisburg, Pa.), a neuroscience major; Rosemary Frias ’08 (New York, N.Y.), an economics and business major; Soumyajeet Ghosh ’10 (Calcutta, India), an economics and business major; Daniel Goldberg ’09 (Avon, Conn.), a chemical engineering major; Jennifer Grab ’10 (Thornhurst, Pa.), a biology major; Kristen Greaney ’10 (Upper Black Eddy, Pa.), Elizabeth Knapp ’10 (Tappan, N.Y.), a chemical engineering major; Jonathan Liggett ’09 (Reading, Pa.), a mechanical engineering major; Nathaniel H. Newman ’09 (Fairmont, W.Va.), a biochemistry major; Matthew Pagano ’09 (Branchburg, N.J.), a psychology major; Caroline Richardson ’10 (Monmouth Junction, N.J.), a biochemistry major; Nicole Shames ’10 (Hood River, Ore.), a computer science major; Kerry Taylor ’10 (Waldwick, N.J.); Jennifer Tillman ’10 (Kensington, Md.), a biology major; William Towne ’09 (Litchfield, N.H.), an electrical & computer engineering major; and Alexandra Vrancik ’10 (Cinnaminson, N.J.).
Pagano and Towne serve as co-presidents of the TREEhouse floor. In fact, about half of the 18 residents fill some type of officer position.
The TREEhouse floor is advised by Andrew Kortyna, assistant professor of physics.
Goldberg, who also serves as the president of LEAP, says, “I like living on the TREEhouse floor because it's easy to connect with the residents. We all have the same ideals and therefore it’s an environment based on cooperation.”
He finds the TREEhouse floor to be encouraging. “It is inspiring to see students other than myself trying to live in a more sustainable way, like minimizing paper towel usage and recycling bottles, cans, paper, etc. It gives me reason to believe that one day we can live with a lower impact on the surrounding environment.”
Membership to the TREEhouse floor is open to any Lafayette student possessing a sincere environmental ethic, a genuine concern for Lafayette College’s role as an environmental steward, or an ambition to become more involved in the environmental movement. Students should be interested in learning about the environment and conservation.
