EcoHouse is the hub of student environmental activity on the UConn campus
and allows students passionate about environmental issues
to immerse themselves in sustainable living & learning!
Who lives in EcoHouse?
What's everyone doing at EcoHouse?
Where is EcoHouse located?
The Academic Connection
What is required of me if I live in EcoHouse?
How do I apply?
Get in touch with us!
Who Lives in EcoHouse?
EcoHouse is home to over one hundred students. Approximately half of the residents are first-year students and half are sophomores, juniors or seniors. You don't have to be an Environmental Science major to live in EcoHouse! Some of the majors represented this year include Communications, Psychology, Philosophy, Classics, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.
The EcoHouse Pancake Breakfast Team
Meet the EcoHouse Ambassadors!
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EcoHouse students have organized themselves into committees based on their interests, and each committee is actively working on projects relating to its charge.
Action Committee:
- Chalk It Up! EcoHousers spread across campus chalking environmental factoids and slogans on sidewalks
- Held a spring Clothing Swap ~ clothes not selected in the swap were donated to Haiti relief efforts
Activism Committee:
- Organized "Scoops for Change" in conjunction with the December Global Day of Action to draw attention to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen
- Designing display for the Earth Day Spring Fling
Fundraising Committee:
- Hosted an EcoHouse Pancake Breakfast from 10pm-12am around final exam time as a study break
- Organizing a fifty-fifty raffle for Earth Day
Outings Committee:
- Organized several outings including an apple/pumpkin picking trip, ice-skating trip, Bonfire night, an end of year cook-out & rafting trip
EcoHouse Mural Team:
- Students designed and are painting a beautiful mural in the EcoHouse lobby
Facilities Committee:
- Works directly with Residential Life to plan "greening" projects related to the EcoHouse residence hall building. Current projects include:
- removing bulbs from lighting fixtures in lounges and study areas;
- converting an office space into a bike room;
- applying for a solar-thermal grant;
- testing new low-flow & temperature control showerheads; and
- expanding composting in the building to include an outdoor compost bin.
Below is a sampling of events & activities students did together this year:
Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip
Be Heard! Coffeehouse
Seminar & Workshop with Mike Fraidenburg (author of Intelligent Courage: Careers in Natural Resources)
Climate & Clean Energy Policy webinar
Teale Lecture followed by "Local Routes" Dinner with John Elder in EcoHouse
350.org Day of Action Campus March
Residence Hall Waste Audits
Local Routes Dinner & Lecture with Debra Rowe
Apple & Pumpkin Picking Trip
Connecticut Environmental Action Day - conducted workshops for High School students
Bonfire Night
BBQ at Professor Westa's House
White Water Rafting Trip
Gample Green Game Day
Consulting Residential Life on Purchasing Products for Campus (washing machines)
Regular Meals Together
and more ...
EcoHouse volunteers on the Jumbotron at Green Game Day!
Where is EcoHouse located?
Currently, EcoHouse resides in West Campus: Hollister Hall, near the center of campus.
Before the start of the 2012-13 academic year, EcoHouse is planning a move to
East Campus: Sprague Hall.
EcoHouse will then be located adjacent to a local routes/vegetarian option dining hall on campus,
as well as many of the agricultural and environmental classroom buildings that residents may frequent.
Sprague Hall Location:
As a Living & Learning Community, EcoHouse includes an academic component, guided by the EcoHouse Faculty Director, Mark Westa, a faculty member in the Landscape Architecture program at UConn.
Course Cluster for Incoming First Year Students:
- INTD 1810, LLC: EcoHouse; 1-credit; meets Fall and Spring semesters
- INTD 1998,
LLC: EcoHouse; 1-credit; enrollment for Fall and Spring semesters
- This course does not meet. Students receive 1 credit for completing 40 hours of environmentally related service or experiential learning. Examples of how students earn their hours:
- Volunteering at Rentschler Field's first "Green Game Day"
- Attending dinners hosted in EcoHouse for prominent campus guests
- Participating in a Labor Day weekend camping trip
- Participating in the 350.org campus rally
- This course does not meet. Students receive 1 credit for completing 40 hours of environmentally related service or experiential learning. Examples of how students earn their hours:
- ENGL 1010, Seminar in Academic Writing with an Environmental Theme; 4-credit General Education course; meets Fall semester (**If you received credit for ENGL 1010 in High School or are transferring this credit from another institution, please email livelearn@uconn.edu to let us know)
Course Cluster for Returning Students:
- EPSY 3098, LLC: EcoHouse; 1-credit; meets Fall and Spring semesters
- INTD 1998,
LLC: EcoHouse; 1-credit; enrollment in Fall and Spring semesters
- Please see description under "INTD 1998", listed above
What is required of me if I live in EcoHouse?
All EcoHouse residents are required to take the two INTD courses described above, unless you can demonstrate an unavoidable course conflict.
Please contact Mark Westa (mark.westa@uconn.edu) if you would like to participate in EcoHouse but have conflicts around participating in the coursework.
How do I apply to live in EcoHouse?
EcoHouse questions can be directed to:
Mark Westa (EcoHouse Faculty Director)
(860) 486-6069 or mark.westa@uconn.edu
EcoHouse on FB:
