What comes right after finals week is move-out day.
“I hate it. It's the worst part of the the year,” University of San Diego 3rd year student Miguel Garcia says.
It’s when students cram their college lives into boxes, bags, and big suitcases.
“I feel like if you do with friends, it kind of goes by quick,” University of San Diego student Jasmine Guevara says.
But not everything makes the trip home; clothing hangers, mattress toppers, and still-usable items are usually sent straight into the trash.
“Last year when I was moving out I saw that people were throwing away TVs, people were throwing away perfectly good desks or chairs,” Second-year student at University San Diego Ali Taliaferro says.
Ali notes that just one college student can create 640 pounds of waste a year. And most of it is accumulated during move-out.
But this year, students at the Change Maker Hub at USD had a new plan.
“We created Eco Exit,” Ali says. “A lot of people don't have the storage and it's just it's so much more convenient sadly to throw it out than to store it or transport it or um like give it away.”
The program makes moving out less wasteful. Partnering with veteran thrift shops for used clothes and sheets, and sending mattress toppers to St. Joseph’s.
And all the furniture students didn't want to take back home with them, will get stored over the summer, and given away for free in August to students moving back onto campus.
“Knowing that someone else is going to be able to use it feels really great,” Garcia says.
And even though these students aren’t done with college yet, they hope Eco Exit will stay even when they’re gone.
“I think it's really important for students hopefully in the future to continue to grow this initiative,” Ali says. “I’m super excited to see where it goes.”
