Lauren Olson, an MSU alumna who works in the Office of Campus Sustainability, explains how the items in her office are eco-friendly, made from recyclable and reusable materials.
Olson looks for items at the MSU Surplus Store and the Office of Recycling and Waste Management centers and turns them into office furniture or jewelry.
She has even created a lamp out of old X-rays.
Ellen Bornhorst thinks about the four R’s whenever she can — reduce, reuse, recycle and, a recent addition to the list, rethink. “When I go out, I stop and think, ‘Do I really need to buy this?’” said Bornhorst, a biosystems engineering junior and co-president of campus environmental group Eco. Students such as Bornhorst are looking for ways to reuse materials to make them good as new in an effort to reduce waste. Little ways to help out can add up, Bornhorst said.
Ways to reuse
Exchanging items with friends is one way to help reduce consumption, said Laurie Thorp, director of Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment, or RISE.
“Have a swap night where you bring stuff and exchange it,” Thorp said. “Think of creative ways to not buy something new all the time.”
Thorp also recommends avoiding shopping as a pastime.
“Do things that aren’t consumption-oriented,” she said. “When we stop buying these things we really don’t miss them.”
Buy Nothing Day, an unofficial holiday that originated in Canada about 15 years ago, is an alternative to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when people get up as early as 5 a.m. to shop.
The alternative holiday heightens awareness about unnecessary consumerism, Thorp said.
Eco-friendly factors
Items that students wouldn’t normally think to reuse can be turned into something even more useful than their original purpose.
Lauren Olson, project coordinator for the Office of Campus Sustainability, has turned old X-rays into lamps, computer cable into bracelets and old fabric into portfolios and planners.
“Having things not only made from recycled materials, but that can go back in to other recycled materials is a true goal of corporate sustainability,” Olson said. “These things are called ‘waste to food.’ What is considered waste becomes food for another item.”
In her office in Olds Hall, Olson keeps furniture from the MSU Surplus Store and a refurbished computer.
But creating new things out of old ones isn’t always easy, Olson said.
“Things might not work out the way you planned, but it teaches you to really go with intermediacy of how things are and enjoying the nature of that evolving process,” she said.
College-aged students are more aware of the need to reuse materials than older generations, Lyman Briggs College freshman Miranda Sperry said.
“It’s becoming much more apparent now,” she said. “We have to preserve our resources.”
Sperry said having recycling bins in the residence halls helps push students to participate in reducing and reusing goods.
“I tried to do it before, but once we got here it made it more convenient,” she said.
Moving forward
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While students are becoming more aware of the need to reduce and reuse, it’s not something people are innately aware of, said Ryan Sweeder, assistant chemistry professor and adviser for Holmes Environmental Awareness Team, or HEAT.
To encourage the elimination of waste, HEAT is trying to get “tasting spoons” in campus cafeterias so students can try the food before wasting huge portions of it.
Sweeder said raising awareness about reduction in a community setting can help students keep it in mind even when they’re on their own. And deciding to not recycle is becoming more of a social stigma, she added.
“Friends look at you a little funny if you’re throwing out a water bottle every day,” he said. “We’re starting to get people to think about these things that they hadn’t before.”
Outside influences
Thorp hopes her students will get inspiration from projects such as The Compact in California, a group of people who have decided to purchase nothing new for an entire year and blog about it at www.sfcompact.blogspot.com.
“You don’t have to make it a sacrifice, you can make it a fun challenge,” Thorp said.
RISE, along with the Office of Campus Sustainability, will show “What Would Jesus Buy?”, a film about American consumerism, at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Williams Hall dining area. Snacks and craft-making will follow the film.
Although there is an increase in awareness, there’s always more work to be done to ensure students are environmentally friendly.
“There’s still a long way to go,” Bornhorst said.
