By Katie Koenig
Supporting Local Communities
We all produce waste, whether we’re living in the dorms or in an apartment off campus. With limited space in the dorms in particular, we often realize we have items we no longer need. An extra jacket, an old pair of shoes, maybe some decor or a lamp—there are plenty of things that can still be used by someone who needs them.
Boston University has incorporated on-campus donations beyond just dorm supplies. Like Emerson, it has a bike storage room where students can lock their bikes or store them over breaks. If a student no longer needs or wants that bike, though, they can also surrender it to BU for the university to donate.
Bikes surrendered by BU students go to one of three partner organizations: Bikes not Bombs, Commonwheels, and Cambridge Bike Give Back. Bikes not Bombs is an organization based in Jamaica Plain, Boston, that uses bicycles as a vehicle for social change and economic mobility for marginalized people in Boston and the Global South. Each year they collect roughly 5,000 bikes. Many of these bikes get shipped to Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The bikes that do not get shipped are distributed to Youth Pathways in Boston, where teens learn bicycle mechanic skills to refurbish and sell bikes. All proceeds from these bikes go toward funding Bikes not Bombs’ youth and international work.
Commonwheels is an organization dedicated to increasing bicycle education and improving the health and wellness of Bostonians through programs such as Open Shop, a free bike-maintenance skillshare, group rides, and the Allston Rat Race, a 10-hour ride and festival.
Cambridge Bike Give Back is an organization that seeks to empower the Cambridge community by providing donated bikes to individuals in need of reliable transportation to jobs, job interviews, doctor appointments, and shopping. They also provide bikes for youth as a healthy outdoor activity.
With donation destinations spanning from local to international, BU has built a system to use students’ unneeded belongings to support different communities’ transportation needs.
Colleges have a responsibility to uplift the communities they are a part of, and by coordinating with several local organizations, BU has better integrated student life and student waste to support those that live nearby. It’s a simple way to expand donation drives beyond just books and clothes, looking at other items that are often left behind by college students that still have value.