Going Back to School: A Different Type of Student Store

Remember the days of moving into (and then out of) the college dorms? New lamps, sheets, towels, alarm clocks, and assorted household goods furnished roughly 100 square feet of college living space. At the end of the year, many of those objects ended up in the dumpster, discarded by students in a hurry to leave for the summer. The vicious cycle born anew in the fall. As classes start this month in many universities across the country, a number of colleges have taken steps to reduce the waste and wanton consumption that comes with the freshman fifteen.

One of the first, if not the original, student stores to collect used dormitory accessories like lamps and bookends, was Yale University’s. The school has instituted the Summer Storage and Trash to Treasure initiatives. These programs “target the considerable waste that has traditionally accumulated in streets and courtyards as students move between dormitories and summer plans, and struggle to find space for foot stools, Halloween costumes, standing lamps, Ikea pillows, and impulse-buys from the school year.” In addition, the school organizes The Spring Salvage Program, which makes sure items left behind by students are donated to people and communities that can use them. This year, Yale has started offering storage options with transportation, so students do not have to repurchase items like small furniture and appliances each year when they return to campus housing.

Through the Trash to Treasure program, items that do end up at the edge of the street or piled in college courtyards, will be collected, stored in West Campus as well, and resold in a giant ‘Campus Yard Sale’ once students return ready to furnish their rooms. Both initiatives are expected to give students substantial savings, and will ensure that most of the usable waste that normally gathers at the end of the semester—just over 45 tons each year—remains and is used well within the Yale community.

Other universities have followed suit. For instance, The University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus recently partnered with a local organization to reduce the waste from student move out after the spring semester. Many of the salvaged items were made available to residents of Southeast Minneapolis and University of Minnesota students. Known as MIMO, the cooperative stands for Move In/Move Out. It is Southeast Como Improvement Association’s (SECIA) “premier waste reduction project  addressing the massive amounts of curbside waste left after the regular Move in/Move out cycles.” The store will reopen on the first of September in SECIA’s parking lot (1170 15th Ave. SE., 55414).

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