Carnegie Mellon University
IN-25: Innovation B

Our Recycling Education Center in the Jared L. Cohon University Center has been in place for about 10 years now, where most anything can be recycled. The space includes a eco-awards display case, a kiosk linking to our Environment at CMU website, a bulletin board for environmental news and handouts. The Green Practices Committee decided to update the room to be more broadly focused on Sustainability and asked faculty and students to help in the process. In the Spring 2018, a faculty member in the Design Department, used our project for a new design elective called Environmental Typography. Three student teams came up with design ideas and we chose one of the designs. The Green Practices team applied for a campus Uplift Grant and received 15k for the renovation graphics, while Facilities Management & Campus Services will support all facility related costs and infrastructure improvements. Attached is the student presentation of the proposed changes and a class project description. We started the first phase of the project the summer of 2018 by removing the old graphics and repainting, now in the next phase, campus Marketing and Communications is designing the new graphics, FMCS has purchased new recycling bins, and student designers are making slides for the electronic message board that will be installed in the room. The green space is a public walk through area, where campus tours stop, so the area will be a public showcase for campus sustainability as well as a functioning recycling center in one of our most populated buildings on campus. For the third phase of the project, we are asking students in Architecture to make a bench and chairs with materials from our recently deconstructed solar decathlon house, so we can have a small sitting area in the room. We intend to schedule programming and 'office hours' to engage with the campus community about sustainability issues.