<p>"After final exams and graduation every spring, America's college campuses become astonishing junkyards of abandoned stuff — providing, some say, a snapshot of a generation of students raised in a throwaway culture.</p>
<p>Take Pomona College. A cleanup of the dormitories there last week filled hallways and lounges with about 50 unwanted mini-refrigerators, 40 computer printers, scores of microwave ovens and window fans, mounds of mattresses and couches, piles of pillows and clothes, a store's worth of detergent, shampoo, books and ramen, not to mention some bicycles, stuffed animals, crutches and exotic underwear.</p>
<p>At that liberal arts college in Claremont and at schools across the country, graduating seniors and even underclassmen lack the time, storage space, wits or desire to keep all their possessions. So they leave some — even items in good condition — behind. That is particularly true for the students headed home to faraway locales or for those whose parents will sigh in exasperation but will finance another clock radio and bookcase in the fall....."</p>
<p>My son picked up a great computer chair and a lamp last year when the kid down the hall decided he didn't want to be bothered with transporting it home.</p>
<p>What my son took to school pretty much came home. He's not one to toss things away. It's amazing the amount of stuff they can accumulate in a year.</p>
<p>My school has a "drop off" spot in each dorm (or just my dorm, but I doubt that) at the end of the year. Items are donated to charity. I'm not sure whether other students can go through for things to snag for themselves first. Storage is often more expensive than the items, especially once you factor in the time and effort it takes to transport things to and from the storage center and such, and people traveling home by plane are limited to 2 suitecases under 50 pounds without incurring extra charges.</p>
<p>We told D to bring home 2 suitcases and her laptop. Since she is required to live in the dorms a second year, she will need the same stuff and we were pretty clear that we were not buying anything more/new. Anything that did not fit in the suitcases had to be stored in Boston somewhere. She got together with 3 other students and rented a storage unit nearby. The entire summer will cost $75 each. Not bad to store 4 student's worth of stuff.</p>
<p>I think it's a crime that schools don't offer storage lockers for their students. They should be numbered and locked, and every student should have their own until graduation. </p>
<p>And I also believe that every school should have various bins for unwanted items; clothing, school supplies, etc., and those items should be sent to various groups in need.</p>
<p>I've heard of schools where students are throwing stuff out windows into huge trash dumpsters. What a waste.</p>
<p>At my school, students in housing can store up to five "boxes" (non-box items like fridge, desk chair, TV count as boxes) in a storage room in the basement. They don't guarantee complete security because I guess students in the dorm who are getting their things could always snag someone else's stuff, too. Students can also store their bikes. It's useful, but it would be nice if we had actual storage spaces.</p>
<p>The storage space allotted for students is totally inadequate. We'll be storing stuff for my S's suitemates again this year as they will most likely use up the pitiful amount of space available in their House.</p>
<p>One of our kid's schools has a central drop-off place to put anything you don't want, and other students just take it away for free, then the college sends the rest to charity. At the other school, I saw a lot of buy-and-sell between students of larger items. Either of these solutions trumps just abandoning usable goods. </p>
<p>I've also seen kids throwing serviceable things into dumpsters. One contributing issue is there's never enough time at the end-of-term! I found at two of our kids' schools, there isn't much more than half a day between the end of the last final exam and the moment when students must completely vacate their dorm rooms. The kids all look exhausted while they're trying to deal with the moving and storage chores.
Watching a 19-year-old girl heft a fridge down 3 flights of stairs (not my kid) muttering how she hadn't slept in days, I only didn't want her to trip and fall. </p>
<p>I wonder if there could be a grace day between these two important moments. Other students might plan ahead, which is ideal, but for everyone else, the grace day or two in-between might really help the situation. I don't think it would hurt college budgets terribly. Just look at the annual schedule and allow the students time to finish the last exam, sleep, wake up and then deal with cleaning out their rooms. Better for everyone academically, better for their health, better for the dorm buildings.</p>
<p>My college donates all the unwanted belongings (we have free boxes - each house has one that you can put unwanted items in, and then go "free box diving" to find new-to-you belongings). At the end of the year, the college donates those items. Last year, I was able to replace a broken lamp for free (the items left are particularly good when the seniors graduate - they leave a lot of nice things behind). Some students also sell their stuff to other students. We do have summer storage on campus.</p>
<p>The college near my house in Pennsylvania sold the items left behind (it was a big yard sale), and donated the profits to United Way.</p>
<p>My daughters college, like corranged's, has storage for each student. With 92% of the students being from out of state and the college itself located in a tiny town, it just makes sense. That still doesn't stop the seniors from wanting to get rid of whatever won't fit in their car or can't ship home so my daughter and her friends have accumlated quite a bit of free stuff over the last couple of years. This year, she'll be the one giving things away. </p>
<p>I think nearby high school seniors should be enlisted to help students move out and then take those unwanted items. Seems awfully wasteful to just throw things out.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has a giant yard sale.....$$ to a charity I believe... </p>
<p>Recently helped my son pack up after junior year at his school....he is the only 1 out of the 4 roommates that lives within driving distance.... the rest all fly to school, so as the poster above mentioned, 2 suitcases and a laptop is their norm....though one of the guys also had a set of golf clubs as he is on the golf team. Yale lets each kid move 2 items into their room for next year. But, as the parent who is on site to drive things "home" I wish they would let the kids leave more lamps.... these are bulky and fragile... and one kid had a rolling plastic cart with his hangers he wanted to leave, saying it is smaller than a couch!! I agree with his view of relative space the item takes up. </p>
<p>The problem with the small refrigerators is that they often have major frost in the small freezers, so you cannot in good conscience store them in a basement storage facility at the college because you will definitely introduce bugs or mold. I have brought home 2 in past years....this year we left 1 behind that belongs to a roomate who is changing living arrangements for next year....I felt bad until we saw a maintenance person scarf it up before it even hit the ground. Yale does have the Donate Free Stuff bins/area at the corners of each of the residential colleges which takes the sting out of leaving items behind. </p>
<p>I agree with the above poster however that sometimes things cost less to replace than to store. We actually packed the car in order of what we valued most....so, computer chair, clothes, shoes, lamps, rugs etc all went in first, then the Ikea items were last....simply because if we couldn't fit them, we knew others would want them and they could be replaced for lower $$. </p>
<p>This year one kid on the 2nd floor moved all his stuff into the stairwell until his dad could get there....needless to say, the kids above (4th floor) had to navigate everything around his piles of stuff....it was a real drag.... I was proud to see our guys helping out some gals with heavy suitcases and boxes however. There is still some chivalry around....in spite of their own lugging, they helped and volunteered to help others. Yale charges kids $$ if they don't leave the room in good shape. The guys were expecting to get hit with a charge, but they left it in good shape in my opinion....they even took the vacumn out in one of the last trips down. I think the greatest problem is they are all anxious to get out of dodge.....and they all underestimate the effort it takes to pack it up.... on this end, we are still trying to absorb it all without sending it all to the basement. My youngest is grumbling about why his brother's shoes take precedence over his shoes in the coat closet they share!! </p>
<p>Of course, I am still haunted by the thread where most parents said they only helped with move in freshman year.....I had a nagging voice in my head saying "why am I doing this?" I know my intentions are good..... I take the guys out for a celebratory dinner...and I enjoy the glimpse into their life... it is actually more fun than parents weekend in some ways....</p>
<p>S said his school allows each student 3 boxes for free storage over the summer. These are all locked in a couple dorm rooms. S flew home with 2 suitcases/laptop and stored bedding, winter clothes, and desk lamp in one box. </p>
<p>Anyone remember end-of-year trash heaps when we were in college? Except for a few broken down couches, I don't think we had such a big problem. Kids today have way too much stuff. </p>
<p>Good point, though, about not enough time to move out the dorms when exhausted from finals. They ought to give an extra day.</p>
<p>I think I'll go down to the local U and do some dumpster diving--maybe I can pick up some of that exotic underwear ;)</p>
<p>I missed move out this year and I'm glad. I thought it was pretty disgusting last year. Dirty, messy and wasteful. I don't care if I never step foot in a dorm again acutally...</p>
<p>On the other hand it certainly tempered my enthusiasm for buying stuff for son #2 to head off to college. The less stuff they have the better.</p>
<p>Don't feel bad Maineparent, I helped my D move in again at beginning of soph year, and we are going to get her set up for summer term (she's coming back from a study abroad). She's moved herself out twice, and will probably move herself next spring (she's at Dartmouth, and they change arrangements a lot), so I don't feel too bad about helping. We're also doing a New England vacation, and I'm looking forward to that.</p>
<p>Having walked the Claremont campuses last weekend for S's graduation from Mudd, I was shocked at the amount of abandoned "stuff" that gets discarded. All the 5 C's do put out large dumpsters for the kids, but I didn't notice collection points for charity or recycling. Seems like a very good idea to do something. The kids really don't have the time, energy, or in some cases (namely ours) the proximity of location to deal with it. Graduation is a particularly hectic time as all the 5 C's hold ceremonies within the span of two days. S's dorm, at least, did have a central dropoff point for underclassmen to scavenge usable items, which they do.</p>
<p>Case in point: Dorm storage space is limited though my S is fortunate to be able to store his belongings in a Mudd dorm over the summer for pickup on his way to grad school in the fall. Otherwise, the logistics of moving/storage added a small measure of stress to the grad school process as he was deciding between schools on the east and west coasts. We are in the southeast and not located anywhere near either Mudd or the grad schools he was considering.</p>
<p>Interesting wrinkle: One of the items he had to give away was a desk lamp in excellent condition, due to his grad school's (Stanford) prohibition against incandescent lighting on campus.</p>
<p>Maybe we are just hardcore. But, when D said she wanted to go across country to school, even when great instate schools offered her $$$$$$$$$$, we told her that she would have to figure out a way to store her belongings over the summer and when she goes abroad. We also made it clear that we would not be paying for new stuff each year. </p>
<p>I am happy to say that D rose to the occasion and made all the arrangements together with friends for transport and storage. If she ended up dumping anything (and I don't think she did) she will get to buy new or live without..........it will be up to her. When she moves into a house or apartment a year from this fall, she will have the same issues. </p>
<p>Perhaps if those kids who just dump things from windows or into dumpsters, actually had to pay to replace and were expected to be responsible for their items, they would be more judicious in bringing "stuff" with them and plan ahead with planning and packing. Good life lessons.</p>
<p>Let me just say after moving my D home this year, she will return like a bag lady.
She had TOO much stuff. Every time she went back to school she took a bunch of stuff so that at the end of the year, she had accumulated so much.</p>
<p>Our school though has a donation program where they collect for the community, furniture, toiletries, school supplies. etc. The students separate it out, and we have a collection that happens at the end of school. It basically can provide families with supplies for a year!!! </p>
<p>I agree they have too much. CUtting back on the parent funding does help.
My D is not much more frugal and cutting coupons. Not so much starbucks, pens actually used until they run out of ink!</p>