The first person to to answer correctly will win an OSU reusable spork like this one!

Submit your answer here (“Leave a Reply,” below), on our Facebook page or tweet it to @osurecycling on Twitter. Only one guess per person, please.

Question of the Week:

At our upcoming event on January 17th, what will we be building, and with what reused material?

Answer

We will be constructing a jellyfish sculpture out of reused film plastic and other scrap materials. Learn more on this other blog post!

Come to our Jellyfish Sculpture Construction Party this Thursday, January 17 at 5:00-7:30 pm in the OSU recycling warehouse!

There you can lend a hand building a trio of giant jellyfish out of film plastic and other reused materials!  The sculpture will be part of the RecycleMania kickoff display in the MU Quad the following week, to educate people about film plastic waste and recycling. RSVP on Facebook.

Drop by when you’re available between 5:00 and 7:30 pm, coming in through the 13th St. warehouse gates at 644 SW 13th St.

For more information, contact Andrea Norris via email or call 541-737-5398. For more information about RecycleMania, visit our website.

This event is organized by the student group Waste Watchers, a joint group of Campus Recycling and the Student Sustainability Initiative.

We hope to see you there!

Pictured: The sea monster volunteers made out of reused materials for RecycleMania 2011.

Some spaces remain in the 2013 Linn and Benton Master Recycler class offered by OSU Campus Recycling and Republic Services.

WHEN: Tuesdays, Jan 8th through Feb 26th, 6:15 pm – 9:00 pm

WHERE: Kearney Hall 305 (on the OSU Corvallis campus at 14th and Campus Way)

WHAT: This once-per-week, 8-week class will explore landfill science, recycling, waste reduction, reuse opportunities, composting, community sustainability, green building, hazardous waste and taking action. It is free to residents of Linn and Benton County who agree to “pay back” what they learned through 30 hours of volunteer service after completion of the course.

INFO & REGISTRATION: Visit the Master Recyclers webpage. Registration is open until Jan 2nd, or until spots are full (if all spots fill before Jan 2nd, a wait list will be started).

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Thank you to Waste Watcher Jodie Davaz for making this video!

About the group

Waste Watchers is a joint group between Campus Recycling and the Student Sustainability Initiative that works on events and other outreach related to waste reduction on campus. You can become a Waste Watcher too by volunteering with us! Visit our website for more info.

We are a joint group between Campus Recycling and the Student Sustainability Initiative that works on events and other outreach related to waste reduction on campus. You can become a Waste Watcher too by volunteering with us! Learn more on our volunteer page, or drop by our fall term meetings:

Waste Watchers’ Fall Meetings

WHEN: Mondays during fall term, 5 to 6 p.m.

WHERE: Student Sustainability Center, 738 SW 15^th Street

WHAT: All are welcome to drop by our weekly meetings, at which we work on activities for fall events such as America Recycles Day, scrap craft events, repair fairs, etc.

CONTACT: For more info, contact Andrea Norris by email or 541-737-5398 or visit our volunteer page. Or, just drop by our meeting!

The first person to to answer correctly will win an OSU reusable cold cup like this one!

Submit your answer here (“Leave a Reply,” below), on our Facebook page or tweet it to @osurecycling on Twitter. Only one guess per person, please.

Question of the Week:

When is our next volunteer team meeting, and what is the name of said team?

 Answer

Our volunteer team, the Waste Watchers, meets on Mondays at 5-6 pm this term, at the Student Sustainability Center. Congrats to Ryan Hutchinson, who won on Facebook!

Drop by our first event of the year to enjoy snacks, learn about the volunteer team, meet new people who share your interests, and try your hand at the recycling game!

WHAT: Waste Watchers Meet ‘n’ Eat

WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 27, 6-7 pm

WHERE: OSU Women’s Center (blue house NE of Valley Library)

Join the event on Facebook

We hope to see you there!

(Note: If you can’t make the event, you can vote for the regular fall term meeting time by filling out your availability in this poll, by Thursday night.)

Our volunteer team, the Waste Watchers are looking to start a repair workshop where people can bring in common items and get help repairing them rather than buying new.

Do you or someone you know have skills fixing things – small appliances, computers, clothing, anything?

If so, please comment below or email Andrea Norris. Thank you!

Do you or someone you know have repair skills? If so, please let us know!

1. AMERICA RECYCLES DAY

Hosted an event on this nationally recognized day that focused on collecting hard-to-recycle items, and was open to both the on- and off-campus community. In just four hours, we collected 3,000 pounds of electronics, electronic storage media and batteries, plus 30 cubic yards of Styrofoam and film plastic.

2. MASTER RECYCLER CLASS

Again co-taught the Linn-Benton Master Recycler class with Allied Waste, which trained more participants than in any year since the program began in 2007.

3. RES. HALL MOVE-OUT DONATION DRIVE

Exceeded our 10-ton goal, collecting 20,122 pounds of donations that went to local nonprofits rather than the landfill.

4. NEW REVENUE

Began partnering with the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative to separate and redeem bottles and cans with redemption value, bringing in a new source of revenue for our program.

5. DA VINCI DAYS

At the 2011 festival, through collaboration with da Vinci Days staff, Allied Waste, and community volunteers, 87% of the trash was diverted either to recycling or compost.  This was yet another decrease in trash since the festival waste reduction initiative began in 2010; over the first two years of the initiative, per capita trash has decreased by 80%.

6. DEPARTMENT COMPOST

Spent two terms tracking weights from our department compost collection route, then began developing a model for instituting composting in buildings across campus in the future.

Some of the e-waste collected during RecycleMania.

7. RECYCLEMANIA

Again sponsored OSU’s participation in the national RecycleMania competition, and partnered with many other campus departments and student organizations to put on events throughout the competition. Highlights from this year include:

• 6% increase in per capita recycling over 2011,
• 49,000 pounds of electronics collected for recycling in just one month, earning OSU a 5th place ranking in the national e-waste competition,
• 5,000 gallons of Styrofoam collected in one week
• 1st place ranking among Oregon universities, and the Civil War Champion title for the third year.

8. EARTH WEEK

Again lead the annual Earth Week celebration, and partnered with over 50 organizations to put on the 12th Annual Earth Week Community Fair.

Earth Week Community Fair

9. EXPANDED OUR REACH

We increased public awareness of our program and recycling by:

• Increased our media presence (for example, by being featured in many front page articles in the Corvallis Gazette-Times),
• Coordinated more educational events throughout the academic year, and
• Expanded our social media followers and engagement by launching a new blog in July 2011, creating our own educational videos and YouTube channel, and growing our fan base on Facebook and Twitter.

10. NEW VOLUNTEER TEAM

Developed a volunteer team that works on outreach and events throughout the year, creating experiential learning and leadership opportunities for OSU students.

A portion of the volunteer team, with the Styrofoam igloo they constructed for RecycleMania.

Thank you to everyone who made 2011-12 such a great year!

Campus Recycling is once again coordinating composting and recycling at the annual da Vinci Days Festival (July 20-22) and we need your help!

Sign-up soon to get your preferred shifts, and free festival admission.

How to Volunteer

You will either staff a recycling station – greeting attendees and helping them sort their waste into compost, recycling, and trash, or work behind the scenes sorting waste from Green Star food vendors and unstaffed festival bins to ensure as much as possible is recycled and composted. This is a big undertaking and an enormous opportunity to both divert organic material from our landfill and educate people from our community and beyond about composting! See how we did in previous years.

Click to see 2011 results.

Sign up for 4 or more hours (at least 2 two-hour shifts) during the weekend and receive a FREE ALL WEEKEND BRACELET; have fun staffing a station and enjoy the festival the rest of the day (If you volunteer for fewer than 4 hours, you will need to pay the admission fee). Volunteers will also receive a volunteer button and an invite to the volunteer breakfast in early June. 16 and older please.

How to Sign-up

Fill out the form at http://tiny.cc/greenteam2012

Volunteers staffing a recycle station at the 2011 festival.