St. Mary’s College of Maryland is taking some nontraditional approaches to bolster a commitment to creating an environmentally friendly campus.

Before classes started this fall, the college hired an industrial psychologist to conduct “behavior modification training” that instructed resident assistants in student halls on how to motivate their peers to use less water and electricity.

More recently, administrators have placed 25 bicycles throughout campus as free loaners to encourage students not to drive on the mile-long enclave in St. Mary’s City.

“Intent is the key thing in this project” of reducing the college’s impact on the environment, said President Jane Margaret O’Brien. “As we learn what’s significant and what’s not, we’ll adapt our strategies.”

Administrators have high hopes that the behavior-modification training in particular will significantly reduce energy use.

The loaner bikes are not expected to have an easily quantifiable benefit, but college officials said the program would encourage students to think about how their actions affect energy use and pollution.

The bikes, which were reconditioned after being abandoned or donated to a local church, are left unlocked around the campus and marked with flags on tall staffs. College officials hope to increase the fleet to 200 bikes.

Drew Solyst and Emily Richards use free bikes on the St. Mary's College of Maryland campus, passing Dan Pindell. The reconditioned bikes are left unlocked around campus and marked with colorful flags.

“We decided two years ago in revising our mission statement that there needed to be a more holistic approach to environmentalism on campus,” said Chip Jackson, the associate vice president of facilities, who is known around campus for keeping his kayak tied to the back of his car.

As part of such a holistic approach, Scott Finlinson, the psychologist who conducted the training sessions, focused on teaching students to adopt three behaviors: turning off computers, taking shorter showers and turning off fans and air conditioning. Resident assistants were instructed to model the behavior for their residents, then to persuade and remind them of their environmental responsibilities.

“I do get some people rolling their eyes,” said Kaitlan Gruber, a resident assistant. “Some people ignore the posters, but I get pretty good results when I talk to people individually. I’ve noticed several people taking shorter showers.”

The assistants and members of the campus environmental club took charge of putting up posters and waterproof shower hangers that encourage students to “Strive for less than five. Do the shower jive!” Although surveys show that female students are more environmentally conscious, asking them to take five-minute showers is a harder sell, participants said.

“Women say they can’t wash their hair and shave their legs in five minutes, but they’re trying,” said Elizabeth Clune, an area coordinator for the residential life office.

The college also has taken several more-typical approaches to environmental preservation. Most bathrooms now have low-flow toilets and water-saving shower heads, while dorm rooms have energy-efficient lights and programmable thermostats. A solar array sits atop the college library to generate supplemental electricity.

The most ambitious environmental project at St. Mary’s is a building being constructed almost entirely from recyclable materials. The academic building, Goodpaster Hall, which will house the chemistry, education and psychology departments, will be one of two “green buildings” commissioned by the state of Maryland.