Home › Groups › Greening MIT ›

Get Involved

You help to shape the campus culture. Your example can support and inspire others who want to make the campus more sustainable. Together, we can make our campus a beacon for universities and organizations across the world. Take the lead!

Take the lead — Bring sustainability into your teaching and research

Consider changing your research agenda! As a professor at MIT, we are privileged to be able to choose the research problems we work on. Within the confines of your discipline, you might find it worthwhile to think about what you can contribute to the problems of sustainability and climate change. We are faced with broad scientific, technical and human problems -- it will take all of us to address them.

If you teach, TA, or assist a course: incorporate sustainability into the curriculum, and encourage campus sustainability as a focus for student projects. Many successful campus sustainability projects have grown out of class project work or independent studies.

Take the lead — Convene a meeting with your colleagues to discuss sustainability

Get together with your colleagues and friends at MIT and figure out what you can do together to help create a sustainable campus.

  • Talk about purchasing policies within your working group (buy green, buy less)
  • Brainstorm a list of Facilities issues and delegate someone to submit work orders online
  • Where are your recycling bins? In the right locations, they will encourage recycling.
  • Establish a policy about turning off lights in common areas.
  • Could you order better food for events, with less waste and more sustainable food sourcing?

Invite a member of MIT's sustainability community to provide an interactive and informative presention to your department, lab, or center on Greening Your Place at MIT: contact be-green@mit.edu.

If you run into bigger issues that can't be covered in your group and need attention by senior administrators, communicate them to the MITEI Campus Energy Task Force, via slanou@mit.edu.

If you want further information on available resources or volunteers to help turn sustainability ideas into campus initiatives, contact one of the existing student initiatives, or send a message to be-green@mit.edu and we will connect you with the right people.

Take the lead — Audit your department's GHG footprint

Do you know your department's carbon emissions? Use the GreenSAP Department GHG toolkit to calculate an initial estimate of emissions from building occupancy, travel, waste, recycling and commuting. Contact audit-toolkit@mit.edu for more details.

Take the lead — Download a Sustainability Tool Kit to help you green your place

Find useful tips, strategies, and tools to begin "greening" your office, lab, or dorm. The EHS Office has recently posted a Sustainability Tool Kit to help you get on your way.

Help others — Become a Green Ambassador

Join a network of like-minded change agents. Contact green-ambassadors@mit.edu  to learn more.

Beyond campus...

Get politically active! The sooner we have strong "signals" -- from the market place and from government -- that so called "externalities" -- carbon output, waste, water use -- are not "free", the faster we will fix them. Tell your friends: write to your congress people: organize. We are leaders in our communities. We have a responsibility to act.

 

Or join one of these existing initiatives

For students

General interest

Campus-based groups

Project-based groups

Classes

Energy-related classes

Environment-related classes

For everyone:

Working Group on Recycling

Research initiatives

MIT Energy Initiative

MIT Environmental Research Council

Download the Sustainability Tool Kit to help you green your place

Find useful tips, strategies, and tools to begin "greening" your office, lab, or dorm. The EHS Office has recently posted a Sustainability Tool Kit to help you get on your way.

Read more

 

Groups: