- $950 RAISED OF $10,000 GOAL
- 5 DONORS
HONOR ROLL
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Emily Hoppel $50.00
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Michael Pruente $750.00
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Laura Young $25.00
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David Smith $25.00
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Kristopher Jolley $100.00
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Built from the ground up, the Surplus Store & Recycling Center (SSRC) has always been driven by the ambitions and aspirations of the MSU community. Over the last few decades SSRC developed an integrated system of reuse, recycling, composting, and upcycling that operationalize the department’s mission -- to manage MSU’s waste as a resource.
Waste minimization is a collective effort, made of countless choices informed not only by awareness, knowledge, and access, but by experiences that shape and motivate. Financial support is essential to providing meaningful experiential learning to the community we serve.
Your Support Will Make a Big Difference
Support community events, experiential learning, advocacy and the arts! Give today to fund programming and student success.
Since students petitioned for recycling access over 30 years ago, the amount of campus waste that has been reused, recycled, or composted has increased by nearly 50%, despite now having roughly 30% more students. This achievement informs SSRC’s ambitious goal of increasing the amount of campus waste kept out the landfill from the current rate of 44% to 60% by the end of FY2026/27. At the same time, the incredible reduction in waste since the late ‘80s serves as a testament to what’s possible through a community that cares -- about fiscal stewardship, environmental conservation, and building a better world.
Last year we fostered a community of changemakers through activities, including:
82 tours of the award-winning facility- 24 community events, workshops, and creative reuse drop-in days at SSRC, including 15 student-specific events
- partnering with over a dozen academic classes
- research involvement
- real-world career experience for student interns
- supporting 20 student-led events and 5 student clubs
- year-round Spartan Upcycle programming
- collecting hard-to-recycle materials like holiday lights
- the annual, student-initiated “Pumpkin Plop,” an opportunity for composting
- serving as a resource for salvaged materials
- advocacy
Check out our engagement report to learn more!
Your gift will expand opportunities that foster a view of waste as a resource.
Funds may cover costs such as:
- the expansion of free creative reuse opportunities and backyard composting workshops;
- engagement with youth programs;
- paid internships, open to MSU students of all degree tracks;
- involvement in annual community events, such as Recycle-Rama and the ScrapFest ReFashion Show;
- tools and equipment in workshops and events, such as a t-shirt size block press to give discarded clothes a new purpose and a glass bottle cutter for making planters and pendant lights, as well as ongoing needs such as ink, wood sealer, glue, and safety gear;
- items to increase accessibility, such as adaptive sewing tools and a tour guide audio system;
- upcycled artist-in-residency and/or community recycled art show;
- guest workshop instructors; and
- interactive education displays suitable for all ages.
Make a Gift by Mail:
University Advancement
Spartan Way
535 Chestnut Road, Room 300
East Lansing, MI 48824
*Make check payable to Michigan State University and write “Appeal 25AFCCF1RCYED” in the note section.