Reduce with Reuse!

Recycling is great, but reusing and reducing is better.

Each person in the United States generates 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day.* That is twice what we each generated thirty years ago.**

Reuse matters because tons of trash (and dollars) really add up. Each time you choose used instead of new, you’re helping to divert materials from landfills, and you’re extending the life cycles of natural resources already in circulation. Plus, used or remanufactured items generally cost a fraction of what new items would cost.

* “In 2005, U.S. residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 245 million tons of MSW, which is approximately 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day.” Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007.

** U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Municipal Waste in the United States: 2001 Facts and Figures (2003), pp.3 -4.

Start Small

BYOMug when purchasing coffee, tea, and other drinks. At Harvard we collectively use hundreds of thousands of disposable paper cups a year, which don’t break down in the trash (nothing biodegrades in a capped landfill). Many Harvard dining halls and cafés (DIV, GSE, HKS, HLS, HMS, and HSPH) offer discounts on coffee or tea to customers who bring their own reusable mugs.

Give and Get

Harvard Habitat for Humanity Stuff Sale
Browse over $80,000 worth of gently used furniture, office supplies, and more at the largest campus surplus sale in the nation. 9am-5pm, August 15-16, 22-23, 27-31; September 1, 5-6 on the Science Center Lawn, Cambridge.

Harvard Recycling Surplus Center
Free surplus furniture and other items are available to the local community at the Harvard Recycling and Surplus Center (175 North Harvard Street, Allston) every Thursday from 11am-2pm. Check the latest Harvard Recycling Newsletter for details.

Freecycling
One person’s trash is another’s treasure. Take part in one of Harvard’s Freecycle communities and events.

• HLS- join the “HLSFreecycle” listserv by sending a PLAIN TEXT e-mail to majordomo@lists.law.harvard.edu containing the text subscribe hlsfreecycle. 
• HSPH- visit “Ken’s List,” the HSPH Classifieds (internal log-in), a staff initiative. Access it here: www.hsph.harvard.edu/kenslist.
• Over five office supply “Freecycle” events have taken place at Harvard this year so far. 
• FAS’ next Freecycle will be on September 15th in front of the Science Center, 11am-1:30pm- it’s open to all.
• HMS will hold its fall semi-annual Freecycling event on October 7th.
• Coming soon: Harvard's ReUseList web site! It will be like Harvard's own Craigslist, and you'll be able to use it to freecycle your used furniture, office supplies and equipment! Shop for free materials before making a purchase! Stay tuned for details...release is planned very soon.

Start the Cycle--Donate

If your office has furniture or supplies it no longer needs, check with Facilities/Operations to see if your item could be used elsewhere in your school or unit.  At HMS, contact sustainability@hms.harvard.edu for more information. At HSPH, search "Ken’s List" or contact greenideas@hsph.harvard.edu.

Cambridge offices can e-mail Harvard FMO Recycling for an anonymous posting in the monthly electronic Recycling Update newsletter.  Donate materials from buildings which use FMO Recycling and Waste Services to the Harvard Recycling and Surplus Center; contact Harvard Recycling twenty-four hours before delivery.

Cambridge area students in Houses, Harvard apartments, and residence halls will be able to donate items to Habitat for Humanity during Spring 2010 move-out.

Your Actions Add Up

In FY2009, the Harvard Recycling and Surplus Center distributed over 400 tons of reusable furniture, pallets, books, clothing, computers and other commodities with a replacement value over $2 million.

In 2008-9 Harvard Athletics collected 250 shoes for the Nike “Re-use a Shoe” program.

Harvard’s surplus computers are erased, cleaned, re-formatted and re-sold by the LABBB program, a non-profit organization providing skills and vocational training to autistic students of high school age. Over the past year, the LABBB program has sold around 60 units, about 1.5% of the total electronics scrap.

Resources

• Get posters and past Green Tips from our website: green.harvard.edu/green-tip

• Office for Sustainability: Reducing Waste 

• Harvard “Green Office” waste reduction & recycling tips

• Composting at Harvard

• Harvard Recycling Newsletter

• Recycling guidelines: Cambridge (Harvard FMO), HMS, HSPH

• The Freecycle Network™

• Extras for Creative Learning

• The Story of Stuff