Moving out of the dorms is a chaotic, exciting time. For many, the dorms represent their first year of college, and moving out of them marks the end of their freshman year. While this is inherently exciting, it also frequently generates a lot of waste. Living in the dorms poses certain limitations that are not necessarily present in their future living situation. As a result of this, there are frequently furniture items and other dorm specific items which may no longer be needed after your year in the dorms. Far too often, these unneeded items get thrown away, rather than being donated or ever being given a chance to be used again. Moving out of the dorms also comes with a lot of cleaning, it can be too easy to simply put everything that will be thrown out to some degree in one bag, rather than properly sorting it into compost, recycling, and landfill as one would at any other given time. Luckily, the environmental center has donation centers in the lobbies of each dorm in order to donate usable items and ensure everything else is being sorted properly. This article will act as a resource to make moving out as zero waste as possible!
When and where can you donate?
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Donation centers will be located in the lobby of each and every residence hall on campus
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Donation centers will be open from April 12 - May 7 in 2021
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They will look vaguely like this:
What can you donate?
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Clothing
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Non perishable food
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Personal care products (shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, etc.)
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Electronics
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Lamps
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Mirrors
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Small furniture (such as storage containers)
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Bikes can be donated to the environmental center where they will be used for rentals, but they cannot be donated at these locations, they will instead be donated at the UMC or Folsom Bike Stations
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Ensure that anything you are donating is not used or trashed beyond repair, so it can be used by others!
Do not wait until the last minute to start the process!
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These donation centers are already open
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The earlier you start getting prepared to move out, the less stressful and chaotic move out will be
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Beginning the process early will also allow you to make sure that you have time to ensure that you are sorting anything you wish to get rid of in the most productive way possible (making sure recycling is recycled, trash goes to the landfill, any inedible food is composted, and other items are donated!)
Where do the donations go?
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Clothing, electronics, mirrors, furniture, lamps, etc. will all be donated to either Goodwill, US Again, or Salvation Army
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All non perishable food and personal care products are donated to Emergency Family Assistance
Past Year’s Results:
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In 2018, this donation drive collected almost 48 tons worth of donations!
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Through this donation drive in 2019, we saved approximately $3,200.00 in landfill disposal costs
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We also saved roughly 34 tons of waste from going into landfills!