To Combat Climate Anxiety, College Students Are Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands—Literally

Mackenzie Feldman and Sheina Crystal

Originally published July 20, 2022 on usnews.com

Charlene Duong was in her second year at Brandeis University when she became aware of the widespread use of toxic, synthetic pesticides on her campus. Shocked but not surprised, she knew she had to do something about it. Along with a couple classmates, Charlene did a quick Google search and discovered a small but growing movement spearheaded by our organization, Herbicide-Free Campus, to rid college campuses of synthetic herbicides. They were intrigued.

Like many, Charlene experiences climate anxiety—a chronic fear of environmental doom—and was, at the time, looking for an outlet. When she discovered the HFC movement, she says she felt she “had found a specific area to focus on that still fit into the larger picture of fighting for a healthier, safer, cleaner environment for all.”

Charlene learned that toxic herbicide use in collegiate land care is not new or unique. Most institutions of higher education rely on chemicals such as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers to achieve aesthetic goals. Having a “beautiful” campus means green and perfectly manicured quads, as well as flower beds and sidewalk cracks free of weeds. But these conventionally managed, heavily manicured campuses can come at a cost: increased cancer risk, contaminated waterways, poisoned wildlife and lifeless soil.

Pesticide use on college campuses also contributes to our global climate crisis. Although not traditionally part of the climate change conversation, the use of chemicals to get rid of insects or unwanted plant life can increase scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions), as they can include petroleum-based ingredients. Pesticide use also reduces the microbial life in soil, hampering the ability of soils to sequester carbon or retain water and thus reducing campuses’ resilience to climate-related extreme weather events like droughts and floods.

Charlene and her classmates started an Herbicide-Free Campus campaign at Brandeis, joining campaigns at other institutions including the University of California–Berkeley, Grinnell College, Emory University, Sarah Lawrence College and Indiana University–Bloomington in the youth-led national movement for safer, more sustainable land care.

Some of the campuses with active student campaigns already have made the leap to organic land care, ditching synthetic pesticides. In 2018, UC Berkeley began going organic, and now synthetic pesticides are only used in urgent situations. The UC Berkeley campaign also worked successfully to get the entire UC system to restrict the use of glyphosate, a popular herbicide and a probable carcinogen as determined by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

In lieu of toxic chemicals, students working with Herbicide-Free Campus help out with weeding the campus grounds.

“It has been so good for my mental health to get outdoors and weed alongside like-minded students and the grounds team,” Charlene says. “Spending time outside with my hands in the dirt helps take my mind off of immediate pressing concerns like classes, homework and midterms (or) finals, while also allowing an outlet for existential issues like climate change.

“This work reminds me to be in the present moment as I play my role in reducing toxin use and keeping my campus safe and healthy.”

The herbicide-free movement is also challenging the ideal of the manicured lawn. Last year, students at Grinnell College conducted their first of multiple native prairie grass restoration projects on a previously herbicide-laden area in the middle of campus.

“The project was challenging because many stakeholders didn’t believe we would be successful without using toxic chemicals,” says Jacy Highbarger, a graduate from Herbicide-Free Campus’ fellowship program. But “we did our research and used tools instead of chemicals to remove the existing grass and replace it with native grasses. It was so rewarding to see this project come to fruition.”

Like Charlene, Jacy experiences climate-related anxiety and got involved in the movement for organic land care to feel like she was “not just sitting idly by.” The prairie grass restoration projects, she says, “made me feel empowered in climate solutions.”

Schools like Seattle University, Harvard University, Willamette University, Cascadia College and the University of Washington Bothell have been largely to completely herbicide-free for years. A recent report by HFC shows that by ditching synthetic pesticides and transitioning to organic land care practices—such as aeration, using native plants, applying compost and compost tea, and overseeding—these schools have seen numerous benefits.

Harvard, for example, has seen its irrigation needs drop by 30%, while Cascadia College and UW Bothell—located on a shared campus in Bothell, Washington—now spend a tenth of the amount on their organic lawns as they once did on conventional lawns. Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, is saving approximately $2,000 a year by managing its landscape organically. Many schools have seen an increase in soil microbes—an indication that the soil is much healthier– with UC Berkeley seeing a more than twentyfold increase.

Charlene and Jacy are not alone. Around the country, college students are learning about extreme weather events and the biodiversity crisis in class, and deciding to take matters into their own hands to combat climate change, ditch pesticides and promote planetary health in their communities.

Our movement has a pretty lofty goal: seeing every campus go organic by 2030. And college campuses are just the beginning. With students like Jacy who have been involved in the movement graduating and entering the world knowledgeable about the ways in which toxins negatively impact human health and the environment, the movement for herbicide-free campuses will ripple outward into communities, spurring a systemic shift to a toxin-free world.

© 2022 U.S. News & World Report, L.P. Used with permission.