This spring, reduce the amount of usable items discarded in your residence halls

Erica Mattison Sustainability Coordinator Suffolk University, Boston

Key question: At the end of the school year, what happens to the stuff students don't

want to keep???

Make it easy for students to give, and many of them will!

Spike in output at residence

halls in April/May

your campus has an

opportunity.

What you need: Structure • A system, known to all key players

• Res Life, Facilities, Program Staff, Janitorial Staff

• Promotion (in advance and during) • Housing for staff • Convenient drop-off locations • Temporary storage spaces • Plans for pick-ups or deliveries

People Power • Staff (paid or unpaid) • Community partners (charities)

Materials • Collection hampers (chained together) • Signage indicating what goes where &

reminder signage (i.e. waste closet doors) • Hundreds of boxes (same size; donated),

tape/dispensers, bags, labels

WAIT! CAN THAT BE DONATED?!

If you have clean items in good or fair condition please donate them to

Dump and Run!

Location:10 West Lobby

When:Now through the end of move-out

Lessons Learned • Timing: Set up collection points two weeks before move-out

• Efficiency: Uniform sized boxes

• Time saver: have labels ready to go for each org

• Info: Promote the orgs that will benefit

• Don’t let your hampers pull a disappearing act –chain together so

students moving out don’t borrow them

• Staffing: Can Res Life assign some student staff to sort and pack?

• Lack of storage? Have organizations conduct pick-ups throughout

Ken Hung, Suffolk University Professor of Operations

Management, for lending his expertise

ABM Janitorial Services staff,

for their many years of helping ensure a smooth program

Jim Wallace, Suffolk University

Facilities Operations, for his support of the program

Bob Mullin, Casey & Hayes Movers, for generous donation of

500 boxes

Caroline Davis, Suffolk University Residence Life, for integrating Dump

& Run into Move-Out

The many Suffolk students who have contributed to the program and

staffed the program

Lisa Heller Boragine, Dump and Run, for her many

years of partnership

Thank you!

Erica Mattison Campus Sustainability Coordinator

Suffolk University, Boston, MA emattison@suffolk.edu

www.suffolk.edu/sustainability

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