IMU Sustainability Student Club (IMUSUS) continues to carry out recycling and upcycling activities to reduce the amount of paper waste generated within the campus areas of our University. Within the scope of these projects, in addition to the paper recycling activities carried out in cooperation with the Sustainability Office, IMUSUS started to upcycle paper into works of art. After the Lazika project, where the team upcycled packaging paper, this time they organized an art workshop that upcycled cardboard bags.
The first upcycling workshop for the planned polyart exhibition was held on April 17, 2025, hosted by the Sustainability Office. University students and Sustainability Office staff attended the event, which was open to community members. In the workshop, which was led by Res. Asst. Ayça ÇELİKBİLEK, first of all, the draft drawing of the works to be prepared was carried out. Afterwards, unused cardboard bags brought by the participants from their homes were cut into pieces and evaluated as materials.
Stating that the IMU Sustainability Office has the goal of becoming a zero waste office, the academic advisor of the community, Res. Asst. Ayça ÇELİKBİLEK stated that their aim is not only to separate and collect waste, but also to go beyond this in waste management strategies and to transform it on site. In this context, ÇELİKBİLEK stated that the Sustainability Office carries out many social responsibility projects in partnership with the IMU Sustainability Community and explained that the aim of these projects is to include waste in the circular economy as well as to reduce the energy demand caused by the storage, transportation and recycling of waste. He pointed out that although cardboard shopping bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic bags, cardboard bags that are used more than needed also have the potential to create waste due to the accumulation effect. He stated that it is also difficult to recycle cardboard bags, which are covered with plastic material for durability. For this reason, he stated that their priorities are reduction policies, followed by reuse and upcycling methods.
Stating that they will continue the upcycling painting workshops, the community members informed that at the end of the project, each participant will complete one upcycling painting produced with the polyart technique and an exhibition will be opened with these works. They informed that those interested can follow this upcycling work developed to reduce the amount of waste produced within the campus areas and to support the policy of our University from the @surdurulebilir_imu instagram account.
