Student News

UK students donate 6+ tons of reusable material in Spring Move-Out

Give & Go Donation Stations can be found in residence halls again until May 3..
Give and Go Donation Stations can be found in residence halls again until May 3. .

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 20, 2023) — This past May, during Spring Move-Out, the University of Kentucky’s Recycling Program was happy to re-offer the Give and Go Donation Station Program to all resident students on campus. Donation stations were placed in the lobby of every residence hall on campus for students to donate items as they prepared to leave campus for the semester break. Students were encouraged to donate usable items, such as clothes, shoes, bedding, unused toiletries, school supplies, decor and nonperishable food.

The Give and Go Donation Station program is a collaboration among several UK departments — Recycling, Trucking, Residence Life, Campus Housing, Auxiliary Services, Sustainability, Big Blue Pantry and Goodwill Industries of the Bluegrass. The goal of the program, which is offered at the end of every semester, is to encourage students to donate rather than throw out usable items.

This year a total of more than six tons (12,338 lbs.) was collected. Of that total 1,750 was non-perishable food.

“One of the guiding principles of our sustainability efforts is to become a zero waste campus and this initiative is a great example of engaging our students in that work,” said Shane Tedder, UK’s sustainability officer.

For more information about UK Recycling, visit recycleblue.uky.edu or follow on social media (@UKYRecycles). For questions please email recycle@uky.edu.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.