College of the Atlantic
IN-27: Innovation D

The College of the Atlantic Stuff Removal Program is an operation of the COA Discarded Resources Team—a sustainability-centered network of work-study and staff positions—which aids students, faculty, and staff with repurposing or recycling bulky miscellaneous items during and, especially, at the end of the academic year. The program, instituted in 2015, was created to ensure that unwanted items are dealt with in the most sustainable way possible, with the trash being the absolute last resort. The successful program was responsible for 3,040 lbs. of material donated to Goodwill during the 2016-17 academic year. Stuff Removal encourages COA community members to be responsible environmental stewards by presenting them with an option to throwing their things in a trash bin, especially at the end of spring term when students are moving out, often to out-of-state locations, and must consolidate their belongings. Where it is typical on a college campus at the end of spring term to see overflowing metal trash receptacles full of furniture and other reusable and recyclable items, at COA it is now typical to see a crew of Stuff Removal students showing up with a full-size pickup to give said items a new life. Further, the program consolidates and reduces trips to the Bar Harbor Transfer Station and thrift stores, saving fossil fuels and feeding the campus culture of sustainability. Of the end-of-year items retrieved, some are offered to international student services first, with other items like textbooks and lamps saved for the move-in sale during orientation week. Just about everything else goes to the local Goodwill. Utilizing the Stuff Removal program is easy. COA community members fill out a form detailing the size, weight, shape, and amount of items to be removed, and work-study students from the College’s Discarded Resources Team pick up the items and deal with them as they see fit. Stuff Removal at COA directly effects the environment by decreasing waste, while also contributing to the campus culture of sustainability. The inclusion of the Discarded Resources Team in campus life helps spread awareness of issues like waste, recycling, repurposing, and the environmental consequences of a consumer culture. The work-study students working directly with Discarded Resources gain direct, hands-on knowledge of attitudes about waste and the work necessary to keep items out of the landfill, while also helping to spread awareness and education on the issue.