Shredding and Green SWAG for Smiles on Earth Day
Free shredding of personal papers plus cool green SWAG in exchange for a photo pledge is just some of the fun to be had at the Earth Day campus celebration this year.
Set for Thursday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the school lobbies, the 2016 UMass Chan Medical School Earth Day celebration will include more than 40 displays with a mix of campus favorites, including local food and craft vendors, electric/hybrid vehicles and energy efficiency products and services.
New this year, Shred-it, the medical school’s document disposal provider, will have bins at the Earth Day event for students, faculty and staff to deposit personal papers they want shredded at no charge.
“We appreciate Shred-it helping on Earth Day,” said Suzanne Wood, sustainability and energy manager at UMass Chan. “The Earth Day shredding is only for people’s personal papers they can bring from home, not work related materials which should be handled by departments in the regular way.”
It’s important to note there will be no electronics recycling at Earth Day this year, Wood said. “The first couple of electronics recycling events were huge successes. We took in tens of thousands of pounds of items,” Wood said. “For the past two years, though, it’s really dropped off. I think people have cleaned out their basements and garages, or found other options, so we want to do something different this year. We hope the shredding service will be useful for our community.”
Also new this year will be the UMass Chan Growing Green photo pledge booth. People will be asked to have their photo taken to show their support of “reduce, reuse and recycle” as watch-words to adopt more sustainable practices in their lives, both on campus and at home.
Photos will be posted on the Growing Green Facebook page, and as a reward people who take the photo pledge can choose some green SWAG, either a new UMass Chan Growing Green water bottle or ID lanyard. Members of WooCycle, the UMass Chan student sustainability group, will be managing the photo booth.