University of California, Irvine
OP-T2-43: Move-Out Waste Reduction

UCI has an annual student move-out donation and recycle program each June. The 2012 Move-Out Donation Throwdown program was a two-week-long campaign to raise awareness that reuse is just as important as recycling. The campus in collaboration with the Salvation Army places collection carts inside all dorms and community centers for the six student housing communities (~14,000 people) which are emptied every other day. Additional recycle bins are placed outside the buildings and emptied daily to encourage recycling for things that cannot be donated. Each housing community posts an e-flyer on its website that describes the program and the locations for the collection carts and recycling bins. Advertised on the electronic billboards and in the campus newspaper, New University, the event is approached as a competition with the goal of exceeding the prior year’s donations.

The program has been successful every year. In 2010, the program collected 67 tons; 2011 easily surpassed that with 96 tons, and 2012 resulted in 99.1 tons of food, clothing, and electronics being donated.