In prior years, move-out season at Rice University has made for a crowded Inner Loop full of cars being packed with the contents of dorm rooms, and even fuller residential college garbage cans loaded with items students have decided to part ways with.
This year? Not so much.
Thanks to an initiative that saw environmentally conscious students partner with campus sustainability leaders and community partners, undergraduates at all of Rice’s 11 residential colleges were able to place unwanted clothing, shoes, linens and other textile-based items in large bins provided to each college by Green City Recycler, a Houston-based recycling company that works to reduce the amount of textile waste that finds its way into landfills each year.
Now that initiative has gained notice from the city’s chief executive, Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Rice and Green City Recycler have been recognized jointly as an award winner at the Mayor’s Proud Partnership Awards Luncheon hosted by Keep Houston Beautiful (KHB) for the residential move-out collection campaign pilot program.
KHB works to inspire and educate people to take action every day to improve and beautify our city. The Mayor’s Proud Partner Award recognizes the efforts of individuals, businesses and community groups who work to enhance Houston’s landscape through awareness, beautification, conservation and environmental enhancement projects.