Vegetarianism is the most effective way to help save the environment, an animal rights activist told a group of about 25 in an Adams House common room last night.

Morgan A. Leyh, speaking on behalf of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), met with an audience interested in forming an organization of vegetarian students.

Leyh, who is the coordinator of PETA's newly-formed College Action Campaign, came to Harvard as part of her tour of New England colleges.

She was contacted by Marc R. Romanoff '01 and Douglas S. Muller '00-'01, who, along with Thomas R. W. Blair '03, have an application for a new student organization called Vegitas pending at University Hall.

The student leaders defined Vegitas as a "vegan, vegetarian, animal rights type group" and said Leyh's speech was one of their first meetings. They said the group's activities will be determined by the interests of its members.

PETA, formed in 1980 by a handful of volunteers, now has 100 employees in four countries and about 600,000 members worldwide. The group focuses both on case-by-case issues of advocacy and campaigns aimed at informing the public.

Leyh, who has worked on campaigns for PETA, once dressed up as "Libby the Lobster" at a lobster fest in Maine. She said she also enjoys confronting fur coat-wearers on the street.

Now, Leyh dedicates most of her time to helping student groups organize on college campuses.

Colleges are fertile grounds for vegetarianism, Leyh said, because many students are very interested in the environmental movement and there is a clear link between meat production and environmental issues like pollution and conservation.

"The environmental impact of factory farms is catastrophic," said Leyh.

Leyh said the amount of fossil fuel and water that go into the production of one hamburger could run a small car for 20 miles and supply water for 17 showers. And according to PETA, slaughterhouses and processing plants pollute water with millions of gallons of animal waste each year.

Vegetarianism is the only way to solve these problems, Leyh contends.

"We can recycle until we're blue in the face, but until we're ready to make a lifestyle change, we're not going to do anything," she said.

Leyh, who quoted Alice Walker, Jeremy Bentham and Mahatma Gandhi in her remarks, also supported the philosophical basis of vegetarianism.

"Animals have their own inherent value," she said. "Going vegetarian is the easiest way for us all to learn to be a little more compassionate in our choices."

She said that while few have the power to stop war and human suffering in the world, everyone can save animals from suffering by becoming vegetarians or vegans.

Some students attending the speech seemed impressed by Leyh's presentation.

"She definitely highlighted some things I wasn't aware of," said F. Page McClean '03, who described herself as a "strict vegetarian" but not a strict vegan.

Blair and Romanoff said they were pleased with the talk.

"It was nice to get our organzation started with support from a large national organization," Blair said.

Romanoff said he was surprised by the large number of vegans in the audience and that he hoped this would translate into "hard-core support" for Vegitas.