Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University students who moved out of residence halls late this spring donated 25, 979 pounds of items to Campus Recycling during the annual Resident Hall Move-out Donation Drive. It was a 29 percent increase over last year's donations.

Students were asked to donate their unwanted items rather than throw them away, diverting waste from the landfill. The donations were then sent to local nonprofits and charities, including Love INC, Community Outreach, and the Linn Benton Food Share.

The amount collected exceeded this year's goal of 22,000 pounds, as well as the 20,122 pounds collected last year. Donations fell into several different categories: clothing, shoes, and linens; packaged or sealed food, toiletries, and school supplies; reusable wood; and general households.

Electronic waste and other recyclables were also recovered, but were not counted in the total weight of donations.

Thirty volunteers from throughout the OSU community assisted during the process by sorting through and categorizing the donations, as well as helping collect them from the halls.

"Working with the volunteers was an excellent experience," said Kyle Reed, student outreach assistant for Campus Recycling and a freshman living on campus. "I hadn't accumulated much throughout the year that I wouldn't keep, but it was rather daunting to see just what other people would have likely thrown away had we not provided donation bins."

The event is coordinated each year between OSU Campus Recycling, Surplus Properties, and University Housing and Dining Services.  For more information: http://tiny.cc/donation-drive.