Our Vision:
Be a leading force in sustainability, spread environmental awareness, and inspire community action.
- ✓ foster green habits
- ✓ drive policy reform
- ✓ provide resources
- ✓ build connections between environmental and global issues
Are you passionate about sustainability? Do you want to collaborate with people like you to make MIT a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable campus?
As a member of UA Sustainability, you will:
- Work with faculty and administration to introduce and improve sustainable programs on campus
- Engage undergrads in sustainable actions through planning and organizing events
- Be a part of a community of individuals passionate about the environment
- And make a difference!
Application Process
We are currently accepting applications for the Fall semester! Apply here by Saturday, September 16 at 11:59pm to be considered.
Waste Reduction seeks to reduce waste in the MIT community by educating our peers about composting and recycling, and spreading more sustainable habits regarding waste. Specifically, we work to facilitate composting within MIT living groups and the community at large, as well as publicize reusable options, and raise awareness about proper sorting of compost and recycling. We envision an MIT community with a heightened consciousness about mindful consumption of resources, in addition to practical know-how and support of composting and recycling programs.
Our ongoing projects include:
- Implementing composting programs in more living groups (including FSILGs)
- Managing is-this-recyclable@mit.edu, an email list for recycling and general waste sorting questions
- Developing ‘Waste-Conscious Guidelines’ for MIT events, with advice on how to organize and run more eco-friendly and less wasteful events
Launched in summer 2013, this committee was formerly the Composting Committee, which helped to implement food waste collection in the dining halls, Stata, the student centers, some non-dining hall dorms, and throughout the infinite. They also have vermicompost that helps fertilize the Undergraduate Garden.
We are grateful for the continued support of MIT Facilities, and will support their efforts in any way we can.
Special Projects takes on the programs UA Sustain is interested in pursuing as full-time committee projects, and pilots ideas for improving sustainability on campus. Members of Special Projects have the opportunity to do research on sustainable behavior in the MIT community and interact with MIT admins. This requires sustained communication with a diverse array of individuals across campus, and a broad knowledge of how the MIT community understands sustainability.
The Garden committee is dedicated to improving access to locally sourced, organic food at MIT. We created and continue to maintain the undergraduate community garden, where members of the MIT community can come and exercise their green thumbs to grow their own food.
From its foundation in 2013 by Holly Josephs, ’17, the garden has been transformed from a piece of parking lot into a thriving, productive community garden. We hope to reach out to the community so that everyone can have a chance to try gardening. Come visit us across the street from Next and Westgate!
The Outreach committee is dedicated to facilitating involvement in volunteer work that has some aspect of sustainability around the Boston and Cambridge area. We are planning on organizing events where the entire MIT community can volunteer and learn more about sustainable practices. These events may include river and beach clean ups, distributing leftover dining hall food to those who do not have food otherwise, and being involved as wastewatchers at large events on the MIT campus.
Show
The Trashion Show is an annual fashion show that challenges student designers from MIT and other Boston-area universities to create fashion pieces from trash and recycled materials in order to raise awareness for sustainable practices on campus, as well as in the global fashion industry.
We invite guest lecturers from industry, nonprofits, and academia to discuss how they integrate sustainability into their work. We promote sustainable organizations by providing sustainable catering and raffling prizes by green companies. Most importantly, we entertain a diverse audience with creative perspectives on sustainability.
See pictures from our past Trashion Shows!
Competition
The Dorm Electricity Competition (DEC) engages dorms in friendly competition to reduce their energy consumption. Founded in 2006 by Tim Grejtak ‘11, this project aims to increase awareness of the importance of saving energy while developing strong energy-saving habits among students.
After a three-year hiatus, we kicked off the competition in spring of 2013 with a Chipotle study break. The undergraduate dorms saved over 29,500 kWh over the month of April! DEC 2015 featured 4 eco-friendly study breaks, raffle prizes from sustainable stores, and 1 free 24-hour Hubway pass to every member of the winning dorm! DEC 2016 included 4 public displays around campus and almost $4000 worth of prize money for living groups and raffles for individuals!
Check out our Facebook page and our website (dec.mit.edu) for graphs of dorm electricity usage, pictures, and more information.
Piloted in 2013 in Maseeh, Burton-Conner, and Next House, this project strives to reduce MIT’s impact on the landfill as well as discourage students from purchasing brand new dorm accessories when they could be reusing old ones.
Trash2Treasure is an annual program that takes one student's trash and turns it into another student's treasure. At the end of second semester, many students throw out room accessories, clothes and shoes that they no longer have use for. If left alone, all these items just land in the trash. Trash2Treasure intervenes at this point and collects all the items that are still useable and stores them to sell at the beginning of the next year. We redirect the flow of pounds of trash and turn them into useful posessions for other people.
Recycling, Compost, and Trash @ MIT
It can be difficult to tell if what you're about to throw away is actually recyclable or compostable at MIT. Fear not! Check out our chart for Recycling, Composting and Trash at MIT!
You may also find this page put together by the MIT Department of Facilities to be a useful resource.
Buy Compostable Foodware
Throwing an event with food? Order compostable foodware through us at a discounted rate by filling out this form.
Sustainability as a Lifestyle
Want to learn more about how to lead a sustainable lifestyle? Check out our sustainable tips for how to have an impact this winter.
Thinking about which restaurant to order food from? See our Sustainable Restaurant List for a list of some restaurants that use compostable materials and/or serve sustainable food!
Other Resources
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Paper, Plastic and More! ReuseThisBag.com
In Spring 2016, UA Sustainability conducted a survey, aiming to understand MIT undergraduates’ approach to sustainability with data driven analysis. View the report here.
We are a group of dedicated undergraduates who are passionate
about making MIT a more sustainable place!
We welcome feedback on how we can make MIT a greener space and further engage the student body to develop sustainable habits. You can reach us at ua-sustainability-chairs@mit.edu