Student-led initiatives embody the mission of Earth Day, every day

Student-led initiatives embody the mission of Earth Day, every day

In commemoration of Earth Day, MITOS is highlighting some of the student-led organizations that spearhead environmentally friendly initiatives and research across campus every day of the year.

Earth Day is a global tradition where over one billion people across 192 countries celebrate the Earth and spread awareness about climate change and the environment. In commemoration of this day, MITOS is highlighting some of the student-led organizations that spearhead environmentally friendly initiatives and research across campus every day of the year. 

Waste Watchers 
Waste Watchers is a student-led initiative under MIT’s Recycling and Materials Management Office whose goal is to decrease waste stream contamination and provide information to the MIT community on how to better sort waste. Waste Watchers also partners with other groups and programs across campus to promote their goals of a clean/zero waste MIT. Data collected by the group shows that with Waste Watchers guidance at events, MIT was able to greatly reduce the contamination of recycling, trash, and compost at those events. Waste Watchers, along with the Student Sustainability Coalition and UA Sustain, also supports the reusable utensil pilot which began this past year as a way to provide on-campus students with the opportunity to get a free set of reusable utensils. This initiative is invaluable as it may inform future dining decisions about how MIT uses reusable utensils in the future.  

Undergraduate Association Sustainability Committee
UA Sustain is a group of about 60 MIT undergraduates working towards making MIT’s campus ‘greener’ and more sustainable. They lead numerous initiatives each year ranging from conducting surveys to understand student behavior to organizing events and working with leadership. One of their flagship events is the Trashion (Trash + Fashion show) where designers from Boston area universities make clothing out of items that would otherwise end up in the trash—such as gum wrappers, water bottles, and cereal boxes. UA Sustain is currently planning on expanding on their previously successful thrift pop-ups stores with the goal of eventually establishing a permanent thrift store on campus, thereby providing lower-cost goods on campus while fostering sustainable activity and engagement in the MIT community.

Graduate Student Council Sustainability Subcommittee 
GSC Sustain is another essential on-campus organization focused on sustainability, specifically in the graduate student community. GSC’s signature program is the Sustainability Project-a-thon where graduate students brainstorm new sustainability initiatives for MIT, some of which are then funded by GSC. In the past, they’ve run social hours where students can drop in to discuss sustainability goals in small groups and the members of GSC Sustain have continued to offer input and facilitate discussions around priorities for MIT’s Climate Action Plan.

MIT Water Club
The MIT Water Club starts conversations around the essential resource that is water and explores how innovations in technology and policy can solve some of our world's most pressing challenges around water. The MIT Water Club also hosts the Water Summit and Water Innovation Prize, and has started new initiatives including Policy Workshops and monthly MIT-Oxford discussions to build a network and foster collaboration across students, industry experts, entrepreneurs, and policymakers all with the hope of making meaningful impact to the water sector and to build a sustainable future. Their annual Water Night is slated for Thursday, April 22 and will be an interactive event featuring stories and works from artists who keep environmental conservation at the center of their work. 

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