Fiedler Hillel’s Environmental Campus Outreach is expanding its grant program this year, one ink cartridge at a time.

Initially limited to theater groups, ECO expanded its Bright Ideas Grant last quarter to include all student groups. A selected group has to demonstrate a concerted effort to make its student programming and activities more eco-friendly. The program, founded in 2008, is funded entirely by recycling ink cartridges collected on campus.

In the last four quarters, ECO has given away about $1,500 in small grants. Sit & Spin Productions received a grant from ECO last quarter when the program was targeted toward theater groups.

‘We used some of the ECO grant money to move from disposable materials, things like carving foam to biodegradable (foam),’ said Jeffrey Glass, Sit & Spin’s business manager. ‘We made a lot of our scenery out of things like flour and water that will biodegrade later.’ After receiving the grant, the Communication junior said they were able to spend some of the money on more sustainable initiatives.

‘We were able to contact other groups and use the money to rent some of their old lumber instead of buying new things,’ he said.’

The grant is awarded to two or three student groups each quarter. Along with Sit & Spin Productions, last quarter’s recipients were the Jewish Theatre Ensemble and ‘Pulse Electric,’ a student film.

Benjamin Singer, ECO’s president, said the organization has also established what it calls the ‘Greener Task Force’ in collaboration with students from various green groups, including SEED and Engineers for a Sustainable World. The task force wants to use NU’s open space for initiatives like installing solar panels, planting gardens or creating compost mounds.

‘We’ve made a big difference in the amount of waste we produce and the amount of consciousness people have about their environmental decisions,’ said Singer, a Communication senior.

ECO also gives away energy efficient products, organizes fireside events at dorms and collaborates with other green groups.

Singer said he hopes to continue to promote sustainability on campus with ECO.

‘We are revamping the way the campus operates,’ he said. ‘It’s rewarding and fulfilling, and it’s exciting to be part of real change.’

ECO has set up ink cartridge and battery collection bins at Norris University Center, the Sports Pavilion and Aquatic Center and Hillel. In the past 18 months, ECO has collected roughly 1,500 pounds of cartridges and batteries. The money raised from recycling the cartridges goes toward the grants.

Rachel Zinn, Hillel’s sustainability director, said ECO has ‘exploded’ since last spring.

‘We’ve given people another way to make a difference,’ the SESP junior said. ‘That’s really what it’s about.’ [email protected]