By Ava Tribe
Last month, students moving out from the Emerson College Boston campus had the opportunity to donate items they no longer wanted through our sustainable move-out program Griff Gives. In total, the program generated a total of nearly 20,000 pounds of donations! Over the span of two weeks, students dropped unwanted clothing, housewares, books, unopened non-perishable food, mattress toppers, and more to donation bins located in each of the five residence halls on campus.
During the weeks leading up to the 2024 Spring move-out, Emerson’s sustainability team employed Griff Gives Assistants (GGAs) for the first time ever to help collect donations from the bins and sort items for donations. Sustainability staff, including the team’s five Student Sustainability Staff who work part-time all year, worked to train GGAs, track data, and sort items. With an amazing team of staff, signage around campus, and bins to categorize houseware, clothing, and food, students were able to properly sort donations and make for a smooth move-out process on campus. Residence Assistant, Tori Hoffmann noted that “As an RA in Little Building, move-out went great! With donation bins, provided by Emerson Sustainability, residents were able to drop off items in bins and at the donation center—this allowed a smooth transition for residents to move out without leaving unwanted items in their spaces and those items went to a good cause.”
Breaking Down the Totals:
Of the 19,848 lbs of donations, 9,133 lbs were housewares, such as storage containers, hangers, miscellaneous items, shoe racks, cutlery, shelving, organizers, and mini-fridges (mini-fridges shown in a separate amount on pie chart). 7,987 lbs were clothing, shoes, and textile accessories. 834 lbs were non-perishable packaged and unopened food items. 1,349 lbs were books and 546 lbs were mattress pads. These weights reflect the totals of Emerson College’s Boston campus, separate from the donations of the Los Angeles campus. The Emerson Los Angeles (ELA) campus generated a total of 13 full carts and 5 trash bags of clothing as well as other storage and items unable to fit in carts. Some ELA donations were sent to local charity groups in Los Angeles, including towels, which were donated to a local high school’s agricultural department. Many items are being kept in storage for the fall cohort of Emerson students, who will be able to take things they need during the Sustainable Store event held at the start of every semester.
Where the Donations Go:
With such a large and diverse array of donations, we donated items from the Boston campus to multiple organizations including Grad Bag, More than Words, Emerson’s Student Success Pantry, and Goodwill. The mattress pads were picked up and recycled by a local vendor.
2,686 lbs of dorm/houseware donations were donated to Grad Bag. Grad Bag, founded in 2012, is a non-profit organization that partners with colleges and organizations to take lightly-used dorm essentials and redistribute them to incoming students in need. Grad Bag’s mission is to “support underserved college-bound students and to advance sustainability.” Their work creates sustainable and equitable transitions in and out of college, creating an ongoing loop of items rather than them ending up in landfills. With Emerson’s donations to Grad Bag, students in the East Coast area —including our own students at Emerson — will give much-needed use to the unwanted items donated.
1,443 lbs of book donations were donated to More Than Words. More Than Words is a local Boston nonprofit that helps young adults in the foster care system, court-involved, homeless, or out of school with finding work, learning valuable skills and selling new and used books. By creating opportunities for young people to work, More Than Words takes their business of selling books to a whole new level by recycling books, and promoting reading and education while also helping the youth of Boston become financially independent and stable through their various programs.
834 lbs of food and personal care items were donated to Emerson’s Student Success Pantry. Located in the Office of Student Success suite on the second floor of the Walker Building, the pantry provides a variety of food options and ingredients for students on and off campus as well as personal care items like shampoo, soap, and more. With everything in the pantry being accessible to all students and completely free (including over the summer!), students in need can equip themselves with any food or personal care items to fuel themselves for success at Emerson.
11,840 lbs of clothing and houseware donations went to Goodwill. Goodwill, which started in Boston 120 years ago, works to enhance people’s lives through creating a second life for unused housewares and clothing through donations. Their donation program and partnerships with more than 150 community-based organizations create a sustainable and equitable future for donations. We are proud to donate a majority of our items to Goodwill to ensure a second life for all of our Emerson donations.
One of Emerson’s primary sustainability goals is to divert waste from landfills to a recycled or repurposed second future. We are thrilled about the success of Griff Gives Spring 2024 and thank everyone who donated and helped to make this process go smoothly.