<p>From today's Philadelphia Inquirer, a story about what happens to all those consumer items you (or your kids) have convinced yourself they won't be able to live without when they go to college:</p>
<p>I am bewildered at all the stuff people buy when their kids start college. Really, they don't need that much! My wife and I were talking about this the other day. We were out of graduate school before either of us had more belongings than could fit into a trunk and a suitcase, other than stuff we had left behind at our parents' houses when we went to college. </p>
<p>Anyway, at least you may be contributing to better someone else's life, as this story about "Penn Christmas" shows!</p>
<p>My two frugal Penn kids are sharing an off campus apartment this summer. They had the best time shopping for "street furniture" to decorate after everyone left. I think their haul included a portable futon, Ikea complete set of dishes and flatware, a dresser, cabinets, a comforter, printer and books. It's amazing what gets thrown away. I'm so glad the schools are starting to have a better plan for all this stuff.</p>
<p>Ditto BBKitty. Mizzou does the same thing--holds a giant "yard sale" in our arena--of all the left behinds and donates the money to the United Way. It raises thousands and everythings so inexpensive. I donated some stuff this year! Hahahaha</p>
<p>penn state does this as well. everything is put on sale for the masses in the morning (gates open at 7:30, but the 2000+ person line--scary considering it costs $5 to get in--starts forming the night before) and then offered for free to charities in the afteroon. </p>
<p>so, want a rug? there are 2500 of them sitting under the football stadium every year on the saturday before memorial day. same goes for computer monitors, lamps, laundry detergent, swiffer sweepers and... clothes. ive never looked at the them, but the piles are disturbingly large and there is an entire section devoted to stuff still new with tags.</p>
<p>its a good thing, though. i found a ton of good books and a few cds. local charities are going to get a $50,000 check. other local charities get free stuff. penn state saves $20,000 in landfill and overtime labor costs. and 50+ tons of 'waste' stays out of our landfills.</p>
<p>^^IKEA has ushered in the age of disposable furniture. It's so inexpensive that it's simply not worth the money required to ship it off campus. My D and her roomates either sold for next to nothing or gave away the pieces they bought two years ago at IKEA.</p>
<p>momof3sons, you beat me to posting that one. </p>
<p>I think there's another thread floating around with a list of similar sales. I haven't been able to find it on a preliminary search but I'll post the link if I locate it.</p>
<p>My d is at Penn and she contributed to this with the donation of a rug and maybe a few other things. The rug would have cost $50 to store for the summer and she decided it would be better to give it to a good cause. But this doesn't mean that I am buying a replacement rug in the fall!</p>
<p>My wife described to me how all of the Penn support staff workers were hovering around the quad during move out last year. She said they each had areas staked out and were trading & selling the discarded students' belongings amongst themselves.</p>
<p>Furman had a huge Goodwill trailer right next to the giant dumpsters during the last week of the semester. Such a great idea! D's friend's brother at UMiami used to take the fridges & microwaves kids threw out at year end and save them until the following fall ... then he'd sell them at move in! Very enterprising.</p>