Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle

Working with Waste as a Resource

Knox College actively stewards its natural resources by maintaining ambitious waste reduction strategies for special events and campus move-out, nurturing a sharing economy, managing a diverse recycling program for traditional and nontraditional materials, and having an extensive composting program.

Waste-Free Initiatives

Knox strives to hold waste-free events. For example, the picnic lunch during 2018 Commencement produced only 0.2 pounds of landfill-only waste!

Reuse Kits

If your event includes food, consider borrowing a Reuse Kit. Reusable plates, bowls, cups, and silverware are available for short term use for your events and meetings.  The service is free, but individuals will be charged a fee for any late or non-returned items. To request a Reuse Kit, simply use the online request form. 

Move Out and Moving Offices

Knox also strives to reduce landfill-bound waste during the annual campus Move Out. The "There is no Away" campaign sets out collection bins in communal areas of all residential spaces for clothes, household goods, food, and more to be donated to the Knox College Share Shop and other local organizations.

If you are moving offices, contact us first. We would be happy to take your gently used office supplies and other items for reuse, to keep them out of the landfill. We can also recycle all those old floppy disks hiding in the back of your drawers. 

Knox College Share Shop

The Knox College Share Shop is an on-campus resource for reusing materials and fostering a sharing economy. This student-run "store" includes clothing, home goods, electronics, books, shoes, kitchen supplies, and more that are in good condition for the Knox community to take for free.

The majority of items are collected during the annual Move Out, but items can be donated throughout the year by dropping them off during open hours (Thursday - Saturday, 4-6:30 pm) or by contacting the Office of Sustainability. Check out the Share Shop on Facebook for hours, promotions, and events.

Office Supply Share

Similar to the Share Shop, the Office Supply Share focuses primarily on school and office supplies. Located in Seymour Union, down the stairs from the Hard Knox Cafe, and open when the building is open. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to check here before purchasing new and everyone is encouraged to donate gently used items back to the Office Supply Share for others to enjoy.

Surplus Property

Knox College Building & Facilities Services operates the campus Warehouse that houses excess furniture and chairs. Looking for a few additional items for your office or communal space? Check with the warehouse first, they may have just what you are looking for!

Recycle Printer

Do you regularly discard sheets of paper that are printed only on one side? There is a designated printer in Founders computer lab, the "\\recycle" printer, that is stocked with used paper, for printing drafts, etc. We encourage you to collect your one‐sided paper and contact the Office of Sustainability to have it collected to stock the recycle printer on campus. If you collect enough, we can add your office to the weekly pick-up route.

Recycling at Knox

Knox College has had a recycling program since 1993. Initially spurred on by the  Students for Sustainability (formerly knows as KARES) student group, Facilities Services and the Office of Sustainability currently work together to broaden the kinds of materials that can be recycled at Knox, as well as the accessibility and availability of recycling stations.

Recycling is currently collected in a single stream of paper and containers commingled in a single collection bin. This is referred to as traditional recycling. Each campus building has conveniently-located central collection bins for traditional recycling. Residential buildings should refer to the Recycling in the Residences document or contact their RA with questions.

For more information on what materials are accepted in the traditional recycling bins refer to the recycling posters, magnets, or this document: Recycling at Knox: Traditional Recycling.

In additional to traditional recycling, Knox is constantly exploring outlets for hard-to-recycle items. These non-traditional recycling items contain materials that use specialized processes to break down or require special disposal techniques. Knox collects these non-traditional items in special non-traditional collection bins, located in almost every building.

For more information on what materials are accepted in the non-traditional recycling bins, which is often changing, refer to the signage on the bins or this document: Non-Traditional Recycling: items and locations.

If you have a large amount of recyclable materials, that exceed the size of the collection bins, please contact the warehouse for traditional materials and the Office of Sustainability if they are non-traditional materials.

Galesburg Community Resources

• Galesburg Public Library - Borrow books for free!
• Galesburg-area Thrift Stores 
• Lowe's accepts rechargeable batteries, cell phones, CFLs, and plastic shopping bags for proper disposal and recycling.
• Sustainable Business Center is a business incubator located in Galesburg, Illinois that has been designed to accelerate the successful development of environmentally conscious, innovative companies.