With thousands of students moving out of residence each spring many things end up in the garbage that could be reused or recycled. To help keep stuff out of the landfill, the University Of Alberta Office Of Sustainability and various partners on and off campus coordinated the second annual Eco Move Out, which allows students to demonstrate sound environmental stewardship by donating their clothing and other goods to partner community organizations that will find them a loving second home.

Well this year’s results are in!

Materials collected in the three-week period totaled 8,585 kgs (18,928 lbs) – a 288% increase from Eco Move Out 2012!

• 2,154 kg of electronics, to be recycled by Shanked Computer Recycling
• 5,698 kg of clothing and household items donated to Goodwill
• 352 kg of food and toiletry donations for the Campus Food Bank 
• 1148 empty personal care and beauty containers sent to Terracycle to be transformed into recycled plastic

A total of 58% of the materials produced as part of residents moving out was diverted from landfill, a number calculated based on the total weight of materials recycled/donated as compared to the materials that went to landfill.  

 Here are a few quotes from a survey, in response to the question, “What did you like best about Eco Move Out 2013?” residents said:

•  ”I love the fact that there are environmentally friendly options available to students moving out of residence. Without Eco Move Out, all of these items would have been thrown into the garbage instead of given to the appropriate resources for others to use or to be recycled.”
• “It made moving out a lot easier to have options for recycling and donating items.”
• “Eco Move Out is an easy way to educate students on how simple and effortless recycling can be. It will further help reduce over consumption (I’d hope) and lessen an individual’s footprint on the environment.”
• “It was an excellent idea for Lister. Move out tends to be very rushed after students’ last final exam and a lot of useful/recyclable things are thrown out. I love that this saves a lot of waste.”

 To view photos of event click here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45350969@N05/sets/72157633449615964

Twenty-one excited, well-behaved students and their parent chaperones wanted to learn more about how Goodwill promotes recycling, reusing and repurposing.  Mostly however, they wanted to learn about Goodwill’s mission and what it means to give to charity.  Together, the group talked about disabilities and how Goodwill helps disabled persons gain meaningful employment, watched a few short video clips and learned how to safely accept and sort donations.  They each had a personal donation that they graciously left for us.

The morning visit was capped off with a good dose of juice and cookies!

Special thanks to Barbara Engelbart, Nancy Murphy, Maria Manio, Cristina Pinera and Yvan Boutin for their help and support in making this field trip such a huge success.

• 25% off all blue and green tagged clothing
• 25% off all blue and green tagged toys
• 25% off all blue and green tagged housewares
• 25% off all blue and green tagged electrical items
• 25% off all blue and green tagged books
• 50% off all Furniture *Furniture must be picked up right away for the discount to apply

Please note:  This discount cannot be combined with any other promotion or sale.