SEC was first started in 1989 with the goal of getting rid of styrofoam cups on campus. In the early years, SEC was the principal student group organizing environmentalist rallies and protests across campus. In recent years, SEC has re-oriented its focus towards providing the UBC campus with funding and resources for environment-related initiatives.

In 1993, SEC even began an offshoot group called Green Fire, with the goal of promoting a society where the inherent value of the ecosystem is recognized above human-centred goals. During their active years, they undertook grassroots activism projects such as a blockade of the logging roads into Capilano watershed (without anyone getting arrested). This drew attention from the city’s media, exposing harmful logging practices and costing C & R Logging about $800,000 in profits.