With spring semester coming to a close, the College of Charleston is partnering with the Palmetto Goodwill and Keep America Beautiful to help students transition out of residence halls for the summer through the nationally piloted Give and Go: Move Out 2014 program. This partnership will keep unwanted items off city sidewalks and out of local landfills.
Starting April 21, 2014, Palmetto Goodwill placed donation bins in College of Charleston residence halls to raise awareness among students reducing waste and making a social impact as they clear out their rooms.
RELATED: See move out and parking information from the Office of Residence Life.
“In past years, we’ve spent around $10,000 to have extra dumpsters on campus for move out,” says Jen Jones, facilities coordinator for the College’s Office of Sustainability. “We’re hoping to decrease that amount because a lot of what goes into those dumpsters can be re-used or recycled.”
Last year, with Goodwill’s involvement in move out, the College diverted 20 percent more waste from the landfill compared to 2012 move out, which translated into nearly a $1,000 in cost savings. Jones says that with these more focused efforts they are hoping to do even better this year.
College of Charleston is one of a diverse group of 16 public and private universities selected to pilot the Give and Go: Move Out initiative. Started last year, the program included five colleges who collected more than 60,000 pounds of material for reuse or recycling. These items provided the value of 1,757 hours of job training services at Goodwill for individuals facing challenges to finding employment.
“Goodwill has helped divert millions of pounds of items from landfills and created thousands of jobs for people who need it most,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “With college students’ support, we will continue to strengthen the economic health of our communities. Give and Go is an easy solution that provides tangible results.”
The pilot initiative, organized by Keep America Beautiful and Goodwill® in conjunction with the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), encourages college students to do something good by donating clothing, kitchen items, electronics, books and dorm items they no longer need, as they clean out for summer break. The goal of Give and Go is to encourage students to reduce waste and enhance existing sustainability practices on campus, with the added benefit of supporting Goodwill’s mission of
About Keep American Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a powerful national network of community-based affiliates and participating organizations, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org, follow @kabtweet on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
About the Office of Sustainability at the College of Charleston
The Office represents the hub for teaching, research, and practice of sustainability on campus and in the greater Charleston community. The Office of Sustainability is located within Business Affairs, to give it a high profile on campus and in the community, where it is accessed and influenced by all members of our campus community. This represents an exciting step forward for the College of Charleston, and signals a new chapter in our esteemed history. Stay up-to-date with us by visiting sustainability.cofc.edu or our Facebook page.
About Palmetto Goodwill
Goodwill Industries of Lower South Carolina is a nonprofit social service organization whose mission is to help people achieve their full potential through the dignity and power of work. Over 90 percent of Goodwill’s revenue goes to fund mission related services. Goodwill serves their mission by providing career counseling, job training, and other employment related programs to people with barriers to employment. Last year, Goodwill placed over 1,301 people into new jobs and provided services for over 53,084. For more information about Goodwill’s programs and services, please visit palmettogoodwill.org.
