Give & Go Green

About

Second round applications are open NOW until Saturday, March 28th at midnight for both programs! Click here or go to tinyurl.com/gggcu2020 to apply!!!

Give and Go Green is a donation drive held at the end of every spring semester. We collect items like mini fridges, fans, and lamps to store over the summer and then sell to new students during Fall NSOP at the Green Sale for a very discounted price. Each year, we accept around 40 volunteers from our applicant pool to stay a week after school ends in the city to help collect and sort through donations. These donations culminate in the Green Sale, which takes place during Green NSOP. Although Give and Go Green generates revenue for Ecoreps to fund other large projects like Greenfest, we also donate all of the clothes, food, toiletries, and books we receive to local charities, and have been the largest donators to Goodwill in the past years.

Green NSOP takes place at the beginning of Fall semester in which a group of 30 to 40 Columbia students come to campus during NSOP to help Columbia Housing with new student check-in while preparing for a giant annual sale, called the Green Sale, of donated and salvaged items from the previous semester. These items are collected in a program called Give and Go Green. At the Green Sale, all students, both new and current (and even alums!), can find a large selection of used items at affordable prices. Popular items at this sale include textbooks, mini fridges, fans, lamps, and kitchenware. Every year, we collect and sell thousands of items to divert usable items from landfill. All proceeds from this sale are used to fund EcoReps' sustainability initiatives, such as GreenFest.


Photo Gallery GGG 2018



FAQs

Give and Go Green is a 10-day program at the end of every spring semester. A group of 30 to 40 students from Columbia College and Columbia Engineering collect donations from bins set up by EcoReps during finals and move out.
gNSOP is an opportunity for EcoReps members to check in and interact with the new first years by introducing them to the sustainable practices of Columbia as well promoting the annual Greensale. gNSOP volunteers also help organize the Greensale by unpacking all the items that were stored over the summer and selling them during the actual event.

SO MANY REASONS.

  • SUSTAINABILITY: GGG and gNSOP have a significant and tangible impact on campus sustainability by diverting thousands of pounds of items from going to waste every year.
  • MENTAL: GGG and gNSOP are both typically require you to be on your feet and doing a lot of physical work. After a long week of mental exertion from finals, doing physical activity is extremely cathartic and a great way to decompress from the school year.
  • SOCIAL: Meet other CC and SEAS undergrads from all different majors and interests that you may never have crossed paths with before! Who knows, you might even meet your best friend :)
  • PRACTICALITY: We provide free Spring interim housing (and free breakfast and lunches), so if you are staying on campus over the summer, this is a great way to save money on housing.
Most of all, sign up because you care! + plus you can make cool environmentally friendly friends :)

During reading week, you will be asked to help set up donation boxes in the lobbies of residence halls and begin initial collection. This should be only a few hours of commitment, and the hours are extremely flexible-- we'll work around your finals schedule!

In GGG, you will have essentially two tasks: collecting and organizing. For collecting, you will be going around to different residence halls in teams with green bins (blue bins, but in iconic EcoReps style) to pick up donations left in the lobbies. Later on, we will go floor to floor and pick up anything left behind in the hallways as well. The items you pick up will be brought to Wien lounge and sorted and boxed by the organizing team for easy transport to Manhattan Mini, our storage location. Two days will be devoted to moving the items into storage; on these days, we will send a team down to Chelsea to meet our moving trucks on the other end and help unload (lunch for this team is typically at Chelsea market, still covered by us). There will also be two days of the program dedicated to washing, taping, and numbering the hundreds of fridges we collect to prepare them for storage.

In gNSOP, your responsibilities will be divided into tabling for NSOP, moving our GGG collections from storage back to Wien lounge, and helping put on the Greensale! On tabling days, you'll welcome new first-years with sustainability kits as they check-in with housing for a short shift (you won't be expected to table for the entire day). Often, you'll be the first student that the first-years interact with on campus! On moving days, you'll work 9am to 5pm-- we'll have a team load up trucks in Chelsea and the rest of us in Wien lounge to unload and organize items for the Greensale. During the actual sale, you'll get assigned a specific task and a shift (you won't be expected to work the sale for the entire day).

YES! Although most of the work we do is collection and requires physical labor, our organizing roles are essential to the functioning of the program and are a lot less physically demanding! If you are interested in the program and believe physical limitations may cause problems, please contact us! There is a role for everyone :)
You will NOT have to pay for housing during this program. We will provide breakfasts and lunches, and you are welcome to take home any extra food from lunch for dinner. We also will have a few optional dinners available that we’ll cook with the food we find!
Initially, you will be asked to work a few hours during finals week. From the start of the program to the end, you will be expected to work from 9am to 5pm every day— don’t plan anything during these hours!
Yes! During GGG, everyone will have to work 9am-5pm for the duration of the program, including weekends! During gNSOP, there may be some off days, and exact schedule will be released closer to the start of the program, but make sure not to schedule anything during that time to avoid potential conflict!
Ideally, we would require volunteers to attend every single day, as we are providing them with food and board for an extended period of time. We understand that issues may arise, whether it is health related or scheduling conflicts, so we understand if a person needs to miss a day; however, we may ask you to make up the time missed on another day. Please make sure to notify the team of any possible scheduling conflicts during your interview!
Unfortunately, at this time, students in GS, Barnard, or a graduate school are not eligible for this program. If you are a student at Barnard College, get in touch with Barnard EcoReps and see how you can get involved in the Barnard Give and Go Green program!
Applications for both the 2019 GGG and gNSOP programs are open NOW until midnight on Saturday, March 28th, 2020. Apply HERE!
Please contact any of our coordinators with any other questions and concerns!
Senior Coordinators:
  • Johanna Klein: jmk2264
  • Sonia Mahajan: ssm2213
  • Midori Sangiolo: mis2150


Hype Video


Coordinators


Johanna Klein
SEAS '21 | jmk2264


Sonia Mahajan
CC '21 | ssm2213


Midori Sangiolo
SEAS '21 | mis2150