RIT and Goodwill Partner to Ease Move Out Strain

Everyone accumulates too much stuff. But only college students have to move it out of their apartments and dorm rooms at the end of every year.

In order to alleviate the strain of trying to squeeze all that stuff into cars to take home, or let it go to waste in a landfill, Rochester Institute of Technology is partnering with Goodwill for the 2004 End of the Year Move Out Collection.

From May 15 to 23, containers will be available throughout campus to collect unwanted items. Clothes, books, small appliances—anything that is in good enough condition for Goodwill to resell—can be dropped off.

Last year’s pilot program collected more than 1,000 pounds of donated items from the residence halls. This year the program is expanding to include the entire housing population on campus, says Jason Flynn, RIT recycling administrator.

The benefits of this program are multi-fold. Students can dispose of unwanted items and put them in the hands of people who can really benefit from receiving them, says Russ Tripoli, assistant director for facilities services.

It also helps to reduce the amount of things thrown into dumpsters or left in apartments and dorm rooms—which means less time cleaning out apartments and less money spent on landfill fees. After all, Tripoli adds, “someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure.”

Founded in 1829, RIT is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging, technology, fine and applied arts, and education for the deaf. RIT enrolls more than 15,500 students in 340 undergraduate and graduate programs. For the past decade, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities.