On days when Richard Chang isn’t juggling his course load, seeing friends or wrapping up his final year as an undergraduate student, he’s busy turning Ryerson’s trash into artistic treasure.

Since the beginning of the semester Chang has collected more than 900 used paper coffee cups on campus, and is using them to construct a three-metre (10-foot) tree.

While Chang’s goal is to have the final project displayed in April at the annual fourth-year new media student exhibition, META, he says his main goal is to educate the campus community about its environmentally unsound coffee cup habits.

“I’m trying to raise public awareness about throwing out the cups, and how every time you use one you’re destroying the environment,” he said, adding that the inner film on most coffee cups prevents them from being recycled.

“Those cups come from a tree and because people are hurting nature and beauty to get those cups, I am creating a symbol of nature and beauty in return.”

Chang, who spends about 10 hours a week working on the tree, says the response to his campaign to collect cups has been great.

“I was scared that I wasn’t going to get enough,” he said. “But a lot of people have been supporting me.”

There are bins in the Rogers Communications Centre, the Student Campus Centre, the Victoria building and the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre.

Chang checks them for used cups, washes them out, dries them, cuts them down until they are flat, and hot-glues the pieces onto a frame made of recycled wood and pipe.

“Whatever I use for the tree I still try to focus on eco-friendly stuff,” said Chang of the additional materials required.

To help market his project on campus, he created a YouTube video that is now shown on campus video screens. It’s also advertised on posters and flyers with an official logo emblazoned with his “10 FT” project name.

Chang updates the tree’s construction progress in his Wordpress blog.

Nyda Aboumrad, a fourth-year new media student and member of META 2010’s curatorial team, spoke of Chang’s dedication to the project.

“It’s outstanding and he’s really a student who puts his whole heart into it,” she said.

“If he finds that there is an issue that needs to be spoken about, he will do it and he will do it big.”

Over the next week a panel of judges from the new media school will select the fourth-year projects for the META 2010 showing.

The curatorial team is also launching a new website on March 4 as it prepares to host the event from April 8 to 11 at Arta Gallery in Toronto’s historic Distillery District.

 “You learn a lot about what you want to do and META helps us with that. It’s a way to express yourself.”

Ryerson administration is also taking note of Chang’s project and META’s mandate. “His project is a good thing,” said John Corallo, director of ancillary services.

 “It’s educating the community on recycling and we’re very supportive of that.”

Corallo added that should Chang make it to META, Ryerson will donate 50 travel mugs for him to hand out to guests at opening night on April 8.

Chang has only 30 per cent of the tree left to finish.

Despite a small discount available for students who bring reusable mugs to campus java joints such as Tim Hortons and Starbucks, thousands of coffee cups still end up in Ryerson garbage bins every day.

Ryerson’s food service provider Aramark does have a sustainability guide in place but it doesn’t mention disposable coffee cups.

Chang, who admitted to occasionally using paper coffee cups in the past, said he hopes students will see the final product and avoid disposable cups.

“Every student is always in a rush, and I know it’s hard sometimes to carry a reusable mug everywhere, but this project will reinforce the benefits of a commitment to using reusable mugs.”