A Jumbo in Jamaica?Not quite, but your old desk or mattress might be heading for sunnier weather, in order to furnish the residences of people in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
Last Friday, assisted by the Institution Recycling Network (IRN), 544 pieces of Tufts’ used office and school furnishing said goodbye to a snowy Medford. That’s over 14 tons of surplus furniture! In the end, it will help furnish the home of a Jamaican citizen or non-profit who would otherwise have no desk, chair or even a mattress.
Not only does this contribute to the economic development of Jamaica (have you ever tried studying without a desk or a chair, after an uncomfortable night’s sleep?), but it is also the right decision for the environment. According to the IRN, donating for re-use will divert 98% of materials from disposal. Why throw away something that is still usable?!? And for all you econ majors, it even makes financial sense – more often than not, waste disposal and recycling are actually costlier options. Just a little tip for move out day.
The Facilities Department deserves a big round of applause for this wonderful effort!
Posted by
amanda
at 4:38 PM
February 15, 2008
New Video Debut- "Live With It" Some people recycle, some don't. Starring Sara Raley. Produced by Laur Fisher, Written and Directed by Yosefa Ehrlich, Lori Lichtman, Lucy McKeon and Laur Fisher. January 2008
This wonderful video was created by Tufts Recycles! interns who realized that there are many lesser known recyclable items. This video attempts to highlight that "bottles and cans" includes plastic cups and containers, batteries should be recycled and that food should be rinsed from to-go containers before recycling. The secondary message of this video is - if you don't recycle, keep it to yourself, don't clog up our land and air with trash.
RecycleMania for Planet EarthIn honor of RecycleMania, Tufts Recycles! will be showing the Planet Earth series, one or two episodes a week, every Sunday night at 9pm in Barnum 008. The series began with an overview of the earth’s diverse habitats in “From Pole to Pole” and Mountains (shown 1/27). Next we explored “Fresh Water” and “Caves” (shown 2/10) from across the world. Each episode concentrates on an ecological setting, such as our next showing “Deserts” and “Ice Worlds” (Barnum 008, 9pm 2/24), and shows extremely precise (high-definition) and difficult-to-obtain footage that took over 5 years to collect.
Narrator David Attenborough comments, “This new series is more a celebration of our planet, not a lament about the state of it. It shows what is still there. In some areas there is no doubt that we are doing damage to our world but, at the same time, there is a vast amount of uncharted and untouched wilderness.” We can hope that a series like Planet Earth will encourage people to take initiative to emphasize the importance of the wilderness and, with all optimism, to expand and not diminish its vastness.
So come to Barnum and enjoy the beauty of our planet with other enthusiasts. And don’t forget to look out for Recyclemania stats, coming to a bulletin board near you every Monday.
Not quite, but your old desk or mattress might be heading for sunnier weather, in order to furnish the residences of people in Spanish Town, Jamaica. 
In honor of