T
he spring semester (or in Rochester perhaps it would be more appropriately called the “winter” semester) always seems to go by in a flash, even faster than the fall semester. Perhaps for me this has something to do with the active involvement that my office has with the campus and student body during this time; first it’s RecycleMania starting in January and running through the end of March, then it’s time for our Earth Day events and celebrations. Before you know it, the planning begins for moving out!
With all the hustle and bustle of taking finals, writing papers, tying up loose ends, saying farewell to friends, students also have to pack up and move out. When the time comes it’s pretty common to discover that you ended up accumulating more stuff throughout the year than what you moved in with, and sometimes that becomes a packing issue. A quick and easy solution to this problem is to throw away what you don’t really need. But here at UR we have two programs to help minimize the amount of material that ends up in the trash, that are really just as easy as throwing things away in the garbage, in our quest to reduce, reuse and recycle!
The two programs are Dump & Run and the Move-out Cleanout, which complement each other quite nicely. My office organizes the Move-out Cleanout, working with local charities to collect unwanted clothing and non-perishable food. Dump & Run is organized by student group Grassroots with the goal of collecting things that they can hopefully resell in the beginning of the fall semester, such as lamps, rugs, and mini refrigerators. We work together in the planning of our two programs and even have matching posters to be hung side by side on campus.
These poster and more information will be coming soon! But for now, please direct any and all questions to me, Amy Kadrie, Recycling Coordinator.
Also, see this article for more tips on how to be a waste-minimalist while living in college!
