UA Sustainability

 
 
 

Hello from UA Sustain!

We are a group of around 30 undergraduates working to make MIT more sustainable. We cover areas of institutional, personal, and external sustainability. We are organized into working groups that tackle projects in specific areas, with support from an executive team that also works on long-term goals for the committee.

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

current PRojects

Garden

  • Contact: ua-sustainability-garden@mit.edu

  • The UA Garden working group aims to foster a gardening community on campus, to create more engaging garden spaces, and to provide more resources to people about gardening. Some of our current projects include:

    • Improving the hive garden and creating a pollinator highway. In Fall 2022, we hosted a Hive workshop and invited an experienced horticulturalist to educate members about pollinator plants. We also partnered with the Hobby Shop to create signage for the garden.

    • Cleaning and replanting the garden by Next House and Tang Hall with flowers and vegetables. We hosted a community cleanup to engage the MIT community and increase awareness of the garden. 

    • Working on hosting a terrarium study break to make the community more excited about gardening and bring awareness to what we do!

Reuse

  • Reuse primarily aims to reduce waste by promoting and practicing reuse within the student body. In a typical year, we organize and run the annual Trash2Treasure event, where items that students no longer want are collected, stored, and sold at low-to-no cost to the MIT community. This event allows students to empty out their closets and shelves at the end of each semester without throwing them all in a dumpster. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for students to grab items they forgot to bring back at the beginning of the semester at a low cost. 

    The Trash2Treasure event decreases the waste produced at MIT, immerses students in a reuse ecosystem, and makes move-out and move-in more affordable and less stressful!

  • Fun Fact: Made revenue of almost $5,000 in a one-day sale (2019)!

2022-2023 and Beyond: A Renewed Focus on Policy

Aligned with this year’s UA goal of focusing more on policy changes and involvement, the UA Committee on Sustainability would like to share our specific policy-driven goals for this upcoming year.

  • Involve the broader undergraduate community in current environmental and climate policy

  • Act as a robust resource for undergraduates to launch sustainability projects and initiatives

  • Encourage MIT students to lead a sustainable lifestyle now and in the future

  • Connect the MIT community to a broader external sustainability network (broader than MIT community)

Join Us

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

  • Make a difference!

Keep an eye out for an application form in dormspam in the fall. To stay in the loop, contact ua-sustainability-chairs@mit.edu

Contact Us

Feel free to reach out to us if you have sustainability project ideas, want to get involved, or think we can partner with your group on a green initiative.

To contact co-chairs: ua-sustainability-chairs@mit.edu

To contact all of exec: ua-sustainability-exec@mit.edu

To contact all project leads: ua-sustainability-leads@mit.edu

Previous Subcommittees & Initiatives

Survey

  • Contact: ua-sustainability-survey@mit.edu

  • The survey working group is focused on two projects: creating a detailed analysis of the fall undergraduate sustainability survey and hosting 2 discussion-based focus groups. The report will come out in early May examining the fall responses through breakdowns of class year, major, and sustainability group involvement. The focus groups will take place the week of April 5th and invites undergraduates and graduates to provide input on a range of topics, from MIT investments, to on-campus sustainability, to climate in the classroom.

Publicity

  • Contact: ua-sustainability-chairs@mit.edu

  • The Publicity Team is responsible for sharing UA Sustain events across the MIT campus. Recently, we have been improving the UA website and posting on the SSC Instagram (@mitsustainability) to regularly update the MIT community about our initiatives. This semester, we have been working with our subcommittees to create cohesive and aesthetic graphics/posters for various events, such as the Thrift Pop-ups held this semester. We also work to provide merchandise for our members, including stickers and jackets!

Divest

  • Contact: ua-sustainability-chairs@mit.edu 

  • UA Sustain is helping to coordinate, organize, and spread awareness for a UA Council consensus decision on Divestment. If passed, this would mean near-universal support from the undergraduate population of MIT divesting from the fossil fuel industry.

Trashion

  • Trashion spreads awareness of textile waste by recruiting designers from MIT and other Boston-area schools to make clothing out of items that otherwise would end up in the trash, such as gum wrappers, water bottles, and cereal boxes. All of these designs are put on display in the annual Trashion Show, where they are judged based on several categories. Trashion is currently being run by MIT Infinite.

  • Fun Fact: Watch the show highlights from MIT News! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSRMtLfWYs8

Launch

  • Proposed the conversion of two safety motorboats, commonly referred to as launches, to Pure Watercraft (PWC) electric motors as a pilot program between MIT Crew, UA Sustainability, MIT Office of Sustainability, and DAPER. These factors would make MIT a leader in sustainable boating on the Charles River while providing numerous benefits for coaches, athletes, and all other river users.

  • Fun Fact: Electric motors provide multiple benefits over traditional gas motors, including zero emissions, noise reduction, and better performance both on and off the water.

Zero Waste

  • Interfaces with the Office of Recycling and Materials Management; informs MIT policy on waste by being involved with waste contract negotiation

  • Fun Fact: Piloted green box program!

Special Projects

  • Embarks on multi-year projects that are more conceptual/policy driven; examples include a student-run thrift store and the Launch Project

  • Fun Fact: Runs the MIT Hive Greenspace! https://sustainability.mit.edu/hive-garden

Outreach

  • Engages the MIT and Cambridge community with the sustainability movement through events; Red Sox cleanups, documentary screenings, Charles River cleanup, teaching at local schools

  • Fun Fact: participated in an extremely successful Menstrual Madness movement Spring 2020 (teamed with WGS, Pleasure, Vagina Monologues to educate about reusable menstrual products and sell heavily subsidized Diva Cups!