There are 266 recognized student groups at the Institute. Of those 266, we found seven groups that have some environmental theme, while only 2 of those focus on the issue of sustainability. The seven we considered to have any environmental relevance are:
All of these groups participate in or organize activities focusing on sustainability, pollution management, issues of globalization or global welfare. Of these seven, however, only two focus of all of these issues. These are Students for Global Sustainability and Share A Vital Earth.
To find out more about student involvement, we decided to speak with members of the two focus groups we identified. The following is a dialog between a SAVE member (SM) and ourselves.
AP: What is your organization?
SM: SAVE (Share A Vital Earth) is the completely student-run environmental group at MIT.
AP: What is the mission of your organization?
SM: To raise environmental awareness and support ecological issues on campus.
AP: How active is your organization in environmental issues at campus?
SM: This depends what you mean. Really, this is the definition of SAVE, isn't it? If we're active at all, it's in environmental issues. Almost all these issues are campus-specific. We're not really active in political issues. I'm also often surprised by the frequency with which I meet people who've never heard of SAVE. On the other hand, a whole lot of people are on our email list. I think you can sort of take our visibility as one indicator of action. I guess I have to say we're not really super-active; we only have a few members who actually organize and do things. On the other hand, our active members work closely with the EPTF and in other fronts (in our living groups, with the Working Group Recycling Committee, in classes/seminars...); not all our activity is under the name of SAVE.
AP: What do you think about MIT's claim on Environmental Education? Do you feel that its living up to its claim? MIT's Claim: Environmental education is so pervasive at MIT it's almost easier to describe where it doesn't happen. Subject after subject, course after course, school after school, faculty and students are involved. And connected. Perhaps the best single word to describe MIT's approach is "interdisciplinary."
SM: Hm. I've actually heard some complaints that interdisciplinary organization is actually what MIT lacks in environmental issues. To tell the truth, I don't really think that environmental education plays much of a role in any courses except EAPS and Environmental Engineering.
AP: What would you recommend to the Institute to help further its goal of Environmental Education?
SM: Take it out of the classroom. "Environmental Education" doesn't need to mean advanced studies in ecology or environmental engineering for people who will make it their careers. It also means general everyday awareness of how to live sustainably. The best way I think we can do that is first for the administration and facilities to set an example (which they are doing very well already), and then to better publicize it (which isn't really happening so much). For instance, Copytech 1) uses recycled paper; 2) is trying to make people aware of it. Theoretically, if people realize that Copytech uses recycled paper, they'll better understand the importance of recycling and using renewable resources.
AP: Thank you for your time and input.
MIT student population is involved in a wide-range of activities. One way to look at student involvement in environmental issues is to analyze the amount of and activity level of student groups. The groups we found represent slightly over 1% of the total ASA-recognized groups at the Institute. As noted by a SAVE member, however, "I have to say [SAVE is] not really super-active; we only have a few members who actually organize and do things." This is indicative that the level of involvement of students in non-academic environmental issues.
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