Have you ever wondered how you could make a positive impact on the planet as a college student? Start a green club on campus! It’s simple, fun, and a great way to help the planet with some fellow classmates.
Don’t know where to start? We’ve got you covered!
5 Steps to Create a Green Club on Campus
The People
Identify at least four or five students who share a common passion for the environment. Ask if they want to create a club, and you’ve got your founding members already!
Need some examples of where to find students to create your club with?
- Find students in a shared club or class who you think would join.
- Put up flyers around your school about your club.
- Ask your roommate/s to ask their friends to join the club.
- Ask your RA to do an event for your residence hall where you can talk about it!
- GET CREATIVE!
The Focus
Decide what the main focus of your club should be. Local nature cleanup? Recycling? Do you want to be a broad club that covers all environmental topics or have a narrower niche like zero waste or water conservation?
- The pros of a broad club are that you can create projects around many different topics, which will most likely peak different club members’ interests! The cons of a broad club are that your club doesn’t necessarily have a specific theme or mission other than to help the planet (which is also completely acceptable!), so keep that in mind.
- The pros of a narrower niche club are that it has a specific mission which is easy for members to follow and get involved with! The cons of a narrower niche club are that there might not be much room to branch out with other project aspects, but there is so much to do with even just one specific topic!
The Projects
Plan out your first few campaigns and projects, so you have something to talk about at your initial meetings. Maybe you want to organize a secondhand furniture drive at the end of the semester, do a local river cleanup, or start lobbying your school to start a campus garden and compost.
The Process
Follow your school’s process for registering a club. You may need to assign board member titles, create a mission statement or constitution, or provide other documentation about your club. This is a simple process, but one that needs to be done right! Click here for a downloadable PDF of a club constitution and by-laws example from Ohlone College.
The Kickoff
Advertise your club’s first meeting and have a kickoff campaign to spread the word about your school’s newest green club and your first campus project.
Need some ideas?
- Create flyers to put up in high-trafficked areas of your campus.
- Send emails to fellow students, professors, staff, everyone!
- Create a social media post and send to everyone you know who’d be interested in joining your club!
- Make an announcement in your classes!
Bonus
Sign up for Project Green Challenge in teams of up to four to represent your club and make a huge impact this October! PGC is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Whether you are interested in a career in environmental work, this experience will open your eyes about sustainability and justice, and make you think in new ways about how to live and influence others to live more sustainably! That is why we are so excited about PGC every year, because it influences a new generation of young, vibrant students like you to change the world for the better.
Sign up for Project Green Challenge to change your life.
It’s that simple! Starting a Green Club on your campus could have lasting impacts for generations of students to come. Make sure to check out our campus resources page, where you can find many guides to help you go green on campus and beyond! THANK YOU for helping the planet, starting at your school today.
