By Kaylyn Kluck
In the rush to move out of the dorms next week, students might throw out many unwanted items, but the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability is asking them to consider putting these materials to better use.
Students are encouraged to donate instead of throw away furniture, food, clothing, and other unwanted items through the annual Donate Don’t Dump waste-reducing initiative. Starting on May 10, donation bins will appear in dorm lobbies, and trucks will be parked outside of Burge, Hillcrest, and Mayflower to collect items students would otherwise throw out.
George McCrory, the interim coordinator for the event, said Donate Don’t Dump began in 2010 and has since expanded.
“In 2014, the effort collected more than 5,000 pounds of materials, including futons, fridges, clothes, and food,” McCrory said.
This year, volunteers will be on hand from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from May 10 to May 13, and from 8 a.m. to noon on May 14. Furniture, clothing, housewares, and electronics in good condition will be given to Goodwill and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Likewise, food, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies will go to the Johnson County Crisis Center.
Instead of being put in a landfill, McCrory said, the items will go to students and community members who need them.
“I just really encourage students moving out of the dorms to take a minute,” he said. “If there’s something you don’t want, please donate it instead of dumping it. Your item will help someone else.”
Amanda Bittorf, the marketing director for UI Housing & Dining, said the process of donating will be easy and students will only have to fill out a little paperwork.
“It really simplifies things for students who wouldn’t otherwise want to drive out to Goodwill, or Salvation Army, or any other secondhand shop,” Bittorf said.
While Donate Don’t Dump is primarily for students moving out of the dorms, those living off-campus can drop off items as well, or give them to Iowa City’s annual Rummage on the Ramp sale.
“Anyone from around campus can come donate what can be donated,” said UI junior Elana Becker, the lead intern for the event.
The Sustainability Office is also looking for additional volunteers to help with the event, and students can sign up through a link on its website, Becker said.
“Find some time during your finals schedule; it’s a nice break and the volunteers will be both collecting the bins from the lobby and also staffing the trucks,” McCrory said. “Ideally, we like to have two or three volunteers for each shift.”
Becker said events such as this help the university reach its sustainability goal of 60 percent waste diversion from landfills, as well as promote mindsets of sustainability, and in a college town in which students have money to buy new things, it can be easy to just throw things away.
“We have such a consumer culture,” Becker said. “Sometimes, we don’t think about what happens to our trash once it leaves our possession, especially with stuff that’s viable. People can still use that.”
Becker believes all sustainable acts, such as volunteering for Donate Don’t Dump, have greater implications to them.
“It might seem kind of trying to spend a couple hours of finals week doing something like this, but it does have a contribution to a greater future of sustainability,” she said.