Environmental Education Fund

Mission

EEF’s mission is to educate and empower passionate individuals to act as catalysts in the wider sustainability movement that places harmony with nature at its core. 

EEF offers mentorship and high impact projects designed to champion a more holistic, ecological concept of sustainability. Our approach goes beyond resource preservation, emphasizing principles of understanding, reciprocity, respect, and interconnectedness with the natural world.

EEF Projects

Current Projects Open for Fall 2024

  • Environmental Coalition Building: build and support a network of NJ high school and college environmental clubs, represented by the NJ Student Sustainabiltiy Coalition.

  • Build awareness about the proposed NJ Green Amendment, a constitutional ammendment that would give all NJ residents a constitutional right to clean air, pure water, healthy ecological habitats, and a stable climate.

  • Work on a project to encourage a greater focus on preserving and rehabilitating natural habitats and promoting nature as kin in college sustainability programs.

  • Undertake a project to build support to preserve or rehabilitate a natural habitat under threat.

Our Vision

Our primary goal is to steer society away from the escalating environmental and mental health crises stemming from our disconnected relationship with nature, and empower young people to act as a catalyst for that change. Unlike the traditional sustainability paradigms created from the 1987 United Nations Brundtland Commission and subsequent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we advocate for an interconnected worldview that recognizes and honors the intrinsic value of every form of life, regardless of its utility to humans. 

The essence of our guiding principles are illustrated in this quote by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass:

“To see the living world as our relatives for whom we have compassion, to whom we must deliver justice for all of our other relatives, as opposed to this Western notion that I think of as this fictional pyramid of human exceptionalism; that some human people are at the top of that pyramid, and all the other beings, the 200 million species to whom we share this planet, are somehow relegated as below us, so that they become labeled as property, as things, as objects. And that worldview is, I think, what has poised us on the brink of catastrophe.”


College Sustainability Programs

Our belief is that youth-driven initiatives yield the most effective and widespread change. College campuses are the epicenter and catalyst of societal transformation. Our focus is on elevating the understanding of sustainability and the root cause of our current climate catastrophe which is our relationship with nature, as well as our relationship with one another.

About EEF

Founded in the 1980s as the 501(c)(3) research and education partner of the 501(c)(4) New Jersey Environmental Lobby, we advance environmental education and action. We provide mentoring and internships to passionate individuals, especially youth, to develop leadership skills and promote positive systemic change.

EEF Projects

EEF provides up to 4 short-term, high-impact internships per semester that promote connection with and preservation of nature. Through mentorship and hands-on experience, EEF interns grow as leaders and are connected with opportunities across various organizations.

  • Hold an environmental film screening or if you are more ambitious, an EcoCinema Cafe Film Festival for campus or for your community

  • Host a debate to create an atmosphere of open mindedness and to promote critical thinking

  • Build support for specific environmental initiatives

  • Join an effort to preserve or steward natural habitats in NJ

  • Work to increase the focus on kinship with nature in your college’s sustainability program.

Examples of Projects

Recent Educational Events

Education is our main focus. We are committed to empowering students by providing them with hands-on learning experiences and real-world opportunities to engage with pressing environmental issues. Our high school and college interns lead and participate in various educational events designed to spark meaningful conversations and inspire action.

  • En-Roads

    EEF interns have been trained in MIT’s Climate Interactive En-Roads simulator and have hosted eventsto teach their peers about climate solutions.

  • Debates

    EEF has hosted debates at John Jay College of Criminal Justice on topics such as ecological degradation and Indian Point Nuclear Powerplant.

  • Become a leader in a student led group

    We will provide mentoring if you would like to be involved in an already existing student organization such as the New Jersey Student Sustainability Coalition, or start your own Environmental Club at your school.

Learn more about Educational Events

NJ Green Amendment

Our efforts to pass the NJ Green Amendment focus on securing the right to a clean and healthy environment for all. We work alongside student groups and other advocates to raise awareness and build momentum for legislative action.

  • Speak to your town council

    We mentor EEF interns to address their local government on environmental issues. Many of our interns have spoken to their town's environmental commission or town council to inform them about the proposed NJ Green Amendment.

  • Environmental Justice

    EEF Interns are involved in organizing events to spread awareness throughout New Jersey on important policy initiatives, like the Green Amendment.

  • Plastic Bag Ban

    EEF and NJEL played vital roles in New Jersey’s plastic bag ban which has seen massive positive impacts in the reducion of single use plastic bags around NJ.

Learn more about the NJ Green Amendment

Conserving Natural Spaces

We are committed to protecting New Jersey’s forests and ensuring they continue to provide clean air, biodiversity, and natural beauty for generations to come.

  • Sparta

    Forever Wild NJ

    EEF is the youth engagement coordinator for the Forever Wild NJ Coalition! This coalition will help bolster youth engagement with preserving forests in NJ, so that the state can stay “forever wild”!

  • Drew Forest

    EEF interns have helped get their fellow classmates involved in preserving the Drew University Forest. Read a Letter to the Editor by EEF Interns Erica Cowper and Morgan Zielinsky.

  • Ridgeview Conservancy

    EEF interns are involved in conservation efforts, like Ridgeview Conservancy, an organization focused on protecting forests and promoting youth exposure and education of the outdoors. Interns can exchange knowledge with other members, and EEF is partnering with Ridgeview Conservancy for future endeavors.

  • Logging in Sparta, NJ

    NJ Forest Task Force

    An EEF intern participated in the NJ Forest Task Force to learn about forest issues such as invasive species, and logging in public forests. A number of our high school interns because very interested in this topic as a result of their participation!

Learn More About Conserving Local Forests

EcoCinema Film Festivals

For 10 years, EEF’s EcoCinema Cafe Film Festival has been our main focus. We recognize the importance of storytelling to inspire action. EcoCinema and EcoArt intertwine; we showcase eco artists' work and produce impactful films. Our festivals reach diverse audiences globally, from schools to universities to girl and boy scouts. It’s important for everyone to receive the message built upon these films and art - one calling for action to protect and nurture our environment.

  • EcoCinema Cafe Film Festival

    At an EcoCinema Cafe film festival students can watch inspiring and impactful environmental documentaries followed by insightful discussion while they are eating lunch or snacks!

  • EEF As a Film Festial Incubator

    EEF helped the Paradigm Shifts Opera get its' start bringing together music and film to produce an impactful annual music and film festival, featuring accomplished musicians and gripping documentaries. All performances and showings are tied together by the thread of environmental action, and the celebration of the use of various mediums to represent this.

  • EcoCinema Cafe x Friday's For Future India

    In 2020, EEF collaborated with Friday’s for Future India to host a film screening of The Story of Plastic, an award-winning film about the destruction plastic has caused to our environment, followed by an insightful Q&A session with EEF and Friday’s for Future panelists.

  • EcoArt: Milenia Popov's Plastic Art...

    EEF’s EcoCinema Cafes foster more than just cinematic art, but creative exhibits as well. This piece - Bringing the Hidden into View by Milenia Popov - was featured at John Jay College’s 2014 EcoCinema cafe, was a chilling visual representation of how plastic is a danger to our ecosystems, and ourselves.

  • EcoCinema Film Festival x Sea Shepherd...

    EEF has collaborated with Encompass New Opera Theater and Sea Shepard to host an annual film festival featuring Sea Shepard’s founder, Paul Watson, and others with whom students engaged in intriguing discussion.

  • Brotherhood Sister Sol EcoCinema Film Festival

    For 2 years, EEF worked with Brotherhood Sister Sol to bring film festivals centered around getting inner-city youth into nature. Attendees were able to connect with filmmakers and the events featured hands-on activities, like composting and art projects.

  • EcoArts: Plastic Fashion Show

    EEF has collaborated with various organizations to bring plastic fashion shows, featuring outfits made from plastic and trash to make an artistic statement about plastic in our environment.

  • EEF Productions: Aiden's Butterflies

    EEF has supported and helped produce many films, including Aiden's Butterflies, an inspiring short film that takes the audience on a journey with 11-year old Aiden as he seeks to protect the endangered monarch butterfly.

  • Chasing Ice at a Confence

    Chasing Ice at a Conference

    EEF shows films at conferences, such as International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories.

  • BMCC EcoCinema Cafe

    Film festival in the student dining hall of Borough of Manhattan Community College

Learn More About EcoCinema Film Festivals

Make a donation.

EEF thrives on the generosity of donors like you. Your contribution directly funds the hiring of our high school and college interns, empowering them to engage in impactful projects that make a real difference. These projects are made possible through the support of our community.

Thank you for investing in the leaders of tomorrow. Your donation ensures that our high school and college students gain invaluable experience and contribute to meaningful change. Together, we can continue to create opportunities and drive progress.