Eco Columbia

The swap will take place the week of Nov. 7-11.

For the third year in a row, the Columbia Recycling Program will be hosting a Sustainable Swap to encourage students and staff to recycle nontraditional items.

During the week of November 7-11, recycling bins will be present in lobbies all over campus. These bins will accept batteries, cell phones, techno trash (CDs, DVDs, film), plastic bags, and ink cartridges. Students and staff are encouraged to bring items from their offices and departments, or from home.

Bins will be present in the lobbies of the following buildings: 624 S. Michigan, 600 S. Michigan, 618 S. Michigan, 623 S. Wabash, 33 E. Congress, 916 S. Wabash, 1104 S. Wabash, and The Dance Center.

Along with donation bins, The Recycling Program will set up shop in various lobbies to bring advocacy, Pete the Polar Bear, and fun to the campus! (more…)

While Screen Printing at our most recent “Screen Print a Smaller Carbon Footprint” event I had the pleasure to meet Columbia alum and artist Taylor Mallory. He is working alongside Soles4Souls to make a difference through music.

Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 13 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 7 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.

Soles4Souls Inc. has committed to collect and distribute 11 million shoes in 2011 to people living in extreme poverty and recovering from natural disasters through its “11 IN 11” campaign. The shoe charity gives away one pair of shoes to a person in need every 7 seconds. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 12 million pairs of shoes because of the generosity and commitment of people and organizations.

From April 15 -24th, Soles4Souls, Level Next Music, Dupée Productions and recording artist Taylor Mallory will be collecting your gently worn footwear and/or donations to make a tangible difference through the gift of shoes. Every donation will support the charity’s initiative to distribute 11 million pairs of shoes in 2011. Also, A video release for Taylor Mallory’s “Sunni’s Outside” video will be held at Akin – South Location:

Thursday April 21, 2011 7 – 10pm.

People and companies interested in donating can stop into any AKIN Location:

South- 1313 S. Halsted
Chicago, IL 60607

OR

North- 2350 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60614

Soles4Souls

Level Next Music

Every semester, the Recycling Program hosts a new call for work that is open to all Columbia students. Previous topics have included a variety of issues but this semester’s theme hits especially close to home.

“Chicago and the battle for a city-wide recycling program,” will raise awareness about the city’s lack of options for those who wish to recycle.

In 2008, the city started a blue cart, curb-side pickup program for recycling. Due to budgetary problems, only about one-third of the 600,000 Chicago residents have pick-up recycling. For those who do not receive the service, there are about 35 centers throughout the city where people can drop-off their recycling. However, transporting recyclables can be difficult, especially for the many Chicagoans who don’t have a car.

With two-thirds of the city without blue cart pick-up, this city service brings about an issue of “haves” and “have-nots.” Recycling is the only municipal service that is not available to the entire city. We can and must do better. (more…)

View photos from the student photographers on the trip.

Want to know the best thing about being in E.P.I.C.? Aside from meeting great people and contributing to environment change, you get to take advantage of opportunities you might not have had otherwise.

A few weeks ago, Columbia’s Recycling Program took us on a tour of the Recycling Services Inc. plant here in Chicago. We got a first hand look at where Columbia’s recycling goes and the process behind it.

When I paused from my picture taking, I saw what looked like a week’s worth of cardboard boxes and scraps of paper piled high. We learned that these piles of recyclables had come in that day alone, and that they’d all be gone by the end of the day. We also learned about some difficulties that the facility faces, such as having to sort out the items that aren’t recyclable, which takes more time and money. (more…)