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EDUCATE
Be an information resource. Help everyone become thoroughly educated
about the MIT recycling program. More information is available in this
Web Site or contact be-green@mit.edu. Download
the EPTF Annual Report for up to date information on environmental
initiatives at MIT.
Remember to brief new staff members or residents about building or
office-specific programs. High profile signs like the Recycle
What? (PDF) poster should be put up in prominent areas, meetings
and emails are also good ways to pass the word.
Reuse and reduce excess materials whenever possible. Hints and resources
are provided below.
KNOW WHAT MIT RECYCLES complete information and resources are provided
below.
GET RECYCLING BINS
To request the large blue and green topped recycling bins for
common areas and the gray desk-side bins email, recycling@mit.edu
If you need bins for a specific location within your Department, Lab,
or Center purchase them directly from the Office
Depot / ECAT Web Site or contact recycling@mit.edu for
ordering information.
ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE!
Actions speak louder than words, GET INVOLVED, join the Recycling
Ambassadors Program or a program highlighted on the Environmental Initiatives
page and play an active role in recycling and other initiatives at MIT.
To get more information just send an email to be-green@mit.edu.
THANK YOUR CUSTODIAN for recycling. Serve as a role model by encouraging
others to recycle during functions. PERIODICALLY, CHECK THE MATERIALS
IN THE WASTEBASKETS to see how well others are doing at following the
guidelines.
POST SIGNS OR INFORMATION that you will receive from this Web Site
and by joining an environmental group at MIT. You may also create your
own unique, colorful posters. ENCOURAGE ALL TO RECYCLE THEIR MATERIALS
ON A REGULAR BASIS and avoid the big " pile up " that typically
occurs at the end of a semester by planning ahead. If you anticipate
an office cleanout contact recycling@mit.edu to
get the necessary bins and services for recycling.
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SPECIFIC DORMITORY RECYCLING INFORMATION
Questions regarding recycling in the dormitories can be directed
to the Housing Office at extension 3-2811.
Housing and Student Life Programs staff are available to help
you with your questions or concerns. To speak with a member of the
staff, please visit one of our office locations or contact us via
phone or e-mail. A full listing is available
here.
Graduate Residences
Coordination with the House Manager and others in your residence
is essential to a successful to creating an environmentally responsible
living environment. Information
on each graduate residence hall including contact information is
located here.
Undergraduate Residence Halls
Coordination with the House Manager and others in your residence
is essential to a successful to creating an environmentally responsible
living environment.
Information on each undergraduate residence hall including contact
information is located here.
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REUSE AT MIT
Before you recycle it, see if you can reuse it. MIT
has a great resource for community members to offer reusable items for
sale or to give away. A wide variety of items are reused or soled on
this email list ranging from salt shakers to computers to cars and it
will often times be picked up at your door. For
more details on reuse or to join the email list, click here.
MIT offers a great resource for community members to offer reusable
items for sale or o give away. For
more details or to join the email list, click here.
Donate your surplus reusable furniture: For more
than 30 years the MIT Furniture Exchange (FX) has been providing service
to hundreds of students who need home furnishings. We sell items at
reasonable prices and all of our profits go to the MIT Women's League
Scholarship Fund. In the past 7 years, the FX has donated over $200,000
to this worthwhile fund. For
more information on donation, click here
To make arrangements for the transportation and/or donation of your
excess reusable furniture contact the FX or contact recycling@mit.edu.
Buy surplus lab, computer, and office furniture at MIT's Equipment
Exchange
The WW15 the Equipment Exchange and Storage Warehouse has surplus lab, computer,
and office furniture. Preference is given to people wishing to reuse items
at the Institute. There is no charge for items that are transferred back on
campus. You must arrange for your own transportation and/or moving. Items not
claimed for transfer are sold to the general public for reasonable prices. For
more information on Equipment Exchange, click here.
STUFF FEST, "Leave stuff, get stuff, donate stuff"
Many Dormitories also participate in StuffFest. SAVE, MIT's student environment
group, is hosting a "StuffFest" during finals week. The purpose
of this event is two-fold: to reduce the amount of waste generated when everybody
moves out and to donate items to the Cambridge and Somerville Program for
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation and other local charities. StuffFest
is fundamentally organized by living group, where there is a collection area
in each living group for the items. For information on how to volunteer,
help your dorm participate, or leave, get, and donate stuff, contact SAVE
at save-request@mit.edu.
Book Donation and Reuse at MIT
Check with the MIT Libraries to see if
your book collection is eligible for donation to
the MIT library system. If you would like to donate
books or other items, contact the MIT Libraries
Gifts Office at 617.253.5693, or send email to gifts-lib@mit.edu.
If your books are not eligible for donation to the MIT Libraries it
is likely that the EHS book donation program will be able to accept
them. Please call 617.452.3477, or email be-green@mit.edu to
make arrangements for donating your books. All books donated in the
EHS book donation program are rescued from destruction or burial in
local landfills. These books are generally functional and have been
discarded not due to wear and tear but simply due to being superseded
by ever-newer editions.
APO Book Exchange is a forum where used books can be bought and
sold. Traditionally, it happens during the first week of the fall
and spring academic terms. APO does not buy the used books, but
rather tries to sell them on behalf of the owner. The owner sets
the price and APO does the work. For
more information on APO.
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RECYCLE AT MIT
WHAT IS RECYCLABLE AND HOW TO RECYCLE IT?
MIXED PAPER
ALL paper including newspaper, glossy paper, magazines, catalogs, phonebooks,
Post-It-Notes, memos, carbonless forms, broken down cardboard, file folders,
colored paper, white paper, cardboard, boxboard, and junk mail. NO PIZZA
BOXES.
To recycle your waste paper just place it in a gray desk-side or blue
top common area recycling bin in your office or one of the blue topped
bins located throughout campus. Paper cannot be contaminated by food
waste when recycled. IF THESE BINS ARE FULL the bins located in the
hallway adjacent to the exit for the loading dock.
Plastic, Glass, and Metal - Bottles, Cans and FOOD CONTAINERS
Including aluminum cans, glass bottles, and all plastics (# 1-7).
To recycle your container just place it in a green-topped recycling bin in
your office common area or one of the green-topped bins located throughout
campus. Containers need not be clean, just empty.
Baker House, Next House, and Simmons Hall have composting programs
within their dining facilities. If you would like to set up a composting
program within your dorm, or access the collection areas within the
above dorms contact, recycling@mit.edu.
TONER CARTRIDGES
Recycling your empty laser cartridges instead of throwing them away only takes
a few minutes, and it's free and easy to do. Not only is it free, but in
fact the toner cartridges have real economic value and your office supply
company or any of the manufacturers are more than happy to do whatever they
need to do to get these things recycled. Each mailroom on campus should have
a drop off recycling bin for empty toner cartridges. Simply follow the directions
provided.
If your does not please email recycling@mit.edu to
request a bin.
INKJET CARTRIDGES
All inkjet cartridges from any printer are recyclable and the revenues from
your recycled cartridges go to one of the following charities:
Doctors Without Borders
The World Wildlife
Fund
The American
Red Cross
The United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF)
The
Special Olympics
All mailrooms have boxes that have 400 individual pre-paid mailing envelopes
in marked boxes. Next time you pickup your mail take a bag, drop a used cartridge
into the bag, and drop the bag into the mail. If you do not have one of these
boxes in your mail room or it is out of envelopes email, recycling@mit.edu
OTHER RECYCLING INFORMATION LINKS AT MIT
Department
of Facilities web page
SAVE recycling facts web site
Working Group
on Recycling
Students for Global Sustainability
(SfGS)
RecycleMania
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Food Composting
Food composting is a simple process that can easily be implemented
in many locations. MIT currently hires a specialized, organic-only waste
hauler, to collect and transport food waste for off-site composting
to produce soil enhancing material. Waste that can be accumulated includes
all discarded food materials, food-soiled paper and napkins, small amounts
of food-soiled cardboard, coffee grounds, tea bags, and floral trimmings.
This material is collected in sealed 32-gallon yellow waste bins and
collected up to 6-times per week. MIT has implemented food composting
in many of the dining halls on campus and is seeking to expand to other
areas on campus where food wastes are generated at a level that would
make the logistics for accumulating the materials feasible.
You can help to expand this program. For example, dedicated students
have set up food composting in their group kitchens in New House.
Herb's Disposal picks up their food waste every Friday. In the new
Pacific Street dormitory, students have installed their own vermicomposting
system, which uses worms to break down the food.
Potential areas of expansion include FSILGs and other kitchens or
restaurants located on campus that are not part of the current program.
All that is needed to set up a program is one dedicated person on the
dining staff or within a living group to take ownership of the program,
oversee it and ensure that high quality, uncontaminated and clean organic
materials are accumulated. If you are interested in the program or would
like to create a pilot project, please send an email to be-green@mit.edu or
call Environmental Management Program at x2-3477.
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