Event Details

Upcoming events!

Getting here: The MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center is located on the south end of campus at 468 Green Way, East Lansing, MI 48823. Enter off of Farm Lane, across from the Baker Woodlot.

CATA bus 32 stops out front on Farm Lane.
Parking in our lot is free while attending events or shopping at the Surplus Store, open on Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It's about a 25 minute walk from the Union.

Stay in the loop: Join the email list for updates and event info. Follow @spartanupcycle, @msu_recycling and @msusurplusstore on social.

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MSU Earth Bash

Saturday, April 18, 12 - 4 p.m.

MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center

Celebrate all things reduce, reuse, recycle with a day at the campus recycling center and thrift store. Go secondhand shopping and freecycling, tour the material recovery facility and vermicompost hoophouse, make upcycled crafts, and get ready for gardening, all while listening to music provided by the Impact 89FM.

Pick through over 2,000 lbs. of free clothes (adults and kids) and take home your favorites! (This is what remains after we hosted a freecycle with students and donated hundreds of pounds to local organizations.)

Visitors are encouraged to bring personal hygeine products or art supplies to donate as part of our collection drive. Supplies will be made available to MSU Students and local teachers. Let's go green!

Tour behind the scenes!
Shop sustainably
- Go thrifting at the MSU Surplus Store - featuring a $1/lb. clothing sale!
- Pick up some sustainable essentials from Clean Refillery, a local guest vendor.
Freecycle & Mend
- Rehome FREE clothes! Take your favorites from the heaping bins, without spending a dime!
- Learn to mend a tear with the Sewing & Embroidery Club.
- Talk with Karma Cloth about how they donate clothes worldwide.
- Browse secondhand books available for free-- children's books, novels, and more.
Make eco-friendly crafts
- Yarn Circle — plarn crafts (plastic bag yarn).
- Student Organic Farm — veggie prints.
- Water Alliance — watercolor painting.
- Spartan Upcycle —egg carton flowers, communal tapestry.
Learn about Sustainability
- Deconstruct electronics to see the metals and materials inside.
- See how to fix a flat tire, with MSU Bikes.
- Find out why rain gardens support biodiversity, with Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering
- Ask Student Eco Reps what MSU does to "go green," with Office of Sustainability.
Garden
- Plant herb seeds or sunflower seeds in Grow Green Vermicompost to take home.
- Do a soil scavenger hunt — sift through soil to find organisms that support composting.
- Adopt-a-plant with Climate Action Campaign.
- Talk with Spartan Sierra Club
- Make seed bombs with Pollinators United Sustainability Hub.

Support community events, experiential learning, sustainable habits, advocacy, and the arts! Donate to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Fund today to fund future programming and efforts towards circularity.

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Spartan Upcycle Student Collective Showcase

"House Party" Reception with MSU Vinyl Nights!

Tues., 4/21, 5 - 7 p.m. @ the MSU Union Art Gallery

Music, crafts, snacks!

The Spartan Upcycle Student Collective Showcase highlights creative reuse and features upcycled furniture and art made by MSU students, who sourced materials from the MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center. Student creators primarily worked on the projects during Student Upcycle Fridays, held weekly in SSRC's education/upcycle space. The exhibit runs through May 2 at MSU Union Art Gallery, located on the second floor and open 12 - 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Made with basic tools and supplies, the pieces of Upcycled Home show how Spartans need not travel far to furnish their living space with style. Some items, like the suitcase vanity and tire ottoman, were personal projects. Others were created through a group effort, like the decoupaged fridge turned into an interactive recycling education tool.

The show was organized by the Spartan Upcycle Student Collective. Support creative reuse, student opportunities, sustainability, and advocacy by making a donation to the Student Engagement Fund.

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Student Upcycle Fridays

Every Friday of the semester

11 a.m. - 3 p.m. @ Surplus & Recycling
Held in the Upcycle workshop/Ed Center (follow signs & look for the outdoor table).

Unleash your inner artist! Drop by the Spartan Upcycle Workshop for free arts & crafts while you enjoy conversation, community, and music. We offer different creative reuse projects every week, and you can always choose your own crafty adventure. No experience needed. All welcome. Find out more here!

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ReFashion Friday

Fri., June 19

11 a.m. - 3 p.m. @ Surplus & Recycling
Held in the Upcycle workshop/Ed Center (follow signs & look for the outdoor table).

At ReFashion Friday, sewing machines, hand sew supplies, secondhand clothes, textiles like tablecloths, and scrap fabric are available for use at no cost. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to assist and show you how to use equipment or no-sew methods.

ReFashion Friday is a great time to make something just for fun or to show at the ScrapFest ReFashion Show, which Spartan Upcycle co-hosts with ScrapFest organizers and Seams Fabric during Lansing's annual reuse festival.

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ScrapFest ReFashion Show

Fri., July 10

7 p.m. at ScrapFest in Old Town, Lansing

Celebrate textile reuse and the local makers, menders and creative thrifters that reimagine what's possible! The ReFashion Show is not a competition and anyone can participate. Catch the show on July 10, 2026 at 7 p.m. ScrapFest continues all day Saturday, July 11. ScrapFest organizers, Seams Fabric, and Spartan Upcycle collaborate to host the annual Refashion Show during ScrapFest, Lansing's annual 2-day reuse festival.

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