Campus California

Together we can make a difference, one shirt at a time!

Summer 2011

We would like to thank all our site hosts, donors and supporters for

the year of 2010 and a great start of 2011. Campus California has,

during this time, collected 5,318 tons! That has meant that 10,000,000

pounds of clothes have been collected for reuse, a number of jobs

have been created, natural resources saved and money generated to

support important development work done across the globe. We

believe this to be a big victory not only for us and for our supported

programs, but also for all of us and, certainly, for our planet; By

keeping a number of toxic chemicals from being released into the

environment during the making of new products and green house

gases from being emitted into the atmosphere if the textiles would

have ended in the landfills.

We look forward to your continued support in this important effort.

Our planet deserves it. The need for transforming our old habits into

new ones, to liberate ourselves from our fossil fuel dependency and

create sustainable development across the globe is, without a doubt, a

growing one; and it requires us to act now.

Once more: a warm thank you from us, and all our supported

programs. We look forward to much more.

We all share one home, our planet; we must all take part and consider the impact our actions have for the future.

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Summer 2011In this issue:

Page 3

Page 4

Page 6

Page 7

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

An activist university

degree

Good earth

New city ordinance in

Richmond.

Our effort to get books

to schools continues…

pg. 3

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Page 2 Campus California has

started operations in

Phoenix

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For our planet and its people

Campus California July 2011

2

Campus California has started a new operation in Phoenix

The average American throws

away 68 pounds of textiles each

year. If Valley residents follow

this trend, they will throw out

around 300 million pounds of

textiles in 2011. Until April 2011

Valley residents had the chance

to donate textiles for reuse at

manned donation centers, or at

drop-boxes. These drop boxes

are few and widely spread.

Donation of unwanted textiles

was not convenient unless you

had transport and the time to

travel a reasonable distance from

where you live. We estimate that

at most 25% of unwanted

textiles in the Valley are

currently donated each year, the

rest ending up in the landfill.

According to the website of the

City of Phoenix over half a

million tons of solid waste from

individuals ends up in the

Phoenix area landfills each year

– and an academic study

Giving many more people a convenient opportunity to recycle

commissioned by them in 1998

showed that over 50% of

Phoenix garbage was recyclable.

As a result, the city offers a

comprehensive curbside

recycling program (but not the

chance to recycle textiles).

There is no doubt that there is a

need for a much more

convenient opportunity, where

people can easily recycle textiles

in the Valley.

From April 2011 Campus

California has started to try to

meet this need, by providing

drop boxes accessible 24/7

throughout the Valley. We are

likely to have a box within one

or two miles from most

businesses and homes, meaning

they are convenient for all.

They are located on the

neighborhood grocery store, gas

station, auto repair, etc. You

can find the box closest to you

by visiting our web site,

www.campus-california.org.

If you have a large donation or

cannot physically get to our

drop-box we may be able to

make a house pickup from you

if you call us.

Campus California July 2011

3

The 3 R’s: Reduce,

Reuse, and Recycle. We hear

the term over and over, almost

like a mantra, how important it

is to do these things, and about

what happens if we don’t. One

of the most common

perceptions is that when we talk

about the 3R’s, we are talking

about solutions for what to do

with solid waste, or in other

words “garbage”. Perhaps it

would be more appropriate to

consider them as components,

stepping stones towards a more

responsible and sustainable

lifestyle instead.

Reduce – In most people’s

everyday life, this concept could

simply mean: If you don’t need

it, don’t buy it! Do you really

need a 28 pack of 16 oz. water

bottles for your home, or can

you just get (the same brand,

same water) a 5 gallons

container? It will probably take

up less space in your fridge

anyway… and it’s cheaper as

well! Product packaging is

generally one of the areas

mentioned a lot for its

wastefulness, but you can also

just reduce your need to buy

things, for example by making

or growing them yourself. A

small vegetable garden is a

perfect sustainability project for

almost anybody, growing your

own food is fun and rewarding

and you don’t even have to

own a lot of land to do it.

There are a number of options

like simple large pots or planter

boxes you can keep on your

balcony or patio, and there are

an increasing number of urban

garden projects in many cities

where you can get involved.

These programs often provide

hands-on training as well!

Reuse – every time we have an

item that we are going to

dispose of, we should first look

at it and say: “What could this

still be used for?” Even

seemingly mundane stuff like

yoghurt containers or plastic

disposable can be turned into

things like seedling holders for

tomatoes, cucumbers or any

other vegetables for your little

growing project. Any time we

reuse an item, we save a lot of

resources and energy that would

otherwise be needed to make

something new to fulfill the same

function. Some items, however

we can’t use any more, even

though they are still in a good

condition. Like that cute purple

top you picked up at a sale some

years back, or those cool pants

you love but just can’t see

yourself wearing them anymore.

It is very simple to reuse clothing,

it is meant to be worn, so all we

need to do is to find someone

who will. A clothing donation

box is a perfect way to get your

no longer wanted pieces of

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

We all share one home, our

planet; we must all take part and consider the impact our actions have for the future.

R

Picture from: Jrumchai Singalavanij

Campus California July 2011

4

apparel underway to be useful

again. Campus California

collects this clothing and sends it

on its way to places where used

clothing is often the only

affordable option for the people.

Recycle – The last component of

the 3R’s, recycling refers to

returning no longer usable

products to the industry in the

form of base materials, to be

used to make new products. To

collect bottles and cans to be

melted down and made into new

bottles and cans is where it all

started (for the modern age), but

we have progressed a long way

from there. The nature of

recycling has changed from being

about the few things we remove

from the garbage towards the

garbage itself being only the few

things we don’t know how to

recycle just yet. The ever-

increasing list of items you can

place into your blue recycling

cart is a very good example of

this. The main benefits of

recycling are that it saves energy

(energy=oil, mostly) compared to

using virgin materials to make a

product and we can avoid the

negative environmental effects

associated with mining and

production of raw materials. A

small portion of the textiles

collected in Campus California’s

donation boxes are no longer in a

wearable condition, these usually

end up sold to fiber-makers to be

recycled into threads. These

threads can then be used to make

new clothing or other textile

products, saving a lot of water

and pollution from chemicals

that would normally be used to

grow the cotton and produce

the fabric, including highly

toxic dyes.

When considering the relative

value or importance of the 3R’s,

a rule of thumb is that reuse is

better for the environment than

recycling and that reduce is

better than reuse. That said,

however all three of them have

an indispensable role in our

efforts as a society to change

our lifestyle and our approach

towards planet Earth. We need

to make these changes in order

to satisfy the needs of future

generations.

If you are interested in learning

more about the environmental

impacts of textile recycling,

please visit our website

www.campus-california.org.

Continued

Campus California’s recycling

program has kept from the

landfills 3,554 tons of clothes in

2010 alone. In 2011 we have

further expanded our

operations to Phoenix, AZ.

With the proceeds generated by

our collection activities,

Campus California, now,

supports other non-profit

organizations running programs

that enable young

people to take part in sustainable

development work. In 2012 two

of this institutions will offer a

new program; an activist teacher

training program, with a clear

departure from popular academia

and it prepares you for leading

people into the future; A new

and necessary education for a

rapidly changing world. You

may ask: why teachers? We are

experiencing a time

characterized by fatal decisions

and events that are affecting the

entire globe, crossing all known

borders. It is dawning on more

and more people that life on

our planet, as we know it, will

undergo dramatic changes in

the years and decades to come.

The changes we have

experienced in the past decades

An activist university degree

Campus California July 2011

5

will be minor compared to those

of the future. The young people of

today will be around in the year

2050, and that is the future they

need to be prepared for. We will

be faced with the challenges of

transforming our societies;

from their dependency on fossil

fuel and dealing with the food

crisis following the wake, coping

with the increased numbers of

natural disasters resulting from

global warming, the widening gap

between the rich and poor, and

resolving the political and

economical social crisis that have

the potential to become very

ugly. The world needs teachers

and institutions that will put the

future on the agenda. Present and

future generations need to have

the knowledge, skills, and

practical experiences to cope with

and be a part of creating changes.

We need to take on the

challenges of the future together

which will naturally challenge the

penetrating individualism in our

society. It is only from a

collective effort that we will

produce the impact we need. The

generations of today, and the

future, need to learn and practice

how to create a rich and

productive life, in peace and

cooperation with each other

despite their political, social, and

cultural differences.

Continued

On average, each one of

us produces 4.4 pounds

of solid waste each day.

This adds up to almost a

ton of trash per person,

per year.

A typical family

consumes 182 gallons of

soda, 29 gallons of juice,

104 gallons of milk, and

26 gallons of bottled

water a year. That's a lot

of containers -- make sure

they're recycled!

The teacher transfers ethical and moral values to the children and to the

community with his words

as well as with his deeds

Rainforests are being cut

down at the rate of 100

acres per minute!

A single quart of motor

oil, if disposed of

improperly, can

contaminate up to

2,000,000 gallons of fresh

water

The world is in need of

teachers with the

ambition of creating

change for the better.

Campus California July 2011

6

Good Earth We would like to use this occasion to praise one of our donation box hosts for their efforts

to preserve the Earth and its natural resources.

Here is a quote from the

Good Earth Natural Foods

store in Fairfax, Marin

County, California:

“You won't find us listed on

the New York Stock

Exchange, nor are we going

to open a store in

neighborhoods all over the

Planet. We simply want to

sell our customers foods

grown and processed using

the radical but ancient

concept, care. Often care

takes a back seat to the

pursuit of the almighty dollar.

We feel that this is wrong and

shortsighted. We offer foods

grown and prepared using a

minimum of processing and

no chemical pesticides or

food additives. If we cannot

meet this ideal with a certain

food item, we get as close as

we can and make as much noise

as we can to change it for the

better. We always endeavor to

remember that food contains

spirit.”

Besides only selling organic and

pesticide free products, Good

Earth Natural Food is also

special in other ways:

Most of the products are

produced locally, which means

they are fresh and that they are

free of the costly, energy

consuming and polluting long

distance transport.

There are no limits for what you

can buy in bulk at Good Earth

Natural Foods. You can bring

your own container for

practically anything, get it

weighed when you enter the

store, fill it up with what you

need and weigh it out again by

the cashier. We are not only

talking about grains and the

like, but also about olive oil,

vinegar, honey, a variety of

spices, the lists goes on.

So instead of having to dispose

of the bottle each time it is

empty, you bring it again and

again to the store and fill it up.

No waste dumped in the

landfill. No energy used for

recycling of the bottle or

resources used in making a

new one. The principle of

Reuse practiced at its best

sense.

We very much would like to

thank Good Earth Natural

Food for their dedication to the

care of our planet, its habitat

and natural resources and at

last but not least for having one

of our clothes collection boxes

at their store!

Campus California July 2011

7

Richmond, for several years now the

hometown of Campus California, recently

became the latest city to change their zoning

ordinance to allow the placement of clothing

collection boxes on commercial properties.

The city council approved the zoning

amendments in May this year and after the

necessary administrative process to implement

the changes was completed, several collection

boxes have already been installed throughout

the city. The reaction of the residents was very

positive; we estimate that up to a thousand

people have donated clothes to the boxes

during the first month.

The city of Richmond has been on a steady path

towards greater sustainability under the current

mayor and we have nothing but praise for the city

staff; for the high level of professionalism and the

very much open minded approach as we were

working out the conditions for safe and

responsible operation of a collection box program.

As a part of our ongoing Books for Schools

initiative, Stege Elementary was the first of

Richmond’s public schools to receive a donation

of children’s books. As a part of this program

schools are given between 5-600 used books at

one time to supplement and replenish the school

library. We are

hoping to

continue this

support to other

schools as more

books become

available.

7

New Ordinance in the city of Richmond

Our effort to get books to schools continues… We continue with our book donation program. Every day the need for resources at our local schools

grows, with budget cuts, it gets harder and harder to keep the standard in education and have enough

personnel and resources available for each student. Most recently Burckhalter elementary in Oakland,

Stage elementary in Richmond and Friends of the library - a parent group in San Carlos, CA,

received several hundred children’s books each.

b k h l i

15501 San Pablo Ave #323

Richmond, CA, 94806

Campus California is a non-profit organization. Our purpose is to work

towards the humanization of mankind and for the care of the planet and all

its species and plants.

This objective is pursued through initiating, running, assisting and

promoting activities aimed at protecting the environment, education,

international development, cooperation and fighting shoulder to shoulder

with the poorest of the world.

Campus California collects and sells used clothing, an activity with a very

strong environmental focus. The proceeds generated by this activity are used to

support the training of international volunteers to work with

sustainable development in the poorest parts of the world.

A non-profit organization, sections 501(C)(3), Federal ID 94-337-1033

State organization number 2238562

www.campus-california.org

Campus California

Campus California Newsletter

Together we can make a difference, one shirt at a time!