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NORTON -- If you don't know what grey water is, you might not belong here.

This is the ECCO (Environmental Conscious Communitarian) House at Wheaton College, and the students who do live here not only know it, but also use it regularly to promote their lifestyle.

"(Environmental concern) is the basis of what we're trying to achieve, and we do that in a couple of ways," said Whitney Johnson, 20. "It's just something I've grown up with and want to pursue."

Johnson, from Vermont, is one of about 100 students who live in a campus theme house, group homes organized and maintained by students to build living-learning environments.

More than a theme, it's a way for students to live with others who support their choices and commitments. "One of the things Wheaton, and a lot of institutions, are interested in is learning communities, and students being able to connect the curricular with the co-curricular," said Claudia Bell, associate dean of student life. "They're really committed to it."

Grey water, to clarify, is recycled wash water. Johnson and her roommates use it for bathing every Sunday, on ECCO day.

They also don't use electricity on that one day, and electricity use is limited during the week. The roommates grow some of their own food, support organic and local farmers, and use compact fluorescent light bulbs in the house.

"It's more of a personal thing, but most of us participate," Johnson said. "We eat very little meat. (It's about) knowing where your food comes from."

ECCO might be one of the more involved theme houses, but plenty of the others generate as much student interest.

Among them are the House of the Living Arts, where students display their artwork in common areas; the Sex and Sexuality House, which emphasizes strengthening tolerance for sexual orientation and sexual education; and the The Learning Treehouse, a house created to foster support among male students of color on campus.

There are 10 theme houses this year, but that number really depends on the students.

They apply each year to start or maintain a special interest house, and are required to hold campus-wide programming and to maintain good academic and community standing.

They also recruit their own residents, often joining with friends, classmates and sending out e-mail invitations.

There are ideas turned down every year, according to Bell, and then there are houses that have been around for several years. "In this geographical area, I'd say (we're unique) because of the number of houses and themes that we have," she said. "It's our effort and certainly we've moved toward that goal."

Wheaton also offers students the chance to live on same-sex and sober floors (where students refrain from alcohol), as do most campuses.

Campuses across the country have, in recent years, embraced the idea of theme housing.

Dean College in Franklin opened an arts hall this fall, and Stonehill College in Easton offers wellness housing in one of its dorms.

Oneda Horne, 22 and a senior, is among the first Wheaton students to live in Renaissance House, which is for women of color.

"We wanted to create some sort of support system so we could prosper academically and socially," said Horne, who is from the Roxbury section of Boston. "The number (of African-American students) has gone up, but it's still a struggle. This is something I really value and appreciate."

The Renaissance House recently held an open house and a workshop focused on leadership and women of color. The residents also plan theme months, and want to collaborate with the men who live in The Learning Treehouse.

ECCO residents hold monthly potluck dinners, and recently took a trip to Crystal Spring Earth Learning Center in Plainville to learn about "living lightly on the land," Johnson said.

"We have some pretty established houses, but my sense is that they change as student interests change," Bell said. "That's relative (though). As we have more and more (houses), we count that as having a successful learning community."

REBECCA KEISTER can be reached at 508-236-0336 or at rkeister@thesunchronicle.com.