[UA] Sustainability March Newsletter

Sun Mar 15 17:19:31 EDT 2015

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In This Issue

  *   MIT Climate Change Conversation Committee
  *   Looking Forward: Dorm Electricity Competition
  *   UA Sustainability Member Spotlight... Mikayla Murphy
MIT Climate Change Conversation Committee

"No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change," declared Obama, at his State of the Union address this past January. MIT announced a similar declaration with its launch of the MIT Climate Change Conversation Committee<http://climatechange.mit.edu/> (CCCC) last September, wanting to make climate change a priority. The Committee seeks to gather input from the MIT community on how the Institute can move global and national climate change agendas forward and how MIT can innovatively become a more sustainable campus. By the end of this school year, the Committee will produce a final report on the collective views of the community and key suggestions for how MIT can lead in confronting climate change.

The CCCC will be formulating the report based on suggestions from the Idea Bank<http://climatechange.mit.edu/ideabank>, a place where MIT affiliates can propose ideas. Your ideas don't have to be finalized or expressed formally to be submitted - go ahead, tell us what's on your mind! The CCCC is eager to hear from the community, especially students. So, this is your chance to be join the conversation and drive change at MIT that can impact even larger change at a national and global scale. Voice your biggest, craziest, most outside-the-box ideas! MIT wants to be different. MIT wants to be bold.

Be sure to participate in the upcoming event:
Getting Through on Global Warming: How to Rewire Climate Change Conversation<https://climatechange.mit.edu/blog/event-getting-through-global-warming-how-rewire-climate-change-communication>
Why do most of us recognize that climate change is real, yet few take action? Why do some not recognize it as real? By exploring the roadblocks to effective climate change communication, this diverse panel of faculty and media experts will unpack why our brains are wired to ignore a monumental threat to society.
Tuesday, March 31st | 4:00-5:30pm | E51-115
Facebook Event<https://www.facebook.com/events/745273862238620/>

Looking Forward: Dorm Electricity Competition

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The Dorm Electricity Competition, hosted by the UA Sustainability Committee, is happening this April! Each undergraduate dorm will compete to maximize its reduction in energy usage. The competition's kick-off event will be on April 2nd from 9-11 pm in Lobdell (Student Center) where we will have free food and sustainability pledges. There will also be a yoga event and a finale event, so stay posted!

UA Sustainability Committee Member Spotlight: Mikayla Murphy

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Which team within UA Sustainability are you part of?
I'm part of the Garden Team, which is responsible for planting and maintaining the new undergraduate community garden across from Next House.

What inspired you to get involved with UA Sustainability?
UA Sustainability plays in an important role in raising awareness about sustainable issues on campus. In a large community like MIT, small changes can make a huge difference (for example, implementing compostable utensils in campus cafes). I wanted to help make MIT a greener place and the UA Sustainability Committee seemed like a great way to do so!

What is the coolest project you’ve been involved in regarding sustainability?
We planted the UA undergraduate garden for the first time last semester, so that was a very cool sustainable addition to our campus! We're hoping to harvest for the first time this spring (undergraduates who want to get involved with the cooperative garden should contact ua-sustainability-garden at mit.edu).

What’s one sustainable practice you engage in, or one you want to make a habit of for Dorm Electricity Competition (DEC)?
I'm hoping to get my suite (in Burton-Conner) in the habit of turning off our kitchen and suite lounge lights during DEC. We frequently leave them on all night, even when no one is using the space, which is a horrible waste of electricity. DEC will be a great time to change habits!

Do you plan to work in a sustainable field?
I hope to work in a sustainable field, possibly within environmental engineering. Honestly, every field needs to consider sustainability in order to stay feasible in the long-term, as continued climate change will affect every aspect of life, so I'm certain there will be some aspect of sustainability in my future.

For more information or to provide feedback
Visit our website: sustain.scripts.mit.edu<http://sustain.scripts.mit.edu/>
Contact us at: ua-sustainability-exec at mit.edu
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mituasustainability

If you are doing research related to climate change, sustainability, or energy, or have something you'd like us to share in our next newsletter, please contact us! We would love to feature your event or research in our next issue.

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