Ideas to reduce your waste and promote sustainability
This is a letter to the editor from Grace Nulty, Jervon Sands, Mari Hermerding, Isabelle Schmelzer and Betsy Ruckman on behalf of the Climate Justice Club.
When your clothes don’t fit, when you leave a notebook half-filled, when your light bulbs shatter, when your fairy lights no longer suit the vibe of your room, what do you do?
There is a place for each of these items on our campus that is not the dumpster. Let’s reduce our waste by keeping items cycling through our campus.
The following are underutilized resources that are open to everyone. Donate your old items or search for treasure when you need it. If you need help, additional information or support, Climate Justice Club (CJC) and the Sustainability Offices are here for you.
**Clothes**
Need to look put together for an upcoming interview? The Bennie Career Closet and St. John’s University Career Closet are full of professional business clothes. They’re open on weekday evenings, but also available by appointment. Go to the Bennie Career Closet at CSB or visit their Instagram for more information.
In addition, the QPLUS Closet is available by appointment via their Instagram linktree.
The Sustainability Office hosts occasional “Swap Shops” where students donate clothes in return for new ones. What most people don’t know is that those clothes are available for free at any time. Just stop by the CSB Sustainability Office in Clemens when they’re open, usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If they’re not open, send an email to sustainability@csbsju.edu and tell them when you can stop by. The office is a little hard to find—enter from Ardolf, take a left, pass the Experience Hub and keep going until you hit the back left corner and Clemens Library 102.
**School supplies**
There’s another Sustainability Office-sponsored Swap Shop in Mary Commons, but this one is all about school supplies. Binders, folders, pens, pencils and organizers all find homes here. To find it, walk from the bookstore toward Regina. You’ll pass the copy room, then on your right there’s a little alcove with two vending machines. The Swap Shop is all the shelves on your left.
**Green Guide**
The Green Guide, created by the CSB/SJU Sustainability Office, is a handbook for everything sustainable on our campus. It shares ways you can reduce energy, waste and water use. It explores sustainable movements on both campuses and shows how you can get involved in student activism.
**Other stuff**
If you want to get rid of something but you don’t know where it goes, you can always send a message to the Sustainability Office. Email them directly at sustainability@csbsju.edu, Direct message them on Instagram @csbsjusustainability or use the feedback form at csbsju.edu/sus.
**Stash It, Don’t Trash It! + Catholic Charities**
Stash It, Don’t Trash it will be happening this year! Every year, Catholic Charities works with Residential Life to put collection bins in the common rooms of most housing—Keep an eye out for those emails coming soon. Those bins are where you can put food, clothing and small items.
Out by the dumpsters, the Sustainability Office will be setting up designated areas for furniture and dorm decorations as part of their annual Stash It, Don’t Trash It initiative. If your stuff is still in good condition or fixable condition, it deserves a new home. Set it in the marked area next to your dumpster, and the Sustainability Office will take care of the rest. They give us big dumpsters, but don’t use that as an excuse to throw everything you own in there.
Sign up for the Sustainability Office email list to keep updated on volunteer opportunities: csbsju.edu/sus.