Campus Climate Action Ambassadors

Slack Channel

The MIT Campus Climate Ambassadors Slack channel is a central hub for:

• Asking questions and getting quick answers
• Finding quick links to resources, guides, and checklists
• Sharing successes, ideas, and inspiration with the Ambassador community

Joining the Slack channel is optional, but it’s a great way to stay connected and access tools quickly.

Monthly Meetup

Connect with fellow Ambassadors, build community, and catch up on sustainability happenings over coffee and tea. Hosted by the MIT Office of Sustainability.

📍 Location: Building E38 (MIT Welcome Center), Suite 346 kitchen
🗓️ When: 3rd Wednesday of every month

Inspiration for performance reviews

This menu of sample individual goals is intended to inspire and guide Campus Climate Action Ambassadors as you integrate sustainability into your own role at MIT. Whether you're managing a lab, planning events, ordering supplies, conducting research, or teaching, there's a way to contribute.

Many of you are already taking action to reduce waste, conserve energy, streamline systems, and make sustainable choices in your workplace. The Ambassador program is here to help formalize those efforts, offer tools and recognition, and connect you with a broader network of colleagues working toward similar goals. The aim is to make sustainability a visible, supported, and valued part of everyday work. Your efforts help MIT conserve resources, improve efficiency, and operate responsibly.

The sample goals below are designed to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound), and you should adapt them to your own role, timeline, and local context.

The categories below follow a natural progression: begin by learning, share knowledge with others, and lead or support system-level change. 

Feel free to browse in order or jump to what’s most relevant to your work:

Learn
Communicate
Build Community
Teach
Lead
Improve Operations
Reduce Waste
Lab Practices

Learn

1. Attend at least two MIT sustainability or climate action events, workshops or trainings this semester and share key takeaways with my team.
2. Complete an online professional development course related to climate and sustainability by spring and apply a concept in our group’s work.
3. Meet with an MIT Office of Sustainability staff member to discuss opportunities for integrating climate action into my role and propose a new performance goal before my mid-year review.

Communicate

1. Add a campus climate action section to our department newsletter by the start of the fall semester, and maintain it through the academic year.
2. Host a 30-minute campus climate action info session during a staff meeting this semester and track attendance.
3. Publish a blog post or article on our group’s website by December, highlighting our sustainability efforts and goals.
4. Create and distribute a guide for bike commuting to our building/community by the end of the summer.
5. Create a climate and sustainability orientation slide or packet for new hires/students, and integrate it into onboarding by the start of fall semester.
6. Host a student group meeting or lunch & learn before the end of term to discuss how climate intersects with our field and DLC priorities. 

Build Community

1. Organize a “climate storytelling” session where colleagues can share personal or cultural connections to climate and community.
2. Lead a "Car-Free Challenge" in our department during Earth Month and report participation.
3. Plan a volunteer day with at least five colleagues at a local environmental nonprofit (e.g., Charles River cleanup, urban gardening project) by the end of the semester, and host a short reflection session.
4. Host a sustainability-themed team-building activity (e.g. reuse swap event, plant-based potluck, climate trivia) for at least 10 colleagues by the end of the year.

Teach

1. Add a sustainability module or case study to one of my courses by next semester.
2. Integrate a reflection about low-carbon practices into final projects or assignments for my current class this semester.
3. Incorporate MIT’s Sustainability DataPool (e.g., campus energy or water use data) into a course project or assignment by the next semester, encouraging students to analyze and interpret campus environmental data.
4. Collaborate with another department to co-host a panel or talk on interdisciplinary climate challenges by spring.
5. Mentor a student or colleague in applying sustainability to their project, role, or research by the end of the spring semester. Meet at least twice during the semester to provide guidance, share relevant resources, and help connect their work to the department or lab’s sustainability priorities.

Lead

1. Create and lead a monthly sustainability check-in during team meetings, starting next month, to track progress on group goals.
2. Establish a sustainability committee or team in our office or lab by November, and host regular meetings for the academic year.
3. Organize a climate or sustainability-focused IAP activity by January, such as a hands-on workshop, panel discussion, or skill-building session. Submit the event for inclusion in the MIT Events Calendar, promote it within my DLCI, and aim to engage at least 15 participants from across the MIT community.

Improve Operations

1. Reduce printing in our office by 50% over six months by transitioning to digital forms and shared document platforms; measure progress through print tracking data.
2. Complete the MIT Sustainable Events Checklist in preparation for our major annual event and make some adjustments to the plan in order to achieve a Gold certification.
3. Replace at least one frequently purchased single-use product in our lab with a reusable or sustainable alternative by the end of the fiscal year.
4. Evaluate opportunities to consolidate departmental supply purchasing and/or pursue shared purchasing with adjacent labs or departments to reduce duplication and improve tracking of sustainable procurement options.
5. Assist at least 5 colleagues in signing up for MIT’s carpooling or transit benefit programs by the end of October.

Reduce Waste

1. Register for MIT’s Rheaply marketplace for reuse and post or retrieve at least 5 reusable items for our department by the end of the semester.
2. Coordinate a monthly Rheaply reminder in team meetings to encourage my colleagues to post surplus supplies and equipment no longer being used; and to search Rheaply for surplus items prior to making new purchases.  
3. Lead an “office cleanout” reuse and recycling event by January, and divert at least 50 pounds of material from landfill.
4. By the end of the academic year, collaborate with MIT Facilities to implement a centralized waste and compost collection system in our DLCI, including identifying funding and clearly communicating the transition to our community.

Lab Practices

1. Increase “Shut the Sash” compliance to 75% by semester's end through sticker reminders, peer-to-peer education, and spot checks.
2. Create a spreadsheet to track lab consumables usage and identify one high-impact area to reduce waste by end of year.
3. Host a 15-minute lab meeting once per semester dedicated to sustainability updates and improvements.
4. Collaborate with EHS to complete a MIT Safe & Sustainable Labs Assessment and share results with our team before the next research cycle begins.
5. Identify one area of my lab’s research where sustainability principles can be embedded and document a plan by year-end.
    

MIT Campus Climate Action Workshop
This engaging and interactive workshop is led by the MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS), in collaboration with the EHS Safe and Sustainable Labs program and VPF Strategic Sourcing. Tailored for MIT employees in your DLCI, this workshop explores MIT’s climate commitments, including the ambitious Net-Zero 2026 goal and departmental initiatives supporting energy efficiency, sustainable practices, and climate resiliency. You will also have the chance to share your efforts, ideas, and challenges, and discover how you can contribute to reducing emissions and fostering a more sustainable campus

The email archive below contains still-relevant tips, tools, and inspiration for embedding sustainability into your everyday work!

This staff-focused initiative ran from 2023 to 2024 and aimed to support a more sustainable MIT by fostering collaboration and sharing best practices across departments. The program encouraged staff to take meaningful individual actions and work collectively toward reducing MIT’s climate impact.

Fast Forward: MIT's Climate Action Plan for the Decade encourages all departments, labs, and centers to prepare and implement their own carbon footprint reduction and sustainability plans. 

Many units are already taking meaningful action on climate and sustainability. For units at early stages in the planning process, this program offers guidance and a framework for identifying goals, strategies, and actions aligned with MIT’s commitments, and paths to achieving them. As we implement this program and assess how it is working, we expect to learn from each other and uncover new ideas. 

Planning Resources
Planning Framework: Six Steps to Creating a Local Plan
Template for Local Action Plan
Worksheet for Action
Template for Tracking Progress