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Environmental Activism and HEAG

Overview

Note: This era-specific stub has been superseded by Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action at Hamilton, the canonical page covering the full 1972–2022 arc including all HEAG history and institutional sustainability. The Key Points below remain for reference.

The Hamilton Environmental Action Group (HEAG) was Hamilton College’s primary student environmental organization during the 1996–2003 period. HEAG pursued a range of campus and regional environmental initiatives including recycling programs, campus waste audits, composting advocacy, Earth Day events, and political lobbying in Albany. The group’s activities are well-documented in the Spectator, particularly during the 1996–1998 period when student Jeff Evans ‘99 was a prominent leader.

Key Points

Earth Day 1996 activities: HEAG celebrated Earth Day in April 1996 through two events: sending three students (Maria Gara ‘98, Chris Snow ‘98, and Jeff Evans ‘99) to EarthFest ‘96 at Mohawk Valley Community College, where they coordinated petitions and fundraising, and sending five students to Albany to lobby state legislators for five environmental bills. The lobbying agenda included petition for a Maine Woods National Park, opposition to Governor Pataki’s logging of the Allegheny State Forest, a Pepsi boycott over investments in Burma, expansion of the Superfund program, and a composting bill. HEAG also collected over 800 signatures from Hamilton students and staff requesting the elimination of fluorescent paper on campus. Bill Pfitsch, Professor of Environmental Studies, is quoted: “Everyday is Earth Day.” (The Spectator, April 26, 1996)

Campus recycling program: HEAG was involved in campus recycling advocacy by at least October 1996, working alongside the International Students Council (ISC) on recycling promotion. A fall 1996 article noted curbside recycling programs were already operating. (The Spectator, October 25, 1996)

Food waste audit (fall 1997): In one of HEAG’s most concrete campus campaigns, the group conducted a food waste measurement project at Commons and McEwen dining halls on October 27 and 29, 1997. Students collected separate receptacles of leftover food waste from diners: 251 pounds from Commons on Monday, 242 pounds from McEwen on Wednesday — a total of 493 pounds in two days, extrapolating to an estimated 34,510 pounds per semester across both halls. Bon Appetit (Hamilton’s dining provider) cooperated with the project. Jeff Evans, HEAG coordinator, led the project and proposed ideas including composting, reducing pre-made sandwiches, and limiting paper cups. (The Spectator, November 7, 1997)

Campus energy and waste audit: By late 1997, HEAG was pursuing a campus-wide audit to track inputs and outputs — paper, plastic, cleaning solvents, energy, and water use — as a precursor to recommending composting systems and a field guide for campus glens. Evans hoped to begin the audit in spring 1998. The Keehn Co-op already ran its own composting system. (The Spectator, November 21, 1997)

HEAG and Bon Appetit partnership: Multiple articles document HEAG’s working relationship with Joe Cappa, General Manager of Bon Appetit, suggesting an institutionalized channel for environmental proposals to Hamilton’s dining services provider. (The Spectator, November 7, 1997)

Continued presence through the early 2000s: HEAG appears in Spectator coverage of campus organizations through at least 1998, referenced in a fall 1998 article on environmental concerns. (The Spectator, October 9, 1998; The Spectator, November 13, 1998)

Open Questions

• Did HEAG successfully establish a campus-wide composting system? What happened to the proposals Evans pursued in 1997–1998?
• Who led HEAG after Jeff Evans ‘99 graduated? Was there continuity of leadership?
• Did HEAG play any role in the later fossil fuel divestment movement, or were those separate organizational lineages?
• What was HEAG’s relationship to the college’s Environmental Studies program and faculty like Bill Pfitsch?
• Did the campus energy audit ever occur? Were its findings published?

Sources

Related Topics

• Environmental Activism and Sustainability, 1988–1995
• Student Government and Campus Organizations
• Campus Life and Culture
• Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement