Starting Your Eco-friendly Journey at Sidney-Pacific

Welcome to Sidney-Pacific! We are one of the most eco-friendly student communities on campus, and we count on you to continue make a difference in our everyday lives. Here are the tips for an eco-lifestyle at SP:

Recycling:

  • Don’t leave your recyclables in front of your door.
  • Dispose your recyclables into the big recycling bins conveniently located in each corridor.
  • Make sure you rinse the bottles and containers if needed. Contaminated items ruin other recyclables and make your corridor smelly.
  • Single stream pick-ups at SP are twice a week, usually Mondays and Thursdays. Before pick-up times the recycling bin in your corridor might disappear for a day or so, be patient — it will come back! Single-stream recycling includes glass products, plastics 1-7, paper and cardboard.
  • Bring reusable bags to the grocery store! Note that used plastic bags CANNOT be recycled in single stream. Observe that they do not actually have a plastic recycling number. Instead, they are collected in a special bin in the main lobby and sent back to be recycled into new shopping bags.

Composting:

  • Get a compost biodegradable bag from the main lobby by the front desk and once you have filled it up, simply leave it in front of your door. The cleaning staff will take it to the compost bins located outside the building for you. Please make sure the bag is not leaking!
  • If you prefer to take it out yourself, the compost bins are located behind the courtyard, at the west entrance of the parking lot. Also, don’t hesitate to use the compost bins available in every common kitchen!
  • We now compost ALL food and plant waste, including meat and dairy, as well as napkins, tea bags, coffee residues and other compostable products.

Techno-cycle:

  • Techno-cycle bin is located in the main lobby.
  • Read the label on the bin carefully for qualifying items.
  • NO light bulbs, batteries, monitors, CPUs, toner cartridges! ABSOLUTELY NO single stream recyclables!

Batteries:

  • Battery collection bin is in the main lobby, located next to the techno-cycle.

Energy Efficiency:

  • Use stairs when you can, challenge yourself! Walk or bike to your lab!
  • Use drying racks available for check-out at the front desk to dry your laundry.
  • Turn off A/C when you leave your room for the day.

Reusing:

  • Use the SP-MORE service (see details in this issue) and obtain free household items donated by previous residents instead of buying new items at the store!
  • You have something you do not wish to use anymore? Don’t trash it! Send an email to the SP ‘reuse’ interest group at sp-igroups-reuse@mit.edu!

Other Sustainable Efforts:

  • Bring your own eating ware to the SP food events like coffee hours or brunches. Save disposable, single-use stuff and win prizes in the Green Raffle every week! Note that all provided utensils at brunches and coffee hours are compostable, do not trash them! Instead use the red bins for compost!

For more information about recycling, composting and techno-cycle:

Questions? Contact sp-environment-chair@mit.edu

Don’t miss our visit of the recycling center on August 31st! Look out for posters!

By Ece Glusen and Jean-Philippe Coutu, SP Environment Committee