Book donations for schools

As we continue to sort through the thousands of pounds of books we receive from campus, the libraries, and the Drop-off Center, we decided to start donating children's books to public schools.

This will be on first-come, first-served and as-needed bases. These books are intended to be used in the classrooms and will range in condition, age group, and sizes. We will deliver approximately 300 pounds of books to each school, and teachers and administrators will have one week to sort and select the books they want to keep. At the end of that week, we will pickup the remainder.

More details, as well as opportunities for registration, will be announced soon.

Community Reuse Days

October 8-13, 2012

Monday to Friday 7am to 3pm and Saturday 9am to 1 pm

The MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center strives to engage the community by providing sustainable solutions for the disposal of unwanted materials.  By partnering with the University community, we are able to advance waste reduction initiatives and promote environmental stewardship.

MSU Community Reuse Days are an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and alumni to take an active role in helping develop sustainable solutions by dropping off unwanted household items to the Surplus Store.  All material collected is resold, reused or recycled and the proceeds from the sale of re-sellable items helps support our efforts to increase materials collected from campus and the community

As a result of past Community Reuse Days, we’ve been able to expand recycling opportunities of colored glass (all colors accepted) at the Recycling Drop-off Center and implement a pilot polystyrene (Styrofoam) recycling program on campus.  We are currently looking into solutions for recycling alkaline batteries.

Community Reuse Days are held each fall and spring.  Upcoming days are October 8 through the 13th.  Hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Materials Accepted:

• E-waste and household electronics:
  • Personal computers, keyboards and mouses, TV's, monitors, telephones, cell phones, laptops, VCR's, printers, scanners, microwaves, copy machines and small items such as coffee makers, vacuums and toasters.
• Good, usable furniture (no mattresses)
• Sporting goods including bicycles and exercise equipment
• Books, magazines, DVD's and CD's
• Scrap metal
• Appliances
• Holiday decorations
• Knick knacks and trinkets
• Kitchen items
• Styrofoam (Polystyrene)

Not Currently Accepted:

• Hazadous waste
• Alkaline batteries
• Chemicals
• Cleaning Supplies
• Mattresses
• Clothing
• Modular Furniture Panels

Unloading assistance will be provided and we will be offering free paper shredding. Community Reuse Days are for personal use only. Businesses are encouraged to contact one of the many e-waste recycling providers in the mid-Michigan area.

Styrofoam (Polystyrene) Collection

Please place Styrofoam in a clear plastic bag.  Please rinse off and remove food waste.
Acceptable items include:

• Foam cups and containers.
• Foam egg cartons
• Foam trays
• Most packaging foam – molded forms and shapes
• Bulk packaging foam used in computers, electronics, etc.
• Packaging peanuts (bag separately from other foam)

We cannot accept:

• Process flame-retardant material (i.e. pink or blue insulation foam)
• Expanded plastic packaging material (a sponge-like material that resembles foam)

Go green for Homecoming with MSU Community Reuse Days

It’s time to clear out some space in your garage, attic, and basement before winter, because we're giving the entire MSU community a green option for getting rid of unwanted items.

Homecoming week, starting October 17th, will be our next biannual Community Reuse Days event, where all reusable items will be accepted from MSU faculty, staff, students, alumni, and retirees.

Typical goods include sporting equipment and apparel, non-upholstered furniture, electronics, appliances, media, knick knacks, and a wide assortment of other objects. Items received at the event will be recycled, resold, or donated to a non-profit organization. As with everything collected by the MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center, sending material to the landfill is always a last resort.

This particular Community Reuse Days event will be the first time that e-waste (non-functioning electronic parts) recycling and confidential document shredding will be offered for free. However, it should be noted that the event is for individuals, not businesses.

Proceeds from re-sellable items will support our continuing increase of materials collected from campus and the community. The MSU Recycling Drop-off Center recently started accepting all colors of glass, and we hope to have solutions for recycling polystyrene (Styrofoam) and alkaline batteries in the future.

Donations will be accepted at the north dock of the MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center from 7:00am to 3:00pm from Monday, October 17th through Friday, October 21st. Call 517-355-1723 for more details.

REUSE, Save and Have Fun at a University Surplus Store

We’re trying something new. We think REUSE is very important to a sustainable future and want to promote the idea as much as possible. Squidoo gives us this opportunity. We’ve created a lens that provides information about college and university surplus stores all over the country. It shows a Google map of the different stores, links to web pages, eBay sales, etc… If you know of other surplus stores please drop us a line and we’ll add their information.

http://www.squidoo.com/msusurplusstore

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Weekend Happenings

We’re closed this Friday in observance of Independence Day. Luckily we’re not the only sale in town. I would encourage you to check out Friday’s auction at Dennis Beals Auctions in downtown Haslett. We all need to support local small businesses and Dennis puts on a great auction. He has an easy call so newcomers to auctions shouldn’t be intimidated. This Friday’s sale is the 10th of the Eric Olson estate. He was the owner of a local antique shop and the quality and variety of offered items is hard to match in this quantity. I didn’t see much going on with Estate Sales this weekend, but next week looks promising.

http://www.dennisbealsauction.com/events.htm