UK Collects 21,024 Pounds of Donated Items From Move Out

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 21, 2019) — What happens to the unwanted items students leave behind in the residence halls at the end of the school year? The University of Kentucky collects and donates them! UK Recycling places Give and Go Donation Stations in the lobby of every residence hall on campus during the last two weeks of the semester.

This year a total of 21,024 pounds (10.5 tons) was donated at the end of this semester, which was a 13 percent increase from last year. Items collected vary from clothes, shoes, furniture and décor to non-perishable food. 

This program is a collaboration among several UK departments — Recycling, Trucking, Residence Life, Campus Housing, Auxiliary Services, Sustainability, Greek Life — and Goodwill of the Bluegrass. The goal of the program is to encourage students to donate rather than throw out useable items.

“We want the students to understand and be knowledgeable about how a simple choice can help make campus more sustainable,” said Esther Moberly, the waste, recycling and trucking manager for UK.

The food donated by the students went to help their fellow students by supporting the Big Blue Pantry. Non-perishable food donations comprised 1,360 (.89 tons). This was a 132 percent increase from last year’s 586 pounds. “We wanted to support the university’s efforts to addressing food insecurity on campus while also helping our sustainable mission,” said Joanna Ashford, the recycling coordinator at UK.

Items were also collected from fraternity and sorority houses including clothes, shoes and household items. These items were donated to Lexington’s Women’s Hope Center. In the future, the program hopes to work with UK Student Government Association and the Wildcat Wardrobe.

Currently, UK is still collecting items for donation from graduate housing on campus.  Items that go unclaimed are also collected throughout campus adding to the total number of pounds donated.

“We appreciate everyone’s participation and support of the effort in this program. Not only does it support our goals of significantly reducing the amount of material we send to the landfill, it also supports our students and local service agencies,” Ashford said.

Along with the donation stations, UK Recycling has also appointed student "EcoReps" in each residence hall to educate students about sustainability efforts on campus and be leaders in sustainability throughout the school year. This program is a joint effort between Residence Life, Recycling, Sustainability and Housing.

For more information about UK recycling visit https://www.uky.edu/facilities/cppd/services/facilities-services/recycling.