Zero Waste Move Out 2025
Impact By the Numbers
To get a sense of the chaos of Move Out Week, stand by the dumpsters parked in front of Swig. SCU students, still in the middle of Finals Week stress, scramble to empty the rooms they've called home for the past 9 months in just a few hours. Typically they can only take only what fits a car or suitcases. And all the like-new clothing, organizers, mini fridges, lamps, bedding, books, decor, microwaves that don't fit? You'll see an endless parade of items tossed into the landfill-bound dumpsters.
But this year, students skipped the dumpsters and diverted 3,800 pounds of reusable items from landfills and into the hands of fellow Broncos.
Zero Waste Move Out offers an alternative to what Pope Francis called the "throwaway culture" by creating convenient spaces within residence halls to collect usable items. This June, the Center for Sustainability set up and staffed four Move Out Marketplace locations, where students not only donated items but also "shopped" for free finds. This is a circular economy in action, impacting so many of the actions called out in Laudato Si':
- Waste Reduction: Items are reused instead contributing to landfills greenhouse gas.
- Climate Resiliency: Avoiding the resources, energy, packaging, carbon emissions, and water waste of producing new goods.
- Equitable Access: No-cost marketplaces remove economic barriers to both essential and comfort items for the most vulnerable.
- Behavior Change: Promoting environmental awareness through community action.
Our collected collective efforts resulted in:
🗑️ 3,800 pounds of reusable items diverted from the landfill
🗄️ 324 items collected for distribution to LEAD Scholars Program and incoming students, making campus life a little brighter.
👕 458 lbs of clothing donated to Bucky's Closet, our on-campus free thrift store.
🚛 Three donation pickups by local nonprofit Hope Services.
Zero Waste Move Out reflects our institutional values in action, directly supporting SCU’s Impact 2030 Foundational Commitment to sustainable waste management, and our Leading through Laudato Si' strategic goals to foster a culture of just sustainability and advance waste diversion and recovery. And it invites all Broncos to participate in a circular economy by offering access to free, reusable items!
This successful move out highlights the power of our community when we work together toward a more sustainable and equitable future.A huge thank you to our dedicated volunteers and to everyone who participated. Next year we hope to expand our program by partnering with more campus organizations, adding additional collection and store space, and engaging more volunteers. Together, we can create a campus culture of reuse and model responsible consumption for all Broncos.