The Martlet

After final exams and graduation every spring, too many university and college campuses become astonishing junkyards of abandoned stuff — providing what some call a snapshot of a generation of students raised in a throwaway culture.

I understand that cleaning the dorms is a monumental task, but providing students with dumpsters sends the wrong message. At a time when so many families and individuals are struggling financially, and obtaining items like clothing, furniture and electronics is a luxury well out of reach for many, UVic aids students in discarding items that could benefit others.

Every year in the last two weeks of April as students start to head home for the summer, UVic places dumpsters near residences, and students toss usable items away — unwanted mini-refrigerators, computers, printers, scores of microwave ovens, window fans, mounds of mattresses and couches, piles of pillows and clothes, a store’s worth of detergent, shampoo, books and stationery, not to mention some bicycles, stuffed animals, crutches, exotic underwear, desks, futons, TVs and stereos.

Among the items, I personally found a mink coat, a silver-plated punch bowl, and countless pairs of ski boots.

Oddities included a Molson beer sign, a full bottle of Celine Dion perfume, a pair of boxing gloves, a big blue plush toy horse, a gladiator costume complete with faux sword, a Weapons & Warriors Castle Combat set and a box of Hemp Plus Brownie Mix.

Items are willfully smashed, either as a means of blowing off some stress and frustration or in some weird celebration of graduating.

Many items, particularly clothing, have been discarded with sales tags still attached. Many out-of-town students I spoke to were encouraged by their parents to get rid of items because shipping them home would cost more than new ones.

I find this socially criminal, especially when UVic could show their social conscious by taking the lead and organizing this event so discarded items are donated to registered charities.

UVic President David Turpin, through UVic’s sustainability initiatives, could set an example for the campus.

I have organized these types of initiatives in the military and for a large international cruise ship line.

It takes time and a little investment but the end result is good for an organization’s public image. And as an added bonus, those who participate feel really good about themselves.

I do note that over the last two years, UVic has one small bin on wheels signed “donated items” located near each group of large containers, but almost all discarded items could be donated.

If organized properly, students could learn about issues of compassion.

Items are picked through by campus staff and local residents. Some items end up in garage sales, which I have seen myself, and other items kept by individual dumpster divers.

One former staff member I know has more than a dozen computer monitors in his basement — all collected during this wasteful event.

I have attended this event for several years, collecting and washing dozens of articles of clothing and footwear, bagging them up, and dropping them off to the Sandy Marriman House.

Sandy Marriman is an emergency shelter for women. I have delivered each year, on average, between 12 and 14 large volume leaf bags to the centre.

UVic is not alone, as the same occurs on campuses across Canada and throughout the U.S.

With so much waste and little regard for individuals and families in our community that can’t afford them, UVic is sending the wrong message.

With a little initiative, UVic could instead teach its students one last lesson — this one perhaps the most important lesson of them all.