Although clothing recycling bins have been on Stony Brook University’s campus for over 20 years, the school is trying something new this year: red hot colored donation bins intended to encourage students and faculty to think and act green. These donation bins have enhanced signage and messaging, clearly indicating what can be donated and where the donations go.
“Overtime, with rust and wear and tear, the bins really fall apart. It was time to get newly refurbished bins for the University, and to improve the communication and verbiage on the bins, so students know what is acceptable and what is not,” Michael Youdelman, the facilities and services manager who oversees the recycling program, said.
All the bins are revamped with QR codes that go directly to the University’s Campus Operations & Maintenance website, which features information about the recycling program, where the donations are sent after they are collected and a map of the bin locations.
Stony Brook recycles bottles and cans, laundry detergent containers and paper products such as notebooks. The recyclables go to materials recycling facility in the Town of Brookhaven.
“The QR code on the bins takes you to our website, with the idea being to improve communication with the entire campus or even outside users,” Youdelman said.
Youdelman and others overseeing the recycling program work alongside Wearable Collections, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing textile waste and promoting sustainability. The program also gathers clothing, shoes and other textiles to reduce landfill waste and provide pre-owned items a new purpose for those in need.
According to Wearable Collections’ website, around half of the items collected will be reused as clothing and sold in secondhand markets worldwide. The rest will be upcycled into rags or turned into fiber products and used for other purposes such as insulation or mattress stuffing.
“I love the idea behind the recycling bins. Sustainability is something a lot of college students don’t really think about but is extremely important,” Emily Kelly, a senior English major, said. “I love to thrift a lot of my clothing and this is another way to continue to shop sustainably.”
“For the most part, it’s been a very good and successful program. It’s a program I personally really enjoy,” Youdelman said.
Brionna Garcia, a senior majoring in history, said they appreciated the clothing bins’ accessibility.
“Honestly, recycling isn’t something I give much thought to, but this is a really easy way to get involved in it,” Garcia said. “I definitely will check the bins out and donate whatever I can.”
The University collects around 10 tons, or about 22,046 pounds, of material annually to be recycled.
In the future, Youdelman would like to see the program branch out to different areas on Stony Brook’s campus.
“The desire is to see if we can branch out to the east campus eventually, and to incorporate the veterans home and the University hospital eventually,” Youdelman said. “The recycling program is my favorite part of my job.”
In addition to the recycling program, the University has an EcoLeader program, which is a student leadership initiative focused on positive awareness of environmental issues and encourages campuswide sustainable practices. Their goal is to promote environmentally conscious behavior by reducing the University’s carbon footprint.
Stony Brook also has a Planting Program that manages its tree care. Since 2009, Stony Brook has had over 15,000 plants planted, which ended up growing inside the University’s campus greenhouse.
Stony Brook University is also a member of Second Nature, a network of colleges and universities dedicated to addressing global climate concerns by making commitments to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, as well as educating campus communities of programs and practices to help improve the climate.
Despite this, a report authored in Oct. 2023 and authored by the University Environment Committee of Stony Brook University’s senate found that the school was not doing enough to meet the environmental guidelines set by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul.
Stony Brook is currently anticipating achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
