Eco Columbia

Here's your chance to recycle batteries, ink cartridges, and cell phones.

The Recycling Program will be hosting their second annual Sustainability Swap in various buildings around campus next week.

On November 16-18, volunteers will be stationed in buildings and dorms from 3-7pm. During that time, you can drop off items that are traditionally harder to recycle and be given a free CFL in return.

Check out the list below to scope out the most convenient building and then start cleaning out that junk drawer. This year, they’ll be recycling batteries, ink cartridges, and cell phones.

Tuesday, November 16th: 33 East Congress & 731 South Plymouth

Wednesday, November 17th: 623 South Wabash & 2 East 8th

Thursday, November 18th: 1104 South Wabash & Buckingham

The Recycling Program still needs a few more volunteers for the event. If you have a break between classes or the day off from work, send an email to caro@ecocolum.com with your availability. Hope to see you all there!

Heal the Bay‘s mockumentary might be aimed at California residents but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do our part right here in Chicago. For Columbia students, it’s now easier than ever to make sure your plastic bags don’t end up in water ways or landfills.

While there are several South Loop businesses like Jewel-Osco and Target that claim to recycle any plastic bags placed in their bins, Columbia’s Recycling Program has made it easier than ever for students. Cardboard bins for plastic bags are now located in all of the residence halls.

So if you live in The UC, Plymouth, Buckingham, Dwight, or even 2 East 8th, they’ve got you covered. Even students who live off campus are welcome to stop by the most convenient dorm and dispose of their bags.

All of the bins are easily found in the building lobbies, and emptied on a weekly basis.

The Recycling Program was profiled along side a couple other departments in this week’s Student Loop. You can read the article below or check out some multimedia on the original post.

A few members of the Recycling staff pose with their mascot, Polar Pete, on Earth Day.

You just finished your venti tazo green tea frappuccino with extra whipped cream and are looking for a handy waste receptacle. You could throw it in the green recycling bin, but that’s about a ten-step walk. Eh, too far. The second it takes to toss away your tasty beverage is a miniscule, seemingly insignificant portion of your day. But it plays into the much bigger picture of green initiatives going on at Columbia.

From the recycling cans all around campus to the motion-detection lights in some washrooms and the green roof on top of 33 E. Congress Pkwy., Columbia is working to become an eco-friendly member of the Chicago community.  (more…)

Gary Anderson with his winning design.

With the burgeoning green market overtaking every thing from food to cosmetics, the recycling symbol is more widespread than ever. Now found on more than just recycled products and trash containers, those three (often green) arrows grace T-shirts, backpacks, stickers, and pretty much anything you could imagine.

None of this was the case forty years ago, when the now-defunct Container Corporation of America sponsored a contest in preparation of the first ever Earth Day in 1970. As a a large producer of recycled paper, the corporation challenged design students in high schools and colleges across the country to design a universal recycling symbol. The winning entry would enter the public domain and could then be used by any manufacturer who wanted to show a commitment to environmental responsibility.

Gary Anderson, an undergrad studying architecture at the University of Southern California, submitted three variations of his three-arrowed design. The simplest of the bunch (displayed in the accompanying photo) beat five hundred other submissions to take home the $2,500 prize.

In the years since, Anderson has went on to become a well-known architect, while his design has become one of the most recognized symbols in the world.